I Presume Peter Singer Is Of Two Minds About This

As capitalism comes to China, so does specialization. The London Telegraph reports from Guo-li-zhuang, a Beijing restaurant with an all-penis menu:

The deer and the Mongolian goat were surprisingly similar: a little stringy, they had the appearance and feel of overcooked squid tentacles. The Xinjiang horse and the donkey, on the other hand, were quite different. Though both came sliced lengthwise, and looked like bacon, the horse was light and fatty, while the donkey had a firm colour and taste. The testicles were slightly crumbly, and tasted better with lashings of the sesame, soy and chilli dips thoughtfully provided.

One speciality, Canadian seal penis, costs a hefty 220 pounds, and requires ordering in advance. Miss Liu confessed that Guo-li-zhuang was an unusual place to work, partly because of her training - she has to recite tales proving the vigour of the animals in question as they are being eaten - and partly because of the interaction with the clientele.

Comments

sage | February 23, 2006, 2:16pm | #

Probably goes well with Silverback Soup.

jasno | February 23, 2006, 2:17pm | #

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Qbryzan | February 23, 2006, 2:23pm | #

In China, you are what you eat,

No wonder their country is run by a bunch of dicks

bubba | February 23, 2006, 2:30pm | #

220 GBP for a seal penis harvested by a redneck Canadian club-wielding fisherman who thinks baby seals are to blame for diminishing cod stocks.

I hate Canada.

Kwix | February 23, 2006, 2:43pm | #

bubba,
At least here in Alaska we just kill em for the fur.

B.P. | February 23, 2006, 2:46pm | #

Peter Singer should always feel free to choke on a big plate of cocks.

Ed | February 23, 2006, 3:05pm | #

My knees just involuntarily clamped together.

BG | February 23, 2006, 3:06pm | #

Well, I just lost my appetite.

Ken Shultz | February 23, 2006, 3:07pm | #

And this isn't even a Friday Fun Link!

Rich Ard | February 23, 2006, 3:08pm | #

There's a premium on seal penis?

I hereby renounce all faith in the free market.

fyodor | February 23, 2006, 3:17pm | #

There's a premium on seal penis?

Don't knock it till you've bitten it!!

grylliade | February 23, 2006, 3:30pm | #

There's a premium on seal penis?

I hear Heidi Klum rather likes it.

Douglas Fletcher | February 23, 2006, 3:32pm | #

Well, somewhere in our great heartland there is an annual mountain oysters festival, which is dedicated to all manners of serving up deer testicles (I think they also use pig testicles at the festival, just to meet demand for quantity).

I don't think these people are eating that stuff to acquire virility, though, I think its just one of those weird subcultural things, like people who eat dirt. Yeah, I said dirt.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=people+who+eat+dirt&btnG=Search

Shem | February 23, 2006, 3:46pm | #

They're bull testicles, Douglas. They get them when they turn young bull into steer. They taste rather peculiar, I must say, and all the manner of names they have for them doesn't help matters.

I don't know if I could eat penis. I had a difficult enough time with testicles. Solidarity and all that.

Stevo Darkly | February 23, 2006, 3:53pm | #

One speciality, Canadian seal penis

Canadian Seal Penis -- yet another great name for a band.

Of all the foods I've tried, there are very few -- tongue, pork rinds, pickled pigs feet -- that I would never eat again. But genitalia meat is one of the few foods I would never even try.

keith | February 23, 2006, 4:11pm | #

Though both came sliced lengthwise, and looked like bacon, the horse was light and fatty, while the donkey had a firm colour and taste. The testicles were slightly crumbly, and tasted better with lashings of the sesame, soy and chilli dips thoughtfully provided.

This sounds like it was taken from some German porn site.

eric mattingly | February 23, 2006, 4:12pm | #

"'This is my third visit,' said one customer, Liu Qiang. 'Of course, there are other restaurants that serve the bian of individual animals. But this is the first that brings them all together.'"

Cringe.

mk | February 23, 2006, 4:20pm | #

I hear Heidi Klum rather likes it.

ZING!!!

Kevin | February 23, 2006, 4:21pm | #

Is this restaurant open to the public or is it members only?

SmokingPenguin | February 23, 2006, 4:26pm | #

Don't knock it till you've bitten it!

fyodor, a slightly different take on your "You Give Me Hard-on".

rac | February 23, 2006, 4:29pm | #

Kevin: I dont' think it's members only because it looks like you can bring the boys along if you want.

SmokingPenguin | February 23, 2006, 4:31pm | #

A members only restaurant? That is funny.

bubba | February 23, 2006, 4:35pm | #

At least here in Alaska we just kill em for the fur.

There's no comparison: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/29/world/main683863.shtml

He said the fishermen need to supplement their income, since many fishing families only earn about $9,800 a year from their catches of snow crabs, lobster or cod.

"They have to live on whatever they're capable of catching," Therien said. "The seal fisheries is part of their livelihood."

A report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, meanwhile, says the harvest of up to 975,000 seals will damage the marine mammal population.

"Any pretense of a scientifically based ... hunt has been abandoned and Canada's commercial seal hunt has become ? quite simply ? a cull, designed more to achieve short-term political objectives than those of a biologically sustainable hunt," the report said.

Fishermen participating in the hunt, however, blame seals and their voracious appetites for the devastation of Canada's fish stocks, in particular cod, and argue a cull is necessary.

The anti-sealing movement scored major victories in the 1970s and 1980s, convincing the United States and much of Europe to ban the import of pelts from white coat and young harp and hooded seals. The Canadian government in 1997 banned the killing of both in their first days, only allowing the pups to be hunted after they had shed their white coats.


I'm not sure why there's a distinction. Maybe the white ones are easier to catch. Maybe they want to make sure the fisherman have to kill even more seals to make a living.

The Native American/Eskimo whale hunts are silly. I'd be in favor of letting the Eskimos kill all the whales they want, so long as they use traditional equipment. No gunpowder. No motor boats. When they complain about global warming leading to their snowmobiles falling through the ice, I can't help but laugh. Snowmobiles!

GILMORE | February 23, 2006, 4:41pm | #

I can never use the expression, “Eat a Dick” ever again.

Can you get fries with that?

I wonder what would happen if you walked in and said, ‘I brought my own dick, I was just wondering if you could prepare it for me?’

TheDumbFish | February 23, 2006, 5:03pm | #

I don't think these people are eating that stuff to acquire virility, though, I think its just one of those weird subcultural things, like people who eat dirt. Yeah, I said dirt.

When there was no meat, we ate fowl. When there was no fowl, we ate crawdads. When there was no crawdads to be found, we ate dirt.

bob ross | February 23, 2006, 5:41pm | #

They should franchise in Anglophone countries and change the name of the restaurant to Dong's.

scape | February 23, 2006, 5:49pm | #

At the end of the meal, if the waiter asks you if you want a doggie bag, say no.

GILMORE | February 23, 2006, 6:12pm | #

'members only' has got to be the funniest comment so far.

"doggie bag" isnt far behind.

well done people

JG

Trey | February 23, 2006, 6:53pm | #

Imagine their disappointment when the first "Hooters" opens in Beijing.

me | February 23, 2006, 7:11pm | #

They should franchise in Anglophone countries and change the name of the restaurant to Dong's.

Nah, make it classy and subtle. Richard's.