Iron Chef Megan (Gross Out Warning)

Anyone who has ever watched Food Network... and more specifically Iron Chef America knows that there is a world of food out there that most of us had no idea was there. And could probably live our whole lives without knowing was there. Take this week's episode for example: The theme ingredient was garlic.... mmmm.... Delicious, sweet, pungent... essential to any good cook's kitchen, the ubiquitous staple of any cuisine. Yes. And apparently sucking the brains out of a roasted squab head is a tasty way to enjoy the flavor of garlic. Sorry for the visual, but that's what they did. Seriously. Kind of like slurping oysters.

Now ordinarily, I'm a big fan of ICA. I've even got a TiVo season pass to the show. I love to cook and what better way to learn new and interesting ways to spice up (no pun intended) the kitchen~ and quickly too? But, there's cuisine, and then there's just plain crazy. And yes, I'm being culinarily closed-minded, and a little bit of an anti-gourmand. But come on... ewww.

I pride myself on having a family that will eat just about anything I put in front of them (with the definite exception of Shorty, my finicky gourmet). And they always seem ready to try new things. If the main ingredient is something the girls recognize, they'll try it no matter how it's prepared. Chicken a la King, Chicken Piccatta, Chicken Pad Thai or Chicken Paprikash. "What's for dinner?" they say... and I reply "chicken"... "Yummy!"... and everyone is happy, even my little carnivore, Ms. Finicky. So, I like to think that they can stomach a slightly more high-brow level of cuisine. But, to quote Tim Curry, from one of the funniest movies of all time: "Monkeys' brains, while popular in Cantonese cuisine, are not often to be found in Washington D.C." Likewise, squabs.

I guess the kitchen's not in Kansas anymore, and most of the time that's fine with me. But I draw the line at brains, tripe and talons (yes, there was actually a talon gripping a clove of garlic on the plate). I especially draw the line at sucking things out of heads. I raise my glass to raising my children to be epi-curious individuals, but you won't find any squabs in my kitchen. And I hope I won't find any in yours... shudder...

The goal of cooking is that people will eat the food, right?