Poop Parts

Levi hiding behind the mixed grill.

We were getting ready to bid farewell to Uruguay and start our adventure in Argentina.

Our last meal in Uruguay should be a nice one at a nice restaurant. We were in Colonia del Sacramento. The Portuguese founded Colonia in 1680 to smuggle goods into Buenos Aires, Argentina. Winding cobbled streets and beautiful views of the waterway. A pretty place to say goodbye to Uruguay.

Since we continue to struggle with Spanish, we tend to look at the plates coming out of the kitchen to determine what we want to eat and then it is some pointing so the waitress knows what to order us.

The 'special' at the restaurant was this impressive mixed grill meat platter full of wood roasted meats and sausages. We saw several coming out of the kitchen.  Pretty expensive, $50 Cndn, so Greg, Levi and I were going to share.

There were some sweet potatoes, a couple of roasted peppers and some bread. There was 1 chicken drumstick for Levi and then it was a bit of a mystery. There were some ribs, some flank type cuts, some chorizo sausages...... And then the real mystery began.  Blood sausage, a whole kidney, and then long ribbons along the side of the platter (sorta like garnish but much too big) which I have only seen in a Biology 30 class.  Most definitely intestine.

Now Anthony Bourdain's culinary show profiled these parts as a bit of a delicacy in Colombia (I never expected them in Uruguay) -- he referred to them as "poop parts" and if I remember correctly, I thought he said they weren't too bad.

I remained open-minded the whole while it took to cut a bite-sized piece off (it took about 20 saws with a steak knife). I quickly concluded it was the most foul and offensive thing I have ever eaten. You have to chew it lots or you can't swallow it and the flavour just keeps getting stronger and stronger. Chasing with beer doesn't help. How could it be that so many of these platters were leaving the kitchen?

Aghast, I said, "that is the worst thing I have ever tasted, even if I was offered $5000, I would not be able to eat that."  The kids were surprised. "Really Mom? That is a lot of money!"  I confirmed that it was just that bad and that I could not.    Pause....  and then Quinn piped up, "would you pay us $5000 if we ate it?"

I was so confident that they wouldn't get through it I agreed but added, "it will be extra money we would give you for your education". (Levi quickly wondered if I would discount his amount but allow him to use it for things other than school.)

Tough stuff.

Quinn tried it, open minded and confident. The process to get through one swallow had her shaking her head, gagging and abandoning the deal. Surprisingly, Levi also tried it; also unable to get past one bite. Colby approached the issue methodically, "how much would I get if I ate half of the intestine?", "what is the cost of a post-secondary semester?", "how much money did I make working last summer?"

WATCH THE VIDEO > >

She took half of the intestine on her plate knowing that she had $2000 education dollars at stake. I was completely confident that she physically would not be able to get through it knowing full well how horrid it tasted.

Must be that post secondary is on her mind and just around the corner.....  That girl was determined. Let me remind you that you can barely cut it with a knife and that you cannot swallow it without chewing. She got through half her portion and was about to abandon but realized that she couldn't possibly quit with nothing gained, she couldn't fathom it getting any worse, couldn't imagine walking away at this point ....... so she plowed through it all.

Earning an education.

So that was a couple of days ago now and I still look for opportunities to tease her. "Colby, do want some dental floss-- there might still be some intestine in your teeth." "Colby did you want to see if they have intestine flavour ice cream here?" .....   Every time she shudders but agrees in the end that it is a heck-of-a-story.