Goose Liver

Living in six other countries and traveling in more than 130 countries over the past 45 years, I have eaten some weird things.

But I started eating different foods at an early age. When I was 3 years old I would sit on the meat chopping block behind the meat and cheese cooler in the general store owned by Leon Tate in Black Hawk, Mississippi. Mr. Leon would cut me a small slab of “goose liver,” and I would gobble it down. The patrons laughed at me because they were not accustomed to any child eating “goose liver.” 

God was preparing me for a lifetime of traveling and eating different foods. I grew up in the Mississippi Delta where cotton was king for generations. Many immigrants settled in the Delta because of  job opportunities. Growing up I had many Chinese friends whose parents usually ran a small grocery store. They lived in the rear of these grocery stores, and they would often cook Chinese food and sell it out of their home kitchens.

The specialty of my favorite Chinese grocery store kitchen was actually not a Chinese dish, but it was sliced pork with a homemade sweet Asian barbeque sauce. Barbeque may not sound very Asian to many people, but it was my introduction to a lifetime of enjoying barbeque.

Our family enjoyed eating in restaurants owned by Greeks, Italians, Lebanese, and Syrians all in our small town. As a teenager working in the men’s store, I ate a lot of lunches in these restaurants and learned to love capers and anchovies on my salads. My pizza of choice today is anchovies, jalapenos, and onion—but no one ever wants to share it with me!!

My dad ran a food vending company owned by a Lebanese family for 26 years. My first experience with Arab food was in my hometown as we often ate Mediterranean delicacies from my dad’s boss’s kitchen and the kitchen of other Arab-Americans in our hometown.

When we lived in Upper Volta, West Africa, a delicacy of villagers was the stomach of sheep. It was boiled and it was so tough it was hard to chew and get down. Villagers usually served their delicacy to important people, and unfortunately, I was always important. It was difficult to gnaw on a bite of stomach while some kids near me were eating the delicious tender parts of the sheep.

One of the most popular cooking spices in the Sahel of West Africa is the dried fruit of a locust bean tree which is called by a different name in every local language. Children eat the yellow powder around the seeds, but the seeds are soaked and allowed to ferment to get the intense aroma that it gives. Frankly, it just stinks! During the eleven years we lived there, I always dreaded shaking hands with someone who was working with this spice. The strong aroma passed from their hands to my hands and then to my nostrils. Yuck! Remarkably enough, when cooked, the stinking substance does not taste bad at all.

Traveling in Central Asia for six years during the time of the fall of Communism, I was frequently offered the traditional fermented mare’s milk called “Kumis.” It is a mildly alcoholic drink originating with the Mongolians that is enjoyed all across Central Asia. Is it tasty? What would you think? The Central Asians love it, but most of their foreign visitors think it is not so good.  The Kyrgyz and Kazakhs say that you have to develop a taste for this delicacy.

In my travels in the Horn of Africa, I discovered another slightly fermented food. Injera is a sour flatbread used in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine that is thicker than a crepe but thinner than a pancake. It is made from teff, an ancient grain, and when cooked it has a sour taste. It is usually served with toppings called “wat.” I am not fond of the “fermenty” bread, but I do like the “wat” which can be any of a variety of toppings such as lentils, eggs, chicken stew, boiled collards, and other delicacies.

By the way, I was served a meal on my first ever flight to Paris on Air France in June 1976, and the appetizer was “pate’ de foie gras.” It is a popular food in France and is served in some of the most exquisite restaurants in the world. I have enjoyed eating it on every opportunity—although it is a pricey delicacy. Guess what it is---goose liver!

S. Truett Cathy once said, “Food is essential to life, therefore make it good.”

Thank you, Lord, for giving us between 2,000 and 4,000 taste buds in our mouths so that we can enjoy good food.