You don’t have to go far to find strange things these days – just browse your local main-line supermarket. I’m used to finding exotic ingredients and quirky imported products in ethnic markets, but here are three surprising things found in my local Harris Teeter and Giant Food.
Not-So-Southern Fried
For Thanksgiving, anyone with the death wish urge to deep-fry a Thanksgiving turkey had to look no further than the Olney Harris Teeter. Gallon containers of peanut oil were stacked in the aisle, complete with instructions printed on the sides. In case you thought that it was just the opportunity to score a lifetime supply.
Stuff-Stuff With Heavy
Also in a celebratory mood, HT is offering frozen terduckens. I admit to being tempted by these. For years I listened to the Thanksgiving special on PBS which featured a clutch of famous chefs showing up for dinner, each bringing their specialties. It’s been awhile since I’ve heard it, and several of the chefs (Julia Child, Paul Prudhomme) are no longer with us, alas.
Chef Paul brought the terducken. He described it as a Cajun specialty. A chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey, each deboned, and the whole roasted. He made it sound scrumptious, but it has to be tricky to get the timing just right, avoiding dried-out meat (too long) and a health hazard (too short), not to mention deboning three fowl, both finicking and messy.
But now! Through the miracle of modern technology, you can buy a ready-made construction for only $37.99! This version uses the breasts only, which I guess makes the architecture easier, but could lead to an even greater drying-out hazard. This situation has been presumably circumvented by including a center core of sausage. Ingenious. I might have sprung for it, but the price was too high for my frugal soul.
The Paws That Refreshes
And speaking of frugal, Giant now carries packages of chicken feet. These are run-of-the-mill for any well-stocked Asian or kosher market. To see them in Giant is interesting, but what puts the icing on the cake is the name bestowed upon them by the packaging: CHICKEN PAWS. Excuse me? Does Giant think shoppers will look at the package and say, “Oh, my! I simply must feed my family this brand-new part of the chicken tonight! They’re so tired of all the breasts and drumsticks after all these years! Who knew chickens had paws!?”??!!
(Sorry about all the punctuation. I couldn’t help it.) But then Giant goes and sobers up by stamping the price label with the cold hard truth. Chicken feet. Chicken paw stock; chicken foot stock. I guess it’s up to the consumer to decide: reality or fantasy?
Come to that, all three of these odd things have the element of fantasy to them. I don’t expect to deep-fry a turkey or debone three fowls to stuff them inside each other, but I might think about doing those things. I will not, however, in my wildest dreams, call chicken feet “paws.” And nobody else should, either.
