A few weeks ago, I was at my buddy's house in Hanoi, Vietnam.  He told me that there was dog on the table.  Since it was lunch time, I assumed he meant—in the bowls.  Wanting to be polite, I helped myself to some.  Being a man of etiquette and not wanting to make a pig of myself, it was my desire to get as small a piece as possible.

So I took a piece with my chopsticks and put it in my rice bowl, not really examining closely the portion that I'd chosen.  To put off the inevitable, I turned to chat with my friend for a while before looking down to do what I knew I had to do.  I needed some time to prepare. When I finally looked down at my dog food….I mean, my food, to my horror, I'd selected none other than the foot.  The paw, to be exact.  The toenails and everything were still intact.  It was at that moment that a little voice inside of me said, "You should have gone to England!"  

All I can say is that the soft cushy part on the bottom of the paw is quite tender when cooked the right way.  So the next time you're tempted to complain about having to eat one more hamburger, just remember…it could get worse.

Oct 2000