#foods myths

[iknowicanbutwhy]

Corsets are fun! Frills are fun!

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

Snake Myths: Pet Snakes Eating Cats/Dogs/Children

For this series on snake myths, I'll be going through the results of this poll in order (and please feel free to suggest other topics!).

The myth: everyone who owns a pet snake has probably heard this one. You tell someone about your pet ball python or cornsnake, and you get something like "aren't you worried about your cat/dog/toddler?"

Many people repeating this myth will swear up and down they've heard it's possible for your pet ball python to eat a large dog like a husky!

The origins: along with developing out of a fear of snakes, part of this myth is likely due to people not understanding how big snakes actually are. When people who have never seen many real-life snakes hear a snake is six feet long, they expect a snake as big as a person, and not...this.

The reality: no snake short of a true giant, like a reticulated python or Burmese python, is going to be able to eat a dog or cat (even a tiny chihuahua!). Even my biggest pet snake, my 9-foot boa constrictor, struggles with small rabbits.

Smaller and more common pet snakes, like ball pythons and cornsnakes, will never be able to eat anything bigger than a rat. It's safe to say that your dogs and cats are safe - in fact, the real danger if they ever met would be to the snake! It's very easy for dogs and cats to hurt snakes without meaning to.

And as for snakes eating kids...unless your kid happens to be a mouse or perhaps a rat, they're in no danger from your pet snake!

[merriclo]

i love the idea that Wild is a big brother to basically all of the kids in his Hyrule. it’s such a good heacanon that i never see utilized.

[marzipanandminutiae]

The worst fake history myth about the Victorian era I ever came across was that the skirts were so wide to allow women to shit on the streets. (And apparently the undergarments opened for convenience).

...w h a t

I mean, the undergarments thing is true. drawers and, later, combinations (think a romper-style chemise/drawers mashup) had open crotch seams to allow ease of using facilities

using a PRIVY. or a CHAMBER POT. or a TOILET, from about the mid-1800s onwards. not THE FREAKING STREET

do you want to shit on the street, mythmaker? does that sound pleasant to you? would you like to walk around a shit-filled street? does this mean women in New Look evening gowns c. 1950s were also shitting in the street as they waited for their husbands or drivers to bring the car around? why are you less inclined to say that than to assign this idea to the Victorians?

so many questions. so much utter shit- in this concept, not on the streets

[petermorwood]

How on earth did these goats get there?

*****

In reality the goats are lying on their sides on rocky ground, looking up at a crane-mounted camera. The photograph was taken some years ago, part of a series reconstructing Central European folk customs and traditions which have fallen from favour or are now prohibited.

This old-fashioned rural blood-sport was originally practiced in parts of Anatolia, Turkey, where the game was called keçi fırlatmak, and also in the Carpathian Alps of Romania, possibly imported during the Ottoman conquest. The name there was aruncarea caprei.

*****

The goats would have been coated in a strong adhesive traditionally distilled from pine resin.(represented pictorially here by darker patches of dye on the flanks) and were then thrown upwards towards a cliff or rock-face with makeshift catapults, often a primitive form of counterweight trebuchet assembled from wooden beams and weighted with rocks.

The game ended when the glue dried and lost adhesion, and the goats fell to their deaths. They were then cooked and eaten, their meat being valued like that of Spanish fighting bulls.

The meat of the last goat to fall (başarılı keçi or cea mai durabilă capră) was prized as a special delicacy and selected cuts from the legs of this particular “winner” goat were often smoked and dried into a kind of jerky.

*****

In his “Grandes Histoires Vraies d'un Voyageur le 1er Avril” (pub. Mensonges & Faussetés, Paris, 1871) French folk-historian, anthropologist and retired cavalry general Gilles-Etienne Gérârd wrote about witnessing a festival near Sighișoara, Transylvania, in 1868.

There he claims to have seen catapults improvised from jeunes arbres, très élastiques et souples - “very springy and flexible young trees” - which were drawn back with ropes and then released.

Bets were placed before the throw, and marks given afterwards, according to what way up the goats adhered and for how long. The reconstruction, with both goats upright, facing outward and still in place, shows what would have been a potential high score.

The practice has been officially banned in both countries since the late 1940s, but supposedly still occurred in more isolated areas up to the end of the 20th century. Wooden beams from which the catapults were constructed could easily be disguised as barn-rafters etc., and of course flexible trees were, and are, just trees.

*****

Gérârd’s book incorrectly calls the goat jerky “pastrami”, to which he gives the meaning "meat of preservation".

While pastrami may be a printing error for the Turkish word bastırma or the Romanian pastramă, both meaning “preserved meat”, at least one reviewer claims that Gérârd misunderstood his guide-translator, who would have been working from rural dialect to formal Romanian to scholarly French.

Since this jerky was considered a good-luck food for shepherds, mountaineers, steeplejacks and others whose work involved a risk of falling, Gérârd's assumption seems a reasonable one.

However, several critical comments on that review have dismissed its conclusion, claiming "no translator could be so clumsy", but in its defence, other comments point out confusion between slang usage in the same language.

One cites American and British English, noting that even before differences in spelling (tire / tyre, kerb / curb etc.) "guns" can mean biceps or firearms, "flat" can mean a deflated wheel or a place to live, "ass" can mean buttocks or donkey and adds, with undisguised relish, some of the more embarrassing examples.

This comment concludes that since the errors "usually make sense in context", Gérârd's misapprehension is entitled to the same respect.

*****

The good-luck aspect of the meat apparently extended to work which involved "falling safely", since its last known use was believed to be in ration packs issued to the 1. Hava İndirme Tugayı (1st Airborne Brigade) of the Turkish Army, immediately before the invasion of Cyprus in July 1974.

Nothing more recent has been officially recorded, because the presence of cameras near military bases or possible - and of course illegal - contests is strongly (sometimes forcefully) discouraged, and the sport’s very existence is increasingly dismissed as an urban or more correctly rural legend.

The official line taken by both Anatolian and Carpathian authorities is that it was only ever a joke played on tourists, similar to the Australian “Drop-bear”, the Scottish “Wild Haggis” and the North American “Jackalope”.

They dismiss the evidence of Gérârd’s personal observation as “a wild fable to encourage sales of his book”, “a city-dweller’s misinterpretation of country practices”, or even “the deliberate deception of a gullible foreigner by humorous peasants”.

And as for those paratroop ration packs, Turkish involvement in Cyprus is still such a delicate subject that the standard response remains “no comment”.

[redbootsindoriath]

Happy Hobbit Day! (I almost forgot and it's technically well into the 23rd where I am right now, but I haven't gone to bed yet since waking up on the 22nd, so we'll say it counts.)

I think if Boromir had survived he should be allowed special permissions to go into the Shire to see his friends in their native habitat after everything is over.

Transcription:

Shire border security guard: "Sir I don't think you can bring those out with you..."

[elliegoose]

getting drunk and having an existential crisis about how i wish i were fatter

[katerinaaqu]

Odysseus and Polyphemus: The Brilliance of Homeric writing (an analysis based on rhapsody/book 6 of Odyssey)

This is why I think no adaptation ever managed to take a glimpse of the brilliancy of Homer's writing

In Homer's Odyssey few moments are said to be as famous and as infamous as the story of Odysseus and Polyphemus; the part where Odysseus shows both his cunning and cleverness as well as his infamous temper and partially his arrogance; the moment meant for the audience to learn humility and show them how hubris leads to nemesis with terrible consequences. And yet Homer made it very clear Odysseus was the hero and Polyphemus was the monster; the one who not only represents the barbaric people Greeks faced in their trips who do not understand the customs of Xenia or the validity of agriculture but also people who lack real companionship and emotional connections just like the ruthless nature the one that humans need to face.

However this analysis is not for that which we spoke about millions of times before. It is about that one moment in which the roles nearly reversed; the moment where Polyphemus suddenly became sympathetic and emotional and Odysseus became ruthless and vindictive.

In the 6th rhapsody of Odyssey we see how Odysseus tricked the Cyclops with his "outis" (nobody) trick, he got him drunk and blinded him. By doing so he made sure Polyphemus was alive and not crippled so he could open the heavy stone entrance of his cave plus making sure he and his men would be a bit safer from him if he couldn't see them. However as Polyphemus was standing by the entrance feeling his way there it was almost impossible to run past him. So Odysseus had the cunning idea to bind themselves to the bellies of his sheep so when Polyphemus was feeling them coming out he would feel the sheep and not them.

Odysseus himself tied himself under a large ram. That ram Odysseus thoroughly describes to the Pheakes being the favorite ram of Polyphemus.

The escape scene though is the moment where Polyphemus even if still clearly the villain is being shown emotional and full of pain and Odysseus even if clearly the hero he is cunning and vindictive.

Polyphemus being emotional

The moment in the Odyssey is actually very tender since we see Polyphemus talk to his favorite ram as if he talks to a person:

"Oh, ripe ram, why are you coming last, out of the cave, after the rest of my sheep? Has your strength left you, you who used to run first to graze soft blossoms and grass. You who strided far and reached first the streams of rivers, you who longed first to come back during the evening, now you come for last. Or do you see your master's eye, for a bad man has blinded him with his sad/mournful companions after he clouded his mind with wine, Nobody, who cannot escape doom. For if you agree that if you had voice you would tell me by which mean he is escaping my fury"

(Translation by me)

Polyphemus seems to have neighbors, the rest of the Cyclops who apparently show little to no compassion. They become alarmed by his cries of pain but when they hear that "nobody hurt him" they immediately tell him to shut up and take it, basically their "interest" is purely the neighbor kind. They seem void of emotions and yet here we see Polyphemus pouring out his soul in his favorite ram. He talks to it tenderly showing how secretly he needs some emotional connection. In a way he knows he and his neighbors are isolated from each other and he substitutes that with one of his animals. What is more he knew which was his favorite ram even if he came last and even if Polyphemus couldn't see. Showing the deep bond with the animal.

Polyphemus is in pain

Odysseus despite the fact he is running for his life he knows exactly how much pain Polyphemus is in:

"And the Cyclops with sighs and moans of anguish/pain he was feeling with his hands, from the stone he lifted off the entrance"

(Translation by me)

Odysseus knows very well Polyphemus is wounded and he knows very well that the sighs and moans Polyphemus makes are of the incredible pain he is in and yet he shows zero compassion. If anything he is feeling triumph that Polyphemus is getting what he deserved after the terrible things he put him and his men through (the constant fear and anxiety) and his men that were brutally eaten (smashed on the ground then their limbs rooted out etc) which is still understandable given what Odysseus was and still is going through but it implies almost zero compassion on his part. In a way he matches Polyphemus energy who also shows zero compassion to him and his men. Plus despite the fact that Polyphemus is clearly in pain Odysseus still mocks him for acting like a fool thinking that guarding the entrance will help him catch them. He is being vindictive. His anger is of course justified given what he had been through but it is also interesting how unsanitized he is. He shows zero compassion and he is not ashamed of it given what Polyphemus did and he is not afraid to say that he felt so while telling his story to the Phaeakes.

Odysseus always describes Polyphemus as "monster" and "cyclops" instead of calling him by name (minus one exception)

Consequently in this scene not only Odysseus does refer to Polyphemus that he is a fool to think he can catch him despite the fact that he is in pain, Odysseus refers to Polyphemus as "monster" or "cyclops" instead of calling him by name. Even when Polyphemus is groaning and moaning in pain he is at Odysseus constantly calls him monster (πέλωρ) plus "godless monster" or "cyclops". The only moment where Polyphemus is mentioned by name (Κρατερός Πολύφημος= Powerful Polyphemus) is before the tender dialog with the ram. In a way he is referred to as a satient being only when he is about to show emotion.

Odysseus takes his favorite ram

As I mentioned to another humorous and a bit more light-spirited post of mine, Odysseus picks up the biggest ram but also Polyphemus's favorite. From the description we know that Odysseus knows this was his favorite. He isn't just taking a ram out of symbolism (in the Iliad Odysseus is described looking like a thick-haired ram) but he seems to make a conscious choice picking the one that was Polyphemus's favorite. Taking his sight doesn't seem enough punishment in Odysseus's mind. He wants to hurt Polyphemus even more for all he did to his men. He makes a deliberate choice to take the one he has observed over the days he spent locked up in the cave as his favorite. And we also see how important that ram is to Polyphemus. Odysseus takes it from him the same way Polyphemus took his beloved comrades so violently away from him.

Conclusions:

I believe that no one ever managed to transfer this Brilliance of writing in adaptations. Homer managed to still let us know who the hero and who the villain is (Polyphemus acts as if he did nothing wrong and is Odysseus the one who is "evil" who blinded him because he is an evil devious man) however the villain without aiming to be someone you root for or someone that was "misunderstood" we still see some emotion out of and we can feel some compassion for his situation. What is more Polyphemus clearly had a bond with his favorite ram given not only the tenderness with which he talks to it but also the fact that he knew which his favorite ram was even if he was blind.

Odysseus is still clearly the hero; the one who struggles to survive and save his comrades by a man-eating monster and yet the audience might as well feel a bit repelled by his grudge holding scene in which despite the fact he is running for his life he is still trying to hurt his opponent in a way preparing the audience emotionally for the main lesson we learn in the Odyssey; not to be arrogant and stay humble.

Odysseus is rightfully furious. No matter what someone says he had every right to get angry. He was emotionally and mentally exhausted from a week of being locked up and helpless watching his men die so brutally and yet he let his anger speak making him vindictive and arrogant; wishing his opponent to hurt as much as possible for what he did to him and his men and slowly succumbing to that anger enough to reveal his name proudly.

It wasn't him mentioning who he was that was his doom. It was the WAY he revealed it; anger and pride were his downfall. Not him speaking on who he was. It was his impulse to elevate himself to the same or higher level than a son of a God and consequently to God's level. Poseidon would know who it was whether he said so or not. It was THIS vindictive nature and the nature of him desiring to hurt and humiliate his opponent and his impulsive anger that doomed him and I think Homer showed that with just a few lyrics before the critical moment.

This is why for me Homer's talent is unparalleled.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

When you look at the actual report from IPC that they are referring to, the actual numbers show a dramatic improvement in food access in Gaza since earlier this year

Here the IPC shows that the percentage of people with acceptable food consumption in the north, center and south of Gaza since November.

Green is "acceptable" and red is "poor."

In every part of Gaza, the food consumption score has increased by a huge amount since January.From 34% to 77% in Rafah.

[mobblespsycho100]

something something browns and grays/silver being a prominent part of Kabru's color scheme/design (and his blue eyes) something something the Earth something something Orbit. The moon is Earth's only natural satellite. something something steel sword. the blade of the world

[demeterdefence]

my energy has been low lately so i've stuck to just liveblogging chapter releases, but i was thinking earlier about why lore olympus really nettles me and it's truly indicative of a wider issue.

it's disappointing that a major ancient religion that is still practiced by some people today has been reduced to a caricature of itself, and i say this knowing that there are thousands of reinterpretations of the greek myths, there will always be a new opinion or retelling of them. retelling the myth of hades and persephone isn't necessarily the issue, so much as the constant and dripping disdain to the cultural roots. we don't need to be greek to appreciate the story, but why remove everything greek from it? why westernize every aspect and remove ties to the cultural roots? why whitewash everything from a myth thousands of years old?

part of the reason these myths continue to resonate with us is because the themes are still relevant today. the loss of a child, the struggle against impossible forces, the (often patriarchal) powers against you, a mothers love. these stories hold power, they gave hope and inspiration, they created meaning and connection, and they were vital to the people who lived in that time, in that place. they will resonate with us for many years still, but stripping the roots and core of it out only makes it a hollow, shallow imitation. it's reality tv with neon colours, no love or heritage present; it's cold and shiny and plastic, and it insults what it claims to portray.

[rainbowskittle]

If you Greek and lgbtq+ hiii! Can we be friends ?? Your food is delicious and country is beautiful!! Haha.

[voidami]

The Great leap forward

The Great Leap Forward (GLF) and the associated famine in China from 1959-1961 have often been subjected to significant myth-making, much of which exaggerates the death tolls and distorts the causes and outcomes. Commonly, figures as high as 30 to 45 million are cited, largely based on estimates from Western demographers like Judith Banister and Frank Dikötter. However, deeper analysis and more recent scholarship—particularly the work of mathematician Sun Jingxian—suggest that these numbers are highly inflated and do not account for various factors that contribute to a more realistic understanding of the famine.

Re-Evaluating Death Toll Figures

The initial myth that "tens of millions" died during the GLF has been largely debunked through more careful statistical and historical analysis. According to Sun Jingxian, the estimated death toll from the famine was around 3.66 million deaths, which includes deaths from various causes, not just starvation. This number is 8% of the 45 million figure posited by Dikötter, and 12% of Banister's estimate of 30 million. Sun’s work shows that deaths during the famine were not caused solely by starvation but included other "unnatural deaths," such as deaths from diseases exacerbated by malnutrition. This reevaluation places the famine in a context comparable to other major historical famines in China, which also had multifaceted causes rooted in poverty and ecological challenges.

A key point in Sun’s work is the differentiation between year-end registered household population and total population. If a similar methodology were applied to the U.S. during the Great Depression, it could lead to vastly inflated death toll estimates, anywhere from 67 to 170 million deaths, a number that is patently absurd. This comparison highlights the dangers of relying on simplistic population metrics without understanding the nuances of registration systems and migration patterns.

Natural Disasters and Systemic Factors

The famine was exacerbated by severe natural disasters. Droughts, floods, and other ecological crises significantly reduced grain production during the period. Claims that systemic factors like the public canteen system or the planned economy were to blame for the famine are largely based on misconceptions. For example, the public canteen system is often portrayed as a "Tragedy of the Commons" scenario, where people supposedly over-consumed resources, leading to shortages. However, this system was not widely implemented across China, and even where it was, only 22% of canteens offered unrestricted supply. Most canteens only provided extra grain for laborers during harvest seasons, making it an unlikely culprit for mass famine.

Similarly, the notion that the planned economy was responsible for the famine ignores the fact that the planned economy had been in place long before and continued after the famine without leading to similar crises. The city-oriented grain supply system is another factor often cited, with claims that urban areas drained grain resources from rural farmers. While there was some truth to this, it overlooks the reselling of grain to rural areas during the famine, which mitigated the impact of urban preferences to some degree.

Historical Context of Chinese Famines

China has a long history of recurring famines, particularly under imperial rule and during the early republican period. For centuries, China’s agrarian society was vulnerable to natural disasters, ineffective governance, and foreign exploitation, leading to regular, catastrophic famines. For example:

The Great North China Famine (1876–1879) killed an estimated 9-13 million people.

The 1907 Famine resulted in approximately 24 million deaths.

In the early 20th century, the 1928-1931 famine caused 3-6 million deaths, while the 1936-1937 famine claimed another 5 million lives.

Annual death tolls from famine ranged between 2-8 million during turbulent periods like the Warlord Era and the Sino-Japanese War, illustrating the chronic nature of famine in China prior to Mao’s leadership. It is crucial to note that the famine during the GLF was the last major famine in Chinese history, marking a significant shift from previous eras where famines were a persistent, almost annual occurrence.

Human and Political Factors

Mao Zedong is often held responsible for the failures of the GLF, but the reality is more complex. While Mao did push for rapid industrialization and agricultural transformation, many key decisions during the famine were made collectively by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCCPC). By the time the famine peaked, Mao had already retired to a secondary position, leaving leaders like Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping to oversee much of the national response. Moreover, local cadres were often reluctant to report real conditions due to the political atmosphere, further delaying disaster relief efforts.

The Sino-Soviet split also played a role, as the deterioration in Sino-Soviet relations curtailed grain imports and exacerbated the famine. Still, the Chinese government took various actions to mitigate the disaster, including grain imports, agricultural policy adjustments, and efforts to inform the public of the situation and acknowledge mistakes. While not everything worked as planned, these measures undoubtedly reduced the scale of the disaster.

Criticism of Exaggerated Narratives

Many narratives today selectively present facts about the famine, often exaggerating its scale to make ideological arguments against socialism and the Chinese Communist Party (CPC). These narratives aim to invalidate the first 30 years of the PRC and undermine the CPC’s achievements in nation-building. Comparisons between death rates in India and China during the famine are telling: in 1960, at the height of the famine, China's death rate was 2.543%, nearly identical to India's rate of 2.4%—yet only China's rate is deemed problematic in Western critiques.

Sun Jingxian's research challenges the widely held assumption that the GLF was an unmitigated disaster caused by ideological fervor. Instead, he presents a more balanced view, acknowledging that the famine was a tragic event, but one that was not unprecedented in China's history and was largely mitigated through the CPC’s efforts.

A common myth surrounding the Great Leap Forward is that the Four Pests Campaign, particularly the killing of sparrows, led to crop failures by causing a surge in insect populations, especially locusts. However, this claim is largely exaggerated.

While sparrows were targeted for eating grain seeds, they also consumed insects, and their eradication may have had some ecological impact. However, sparrows were not the primary predator of locusts, and other natural factors, such as floods and droughts, had a far greater effect on crop failures during the GLF.

Moreover, the Chinese government quickly adjusted its approach, replacing sparrows with bed bugs on the pest list by 1960. The main causes of the famine were natural disasters, bureaucratic mismanagement, and external factors like the Sino-Soviet Split, not the sparrow policy. This myth has been overstated in an attempt to discredit Mao’s policies and oversimplify the famine’s complex causes.

The Great Leap Forward famine was a tragic event, but it must be understood in the broader context of Chinese history and the global struggles of agrarian societies transitioning to modernity. The death toll, while significant, has been exaggerated in Western accounts, and many of the purported causes of the famine are based on ideological hostility rather than material analysis.

By considering the natural disasters, bureaucratic failings, and political climate that contributed to the famine, we can arrive at a more accurate picture, one that situates the GLF within a long history of famines in China. Moreover, the measures taken by the Chinese government, while not perfect, helped to prevent future famines, making the 1959-1961 famine the last major famine in China’s history—an achievement that should not be overlooked.

References/sources:

Some links may be omitted due to Tumblr limits but available here: https://voidami.wordpress.com/2024/09/13/the-great-leap-forward/

"The Great Leap Forward: Anatomy of a Historical Catastrophe" by Liu Renwen - Provides a detailed analysis of the GLF and addresses various myths surrounding it.

"Mao’s Great Famine: The History of China’s Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–1962" by Frank Dikötter - Examines the famine in detail, including the impact of policies and natural disasters.

"The Great Leap Forward and the Chinese Famine of 1959-1961" by Sun Jingxian - Offers a critical re-evaluation of the death toll and causes of the famine.

"Famine in China: 1959-1961" by Xue Muqiao - Discusses the impact of various policies and natural factors on the famine.

Specific Topics

"The Four Pests Campaign" - An overview of the campaign’s objectives and outcomes. Available in Historical Studies journals.

"Ecological Consequences of the Great Leap Forward: An Evaluation of the Four Pests Campaign" by Hao Yufan - Analyzes the ecological impact of the campaign, including the sparrow policy.

"The Environmental Impact of the Great Leap Forward: A Critical Review" by Li Xiaohua - Discusses the broader environmental impacts of the GLF, including pest control measures.

"Pests, Plagues, and Policy: The Great Leap Forward and Its Ecological Consequences" by Zhao Yao - Examines the myths and realities surrounding pest control during the GLF.

Famine and Death Toll

"China’s Great Leap: The Leap into the Future" by Kong Yiji - Provides statistical analysis of the famine's impact and death toll.

"The Death Toll of the Great Leap Forward: Reassessing Historical Data" by Wang Qing - Re-evaluates historical death toll estimates and their accuracy.

"Famines in China: Historical Perspectives and Modern Understandings" - Analyzes various famines in China’s history, including the GLF.

Additional Resources

Hungry Ghosts: Mao’s Secret Famine - Extensive response to claims around the Great Leap Forward and the associated famine.

Sun Jingxian and the Myth of Mao’s Genocide - Summary of Sun Jingxian’s paper and the debate on the famine's death toll.

Joseph Ball, The Mao Killed Millions Myth: The Last Word?

[eraserisms]

Shota + 🍙 Food Preferences

Let's talk about what Shota likes & doesn't like! Shota isn't particularly picky and eats whatever he can get his hands on. As far as Aizawa is concerned, a cooked meal is a cooked meal, even if it isn't something he favors.

Sweets

Shota is fond of sweet things. Some sweet things that he likes in particular are his jelly pouches (mostly the apple ones), strawberry & matcha cake, and mochi. He loves iced lattes, shaved ice and ice cream during the summer months. Matcha flavored things is his default preference. Shota does like chocolate here and there but there is a kind of richness to it that sometimes Shota can find to be too much. He does enjoy it in small doses though. Shota doesn't particularly care for floral flavors. Shota doesn't like the taste of lavender, jasmine or sakura.

Sour

Shota is a fan of sour things. He enjoys things like sour/green apples and citrus fruits. He loves yuzu lemon, oranges, grapefruit and limes in that order. He enjoys cherries when they are sweet, but he also loves when they have a tartness to them. He is a huge fan of pickled and fermented vegetables. Some of his favorite things to eat are kimchi, pickles of all kind of varieties; cucumbers, carrots, garlic, onions. Umeboshi is another sour food that he likes. He enjoys them cooked with rice and also loves them as a stuffing for onigiri. While Shota does enjoy sour things, he doesn't really like things that are more on the artificial side of things. Things covered with citric acid are usually a no-go such as Sour Patch Kids or Warheads.

Cuisines

Western cuisine really isn't his thing, but that isn't to say he hates it. Shota's favorite Western fare is Italian, but he also enjoys haute cuisine and Spanish dishes as well. American food isn't his favorite, but there are some things that he does really enjoy; burgers, fries and ribs. American foods that he isn't really fond of are turkey and mac & cheese. Some other victual that Shota has a distaste for is Indian and while Shota isn't all that familiar with African, Latin or South American food, those too wouldn't fall under one of his favorites. But that isn't to say that Shota would be incapable of finding a dish or two from those places that he would enjoy. The reason why Shota would dislike these continental cuisines comes down to Shota's spice preferences. Shota isn't a huge fan of herbs and spices such as cumin, nutmeg, allspice coriander, cloves and cilantro (it tastes like soap to him). This is also why he doesn't care for pumpkin spice flavored things. Some other foods that Shota doesn't like are avocado and eggplant due to their texture. He does like the flavor of okra, but it has to be prepared in a way that the texture isn't slimy. On the flipside, Shota loves Korean, Chinese and Thai food.

Favorite Dishes

Japanese: Yakimeshi, Tonkatsu, Ramen, Tempura, Onigiri, Korean: Kimchi-jjigae, Japchae, Jjajangmyeon, Dubu-jorim Italian: Carbonara, Spaghetti alla puttanesca, Pizza, Tiramisu Other: Ban Mi, (Vietnamese) Mapo Tofu, Congee, Peking Duck (Chinese) Tom Sum, Pad Thai, Pad see ew(Thai)

Alcohol

Shota's favorite liquor is whiskey, but Soju follows as a close second for him. Given Shota's close relationship with his maternal grandmother, Shota finds it nostalgic. He used to drink it with her, especially when he spent his summers in Korea. They usually would do either shots of it or make somaek (Soju bombs). Shota also enjoys having a beer or two after work or on the weekends when he has the time. He usually ends up going out onto the porch to drink and have a cigarette with it. If he is going out with co-workers, beer is his his liquor of choice. Shota isn't a fan of tequila or gin. He straight up just doesn't like tequila, and doesn't like the floral taste of gin. Shota dislikes seltzers such as White Claw because they are too dry for him and don't have enough sweetness.

Spice Tolerance

Having spent so much of his childhood in Korea, Shota has a decent tolerance for spice. Sometimes his tolerance can vary though, if Shota hasn't had spicy food for a while, that obviously plays a factor in how much he can handle.

Temperature

If food is supposed to be served warm, and isn't boiling lava hot, Shota probably isn't going to want it.

[lindenmybeloved]

Something something Narcissus and Echo dynamic

[cherryfleischer]

"If a pregnant woman doesn't mind eating lamb she will have a boy; pregnant women who carry boys can eat lamb, but the ones who carry girls can't stand it"

"If a pregnant woman see something ugly, she shouldn't be grabbing her stomach, because then the baby will be ugly"