In December’s Flyer we asked, “What’s the most unusual holiday dinner you’ve ever eaten?”
Congrats to Ania W. from Cleveland, whose story gives new meaning to that ol’ “Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub” saying:
The most unusual dinner I ever had was when I lived in Eastern Europe as a child.
The country I lived in was poor, and the food was hard to get. We used to stand in lines for hours to get basic foods. So to get the traditional carp for Christmas Eve you had to jump some hoops, use your friendships and connections.
This meant that often the fish would have to be purchased days ahead. That is fine, the only problem was that the fish was sold alive!
So my family purchase two carps, a week before Christmas and …. put them in a bathtub to keep them fresh! I know what you are thinking. Yes, we did get them out and scrub the tub before bathing!!! But our only bathroom became home for our Christmas Eve dinner for the whole 7 days. Being kids, we played with the fish, fed it and grew quite attached to it. It came as a shock when it was time to get the supper started and my dad came out of the bathroom with the fish on a plate.
That was the most bizarre and unusual dinner I ever had since. The oddest thing was that as much as we were traumatized (being just children) my sister and I still enjoyed the fish as it was a rare treat.
That sounds just like a children’s classic that I read when young: The Carp in the Bathtub by Barbra Cohen. Who knew it was that common to keep a carp in the tub…
Is the picture of the actual fish in the bathtub in Eastern Europe?
No, it’s not the actual fish – she told us that they never took a picture because it wasn’t “weird” – but it is a picture of a carp in a bathtub
Do you have Dragon Fruit at the Huntsville store????
I would love to be able to buy it fresh.
Thanks
Sorry Donna, but no we don’t. It’s very expensive and a seasonal item.