Cologne Hotels
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Fish Bones
Entry 46 of 61 | show all | print this entry |
In celebration of Ash Wednesday, almost all of the restaurants and pubs here in Cologne prepare an authentic fish dinner. Most of the dinners include deep-fried fish, scalloped potatoes, and a salad. So Wednesday evening, Steve and I went to a "Bierhaus" down the street to participate in this German tradition.
Of course I was very apprehensive about going because I HATE fish. I always have. I don't like the way it smells, I don't like the way it looks, and I don't like the way it tastes. Every time I think of fish, I'm reminded of a time when my Dad and I went fishing when I was kid. I remember him saying to me, "Now before we can cook the fish, we have to gut it first." Not knowing what that meant, I thought, "No problem" until I saw him fillet the belly of the fish open. I was doing fine until I saw what he pulled out and that was pretty much it for me.
With this traumatic memory in the back of my mind, I don't know why I ever agreed to this fish dinner in the first place. Perhaps it was the fact that Steve and I have participated in every other German tradition since we've been here. Or maybe it was the fact that I was just too stubborn to say "No". I'm not really sure. What I do know is that as soon as we sat down at our table, I was already looking for the exit sign!
When our dinner finally came, it really didn't look that bad. In fact, the fish kind of looked like a chicken breast. But I wasn't going to let that deceive me. Before I took my first bite, I squeezed ketchup on my plate as a precautionary measure. I figured if the fish was horrible, the ketchup would at least mask the taste long enough for me to swallow it. Unfortunately, the ketchup was flavored with a German curry seasoning that tasted really strange. So I had no choice but to eat the fish on its own. To my great surprise, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. In fact, it actually tasted pretty good. I was shocked!
Thrilled that I finally made the leap into seafood other than shrimp and crab legs, I was really enjoying the fish until Steve pulled a fishbone out of his mouth. He held it out and said, "I'm not trying to scare you or anything, but when you eat fish...you have to be careful not to eat the fish bones. That's why you have to chew it slow." Are you kidding me? I just worked up enough courage to finally eat fish and now I have to fear for my safety in order to eat it!
Since I had already eaten half of my fish before he told me this, I started to panic wondering how many fish bones were already floating around inside my stomach. Curious as to how many more bones were still left inside the fish on my plate, I started digging around with my fork. I found 7 more! I could be dead by morning...
As I sat there staring at the remaining bones next to my plate, Steve grabbed my hand and said, "Calm down honey, not all fish still have the bones left inside them!" Well, that's good to know. In spite of his attempts to reassure me, I've now had two traumatic experiences with these creatures of the sea. From fish guts to fish bones...I doubt I will ever be eating fish in Germany (or anywhere else for that matter) anytime soon!
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