http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/27/D8FD985GA.html

The bill for a party of 10: $24,500.
Among the other rarities offered are, a "three-headed" Japanese abalone,
which cost $2,400 each and
50-year-old Pu'er tea from southern Yunnan province.
**
I keep Pu'er tea on hand -- it gets pretty mummified tasting. I wonder what
50-year old would taste like. I'll never know.
Dee Dee

Dee Randall wrote:

> Among the other rarities offered are, a "three-headed" Japanese abalone,
> which cost $2,400 each and
> 50-year-old Pu'er tea from southern Yunnan province.
> **
> I keep Pu'er tea on hand -- it gets pretty mummified tasting. I wonder what
> 50-year old would taste like. I'll never know.

Food extravagance is cool. As to Pu-er tea, I don't know about
'mummified' but you can get it in pressed cakes as well as in leaves.
When we go out for dim sum, we normally get Pu-er tea with
chrysanthemum blossoms. (If you don't ask for your favorite tea, most
places around here will automatically give you jasmine.)

There are a lot of New Years traditional foods. We pick and choose,
except that we *always* have tangerines. -aem

On Fri 27 Jan 2006 07:21:44p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Dee
Randall?

>
> http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/27/D8FD985GA.html
>
> The bill for a party of 10: $24,500.
> Among the other rarities offered are, a "three-headed" Japanese abalone,
> which cost $2,400 each and
> 50-year-old Pu'er tea from southern Yunnan province.
> **
> I keep Pu'er tea on hand -- it gets pretty mummified tasting. I wonder
> what 50-year old would taste like. I'll never know.
> Dee Dee

How many of those abalone did you eat, Dee?


--
Wayne Boatwright o¿o
____________________

BIOYA

(Dee*Randall)WROTE:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/27/D8FD985GA.html
The bill for a party of 10: $24,500.
Among the other rarities offered are, a "three-headed" Japanese abalone,
which cost $2,400 each and
50-year-old Pu'er tea from southern Yunnan
province.------------------------------------------
RESPONSE: $24,500 could have went to better use such as feeding &
helping their own poor.

ms. tonya wrote:
> (Dee Randall)WROTE:
>
> The bill for a party of 10: $24,500.
> Among the other rarities offered are, a "three-headed" Japanese abalone,
> which cost $2,400 each and
> 50-year-old Pu'er tea from southern Yunnan
> province.------------------------------------------
> RESPONSE: $24,500 could have went to better use such as feeding &
> helping their own poor.


Just *their* poor and nobody else's???

It's her money and she can do with it as she pleases.

"Wayne Boatwright" <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote in message
28.19...
> On Fri 27 Jan 2006 07:21:44p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Dee
> Randall?
>
>>
>> http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/27/D8FD985GA.html
>>
>> The bill for a party of 10: $24,500.
>> Among the other rarities offered are, a "three-headed" Japanese abalone,
>> which cost $2,400 each and
>> 50-year-old Pu'er tea from southern Yunnan province.
>> **
>> I keep Pu'er tea on hand -- it gets pretty mummified tasting. I wonder
>> what 50-year old would taste like. I'll never know.
>> Dee Dee
>
> How many of those abalone did you eat, Dee?

> Wayne Boatwright o¿o

I wish. I've not had abalone since the late 70's, fresh from a fishing boat
as I recall and once or twice in a San Diego restaurant. I wonder, is it
even available in the U.S.?
Dee Dee

"itsjoannotjoann" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> ms. tonya wrote:
>> (Dee Randall)WROTE:
>>
>> The bill for a party of 10: $24,500.
>> Among the other rarities offered are, a "three-headed" Japanese abalone,
>> which cost $2,400 each and
>> 50-year-old Pu'er tea from southern Yunnan
>> province.------------------------------------------
>> RESPONSE: $24,500 could have went to better use such as feeding &
>> helping their own poor.
>
>
> Just *their* poor and nobody else's???
>
> It's her money and she can do with it as she pleases.

MY money? I wish! (:-{
Dee Dee

Dee Randall wrote:
> http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/27/D8FD985GA.html
>
> The bill for a party of 10: $24,500.
> Among the other rarities offered are, a "three-headed" Japanese abalone,
> which cost $2,400 each

"Three-headed Japanese abalone" sounds like a bad translation of a
Chinese colloquialism to me. As I understand it, the expression means
the abalone weighs 3 to a catty (or whatever modern equivalent unit in
use in mainland China). It's just an indication of size. I hope there's
more to the abalone than being "three-headed", because bigger ones exist
-- I've heard of "two headed" ones.

Dee Randall wrote:
>
> I wish. I've not had abalone since the late 70's, fresh from a fishing boat
> as I recall and once or twice in a San Diego restaurant. I wonder, is it
> even available in the U.S.?
> Dee Dee

Abalone is (was?) pretty often served in Chinese feasts. Dried ones may
be available from Chinatown stores that sell dried seafood delicacies.

> RESPONSE: $24,500 could have went to better use such as feeding *
> & helping their own poor.

What a dull, humorless response. And I totally agree.

The worst part for me is, when they say "rare" they mean ENDANGERED.
Like, you know, SHARK FIN soup. BEAR PENIS. RHINOCEROUS HORN. You
know on the National Geographic channel when they show dead animals in
the wild with tiny parts cut off, or their gallbladders removed?
*That's* what they're used for. $24,500 dinners.

So, sorry. It's kind of interesting that a meal could cost this much,
but mostly it's disgusting, and it's sad people are so stupid they'd
(1) pay for it, and (2) eat it.

Dee Randall wrote:
>
> I wish. I've not had abalone since the late 70's, fresh from a fishing boat
> as I recall and once or twice in a San Diego restaurant. I wonder, is it
> even available in the U.S.?

It is available but it's complicated. It can be found fresh, canned
and frozen. Canned is most often from Asia, some from Mexico. Frozen
can be from anywhere; some of it comes from abalone farming operations
in California and Hawaii, some from Mexican abalone farms. Fresh is
occasionally available in good seafood markets or good Asian markets,
and you'd have to ask them where they got it.

What makes it complicated is that there are several varieties of
abalone and they taste different. I've tried several brands of the
canned product from Thailand and haven't liked any of them. Found
some fresh about six years ago, paid a lot, and it was very good. Went
back and they didn't have any more. What I have done and continue to
do is search out the frozen stuff and try it. It's a crap shoot. I
have one source, a fish market about ten miles from me, that has it
about half the time I go looking for it. It's pretty good, but as
expensive as high quality fresh fish.

I'd think you could find a similar place somewhere in San Diego if you
go hunting for it. Or make friends with a bunch of scuba divers. I'll
bet there are some in SD who know where to go look for it. -aem

wrote:
> > RESPONSE: $24,500 could have went to better use such as feeding ?
> > & helping their own poor.
>
> What a dull, humorless response. And I totally agree.
>
> The worst part for me is, when they say "rare" they mean ENDANGERED.
> Like, you know, SHARK FIN soup. BEAR PENIS. RHINOCEROUS HORN. You
> know on the National Geographic channel when they show dead animals in
> the wild with tiny parts cut off, or their gallbladders removed?
> *That's* what they're used for. $24,500 dinners.
>
> So, sorry. It's kind of interesting that a meal could cost this much,
> but mostly it's disgusting, and it's sad people are so stupid they'd
> (1) pay for it, and (2) eat it.

I agree with you both completely--stuff like this is sad and
disgusting.--r3

My favorite quote from the article:

"People are getting lazier and they have less time to cook,"

Yes, the Chinese have gone totally bourgeois, steeping in denial and
making up rationalizations for splurging on themselves.

But ask yourself. Why can't you buy Chinese company stock from your
broker?

--Blair

"Jude" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Dee Randall wrote:
>> http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/27/D8FD985GA.html
>>
>> The bill for a party of 10: $24,500.
>> Among the other rarities offered are, a "three-headed" Japanese abalone,
>> which cost $2,400 each and
>> 50-year-old Pu'er tea from southern Yunnan province.
>> **
>> I keep Pu'er tea on hand -- it gets pretty mummified tasting. I wonder
>> what
>> 50-year old would taste like. I'll never know.
>> Dee Dee
>
> Now Dee, don'tbe such a pessimist! How old are you now? How old will
> you be in 50 years? I'm sure there are some things that have been
> pushed to the back of my pantry that will be disovered as 'vintage'
> foods.......all you have to do is save the tea ibn your pantry a little
> (lot) longer!
>
No pessimist here! There's no pu-erh in my pantry, I'd say over 10 hears
old. That still has me pushing 110 for the 50 year old tea. It would be
more possible to save-up-the money. Tee hee.
Dee Dee
Shenandoah Valley, VA
AGE 70!

wrote:
> > RESPONSE: $24,500 could have went to better use such as feeding ?
> > & helping their own poor.
>
> What a dull, humorless response. And I totally agree.
>
> The worst part for me is, when they say "rare" they mean ENDANGERED.
> Like, you know, SHARK FIN soup. BEAR PENIS. RHINOCEROUS HORN.

Bear penis? Really?

> You know on the National Geographic channel when they show dead animals in
> the wild with tiny parts cut off, or their gallbladders removed?
> *That's* what they're used for. $24,500 dinners.

Such poachers should be shot on sight.
>
> So, sorry. It's kind of interesting that a meal could cost this much,
> but mostly it's disgusting, and it's sad people are so stupid they'd
> (1) pay for it, and (2) eat it.

It is sad.

--Bryan

BoboBonobo wrote:
> wrote:
>
>>The worst part for me is, when they say "rare" they mean ENDANGERED.
>>Like, you know, SHARK FIN soup. BEAR PENIS. RHINOCEROUS HORN.
>
> Bear penis? Really?

Apparently. I've never heard of people eating bear penises until I saw
this. I've, however, heard of people eating bear palms as a delicacy.
The teacher who told me about bear palms also said that apart from being
rare and expensive, there's really nothing special to it. A quick search
on the Internet turned up more mentions of bear penises than bear palms.
I guess some people do eat them.

>>So, sorry. It's kind of interesting that a meal could cost this much,
>>but mostly it's disgusting, and it's sad people are so stupid they'd
>>(1) pay for it, and (2) eat it.

I think people who pay $24,500 for a meal like that are really doing it
mostly as an overt display of wealth and to satisfy their egos.

"John Long" > wrote in message
news:Gv9Df.7645$Cf7.1959@trnddc06...
> BoboBonobo wrote:
>> wrote:
>>
>>>The worst part for me is, when they say "rare" they mean ENDANGERED.
>>>Like, you know, SHARK FIN soup. BEAR PENIS. RHINOCEROUS HORN.
>>
>> Bear penis? Really?
>
> Apparently. I've never heard of people eating bear penises until I saw
> this. I've, however, heard of people eating bear palms as a delicacy. The
> teacher who told me about bear palms also said that apart from being rare
> and expensive, there's really nothing special to it. A quick search on the
> Internet turned up more mentions of bear penises than bear palms. I guess
> some people do eat them.
>
>>>So, sorry. It's kind of interesting that a meal could cost this much,
>>>but mostly it's disgusting, and it's sad people are so stupid they'd
>>>(1) pay for it, and (2) eat it.
>
> I think people who pay $24,500 for a meal like that are really doing it
> mostly as an overt display of wealth and to satisfy their egos.

Perhaps this amount of money is so little to persons who plonk down this
kind of cash wouldn't even qualify as an ego booster. Perhaps it is no more
money to hi-rollers than the cost of a kitchen tool to me. Maybe we are
underestimating the kind of wealth that people have and overestimating what
satisfaction they get from spending money. People like me can't envision
this kind of money, but there are "those that have, some that don't have."
And I don't think they think diddly about what we think.
Dee Dee