| 's a certain weird appeal to the Japanese delicacy | | | | respiratory failure. Japanese lore holds that a chef |
| known as fugu. After all, it's not every day that the | | | | who prepares fugu incorrectly and thus kills his |
| food on your plate could bring about almost instant | | | | consumer must take the honorable way out and |
| death. | | | | disembowel himself. |
| Fugu is the Japanese name for the blowfish, also | | | | Licensed fugu chefs are carefully taught which parts |
| known as the pufferfish, which has the ability to puff | | | | of the fish are edible, and which parts contain the |
| up to twice its size and project poisonous spikes to | | | | deadly tetrodotoxin. The slices required to remove |
| defend itself from predators. The spikes of a | | | | the toxic parts of the fish are delicate and require a |
| blowfish contain tetradotoxin, a poison considered to | | | | skilled hand and a knowledge of exactly what to cut |
| be at least one thousand times deadlier than cyanide. | | | | away. Fugu chefs study and memorize the exact |
| Theoretically, the poison from one blowfish could kill | | | | layout of the fish and the location of every drop of |
| up to 30 people. | | | | poison, and learn how to remove it without removing |
| Fugu is served raw, and its widespread fame and | | | | the precious meat surrounding it. |
| notoriety doesn't come from its taste. In fact, it's | | | | Understandably, with all of this training and care |
| been described as a fairly bland, delicately flavored | | | | required, eating fugu is not exactly a cheap thrill. Fugu |
| fish that doesn't hold a candle to the more popular | | | | first arrived on American shores in 1989, during the |
| forms of Japanese seafood. It's a widely accepted | | | | boom of Japanese economy, but since the 1990s it |
| fact that the danger element is what draws people | | | | has dwindled in popularity and is now mostly found |
| to this peculiar delicacy. | | | | only in areas of New York and the west coast. |
| In the world of Japanese cuisine, it takes | | | | Japanese restaurants in America that serve fugu |
| approximately 10 years of rigorous training and a | | | | generally import the fish from Japanese chefs who |
| special licensing program before a chef can consider | | | | have already removed the poison and purified the |
| himself skilled in the art of preparing fugu. It is | | | | meat. Even without a fugu chef on staff, restaurants |
| estimated that about 6 people a year in Japan die | | | | can charge upwards of $150 for a plate of this exotic |
| from eating improperly prepared fugu, and the | | | | fish. But New York city chefs have adamantly stated |
| deaths are usually those of inexperienced chefs who | | | | that no one in the US has died from improperly |
| are testing their own handiwork. Approximately 60% | | | | prepared fugu since it came to this country in 1989. |
| of people who consume improperly prepared fugu will | | | | And for some thrill-seekers, it might be worth the |
| die from the poison, which leads to paralysis and | | | | price. |