Puffer fish

We think that many have heard stories about a dangerous Japanese delicacy called fugu fish at least once in their lives. To be absolutely accurate, fugue or 河豚 is, first of all, the name of a number of dishes of national Japanese cuisine, which are made from pufferfish containing toxic poison tetrodotoxin, which is dangerous to human life and health. The Japanese are a mysterious nation, throughout its history, this amazing people play with death.

The dish fugu began to be made back in ancient Japan, when there was no opportunity to fully study the dangerous properties of the product. However, the fearless Japanese were not frightened either in those distant times, or now the possibility of instant death from just one piece of improperly cooked fugu fish. Until 1958, the deadly dish fugu was available only to the elite. Since the 60s of the last century, fugu fish has become the most coveted Japanese delicacy.

In order for chefs to allow puffer fish to be prepared, he had to take a long-term training course and then take a difficult exam to obtain a license. Such precautions are the key not only to the success of cooking, but also to the life, as well as the health of visitors to specialized Japanese restaurants serving puffa fish. According to the oldest Japanese tradition, a cook who improperly prepared fugu fish, and for this reason a person died, had to taste a deadly dish himself or commit harakiri, i. e. ritual suicide. In the modern world, such a tradition has lost its relevance.

Usually, dog fish or brown rock climbing "Takifugu rubripes" are used to make a dangerous dish. However, in addition to the climbing wall, other varieties of pufferfish are also used for fugue. True, any variety of puffer fish will differ in the content of poison in the body, the amount of which can be reduced with the correct preparation of the product. As a result of recent scientific research, a sensational conclusion was made. It turned out that the fugue fish itself does not produce toxic poison, but only accumulates the substance in its body.

This fact suggests that the poison enters the body of the fugue with food consumed by the fish. Tetrodotoxin is produced in simple marine plant organisms, which are then eaten by fish and other inhabitants of the deep sea. Such a scientific discovery provides an excellent opportunity to grow puffa fish in artificial conditions and avoid the accumulation of poison, only by changing the diet. True, asses from the Japanese culinary world are against such a venture, because the puffer fish, safe for life, will noticeably lose in price and become a publicly available food. Consequently, the masters will lose their colossal earnings.

Pughu fish claimed the lives of not a dozen people. Between 2004 and 2007 alone, 15 people died of fugue and about 50 were hospitalized with severe toxic poisoning. It should be borne in mind that the cost of puffer fish reaches record levels and not every foodie will be able to afford to taste a delicacy. The largest percentage of mortality was recorded when eating puffer fish liver. However, death, apparently, is not such a strong argument for fanatical foodies and thrill-seekers.