When I worked in a Chinese hotel restaurant in Korea, I got to taste a great diversity of food. All employees were trained about the menu before the restaurant's grand opening, so we had tasted all the food offered on the menu. For instance, we tasted shark's fin, sea cucumber, jellyfish, and turtle. I haven't seen a real shark, but I tried the shark's fin. It was very soft and semitransparent. When the fin was made into soup, it couldn't be found in the soup because it was torn into tiny pieces, almost becoming transparent. The shark's fin soup was like water, so there was nothing to chew at all. As thin as thread, the smooth fin soup slipped down my throat. Of all the dishes, the turtle is most impressed in my memory. There was a goldfish tank that included scallops, fish, and a turtle in the corner of the restaurant kitchen. The charming little turtle swam calmly in the tank. It was cute and the size of the palm of my hand. One evening, a customer ordered the turtle dishes, so our chef took out the innocent turtle from the tank. He took out a frozen kitchen board and took out a shining knife. I watched him tensely, and was expecting a disastrous scene. At that moment, the turtle didn't put out his head. The cruel, shining knife failed to kill the turtle. It expected the danger by instinct. I watched that red, flushing chef's face. He rapped the turtle's shell, and shook it. The turtle was as stubborn as a mule. The chef was angry because the customer was waiting for the food. Finally, the chef turned over the turtle on the kitchen board. The turtle put out its head in surprise. At the same time, the chef brought down the knife and cut the turtle's neck. Chop! The chef held its body and poured the blood into a cup. The turtle's blood fell in drops. The ruddy drops fell like the turtle's tears. Drop by drop... The scene was extremely horrible and sad, as if my pet had died. The gratified chef's eyes watched the turtle's pouring tears. A couple of minutes later, the turtle's tears were served to the customer and he was satisfied with the food. The turtle is well known to have a long life; therefore, many Asian people think that if people eat turtles, they will live long like a turtle. In these days, people want to live long and not grow old. As a reflection of these people's mentality, more and more people will provide a high demand for rare cuisine like the poor turtle.

 

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