Christmas Revelation: Bats Taste Like Rats

In what has got to be today's Worst Story to Read Over Breakfast, we find:

In the eastern island of Sulawesi, some Manado Christians swear by kawok, or garden rats, cooked with chilies and garlic, and paniki, or bats, cooked in coconut milk.

"Paniki's meat tastes almost the same as kawok but it has more muscles," said Manadonese Stephen Lapian. "But if you cut the arm pit in a wrong way, it will be very stinky." (Reuters)

Now, since it's from Reuters, it may not be entirely true, but I intend to be very, very careful the next time I cut the armpit of a bat.

In Japan, where I grew up, New Year Eve and New Year's Day are highly religious holidays, spent at the local shrines and performing ritualistic cleanings of bad spirits at home. So the ingenious Japanese have made Christmas a day for getting really drunk and eating lots of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

And you think we have trouble here keeping the Christ in Christmas!

Headline hat-tip: Incredible Daughter #1
Related Tags: Christmas, Cuisine