Raw ingredients

Before the turn of the century (that was only ten years ago), I went to Robins Bay Jamaica with an American doctor with a heart for one of the most poverty stricken areas in the country. We were the only guests at a local "resort" where our hostess prepared dinner for us promptly at 5:00 p.m. each day, no exceptions!

John, the ever committed and most dedicated doctor, would often stop for a house call or two after our day was over, making us late for dinner on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, we were at the mercy of our hostess for dinner no matter how late we were.

Sometimes we would be a half hour or an hour late, and we would have to eat whatever she cooked at room temperature, which was usually tolerable. But two nights, we arrived after 8:00 p.m. Not only was our dinner gone, but she added insult to injury by serving us cold fish-head soup. It was a milky color, and there were mysterious morsels of meat buried below the surface which I'm sure John could identify, but very graciously did not. We just kept convincing each other that all we had to do was not think about what it was and just keep swallowing. We did okay until they eyeballs floated to the surface. Suddenly, we were full and finished for the night. It wasn't til I went to Thailand a few years later that I saw the raw ingredients in the morning market waiting for someone else's soup.