Do the Dog

[ianb@sun670.telecom.tandem.com (Ian Bui)]

"Who says Westerners can't eat dog (and like it)??"

In the summer of 1994 I went with a group of American 
MBA students on a trip to Hanoi as part of a class in
International Business. One day I decided to have dog
for lunch and asked if anyone wanted to join me. To my 
surprise, six people in the group said yes (after I had 
explained to them what it was they were about to try!) 

So off to Nhat Tan we all went. One of them didn't eat 
but wanted to come along just to watch and take pictures. 
The rest ate it like crazy. Some also tried the wine. A 
couple of guys even took a few hits of "thuo^'c la`o" at 
the end, then asked for some more :))

Joking about the experience, one of the students quipped, 
"This stuff is a little... 'Ruff!!'" (*) Not to be outdone, 
another person asked if we could take a <ahem> "doggy bag" 
back to the hotel (which we in fact did because there was 
some leftover do^`i cho' that nobody wanted to waste! :))

Anyhow, it was quite a memorable meal. It also sparked off
a series of "dog dish" jokes in our circle. Here are a few 
menu items that I can still remember, a la David Letterman:

<drum roll, please...>

#7 - Peking Dog
#6 - Chihuahua Wings
#5 - Hot & Sour Dog
#4 - Lassie a Linguini
#3 - Noodled Poodles
#2 - Schnauzerkraut

and... my all-time favorite:

#1 - Golden Fried Retriever!!! 

Bon appetit :)
Ian
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(*) 'Ruff' is both a common dog name and an onomatopoeic 
term for a dog's bark, it also puns with "rough"