European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Blood key b Rains Good for what ails you by Charlene l fun the associated press he Mengji restaurant in Haikou China smells of live game and fresh blood. One night just outside the front door a Bare bulb illuminated several dozen wire cages containing sea turtles larger than platters snakes partridges yellow weasels and other wild creatures. At a bloody wooden cutting Block a Butcher expertly skinned a Snake and drained its blood into a Glass. The chinese have a Long tradition of eating wild animals and taking potions made of their blood or Bones particularly in Southern cities such As Haikou capital of the Island province of Hainan. As for residents of Canton near the Border with Hong Kong other chinese like to say they will eat anything that moves except cars. Tradition holds that a person can acquire the strength and vigor of a wild animal by eating it Many animal parts Are prescribed As cures for specific ills for example customers at Mengji drink Snake blood with Rice wine in Hopes of curing backaches or enhancing sexual Potency. Partly As a result of these practices the Black Bear scaly Anteater giant Salamander Leopard and other animals Are on the endangered list and China finds itself criticized abroad. In september the . Agency that regulates Trade in wildlife recommended sanctions against China for its failure to end the smuggling of Rhinoceros Horn. According to chinese belief powdered Rhino Horn reduces High fevers. The United states also considered sanctions but publicly condemned China and Taiwan instead. Chinese officials became defensive insisting that they make great efforts to protect endangered species. No one knows How Many endangered animals Are killed each year in China to satisfy diners and Medicine makers but a recent report in the official newspaper Legal daily hinted at the size of the problem. It reported that a single restaurant in Canton served 183 monkeys 112 Hawks and 8.73 tons of pangolin Boas and pythons and giant lizards in a six month period. Inspectors who visited 136 hotels and restaurants in Canton found that nearly half were serving endangered wild creatures the paper said. A 1988 wildlife Protection Law prohibits the killing of endangered animals but enforcement is lax. Clement Ngai of the Hong Kong office of the world wide fund for nature said the habits Are hard to break even for some chinese committed to protecting wildlife. Also Ngai said China s booming Economy has created a new monies class for whom eating rare and expensive game is a popular Way to flaunt wealth. Whenever we have friends or clients from out of town we always bring them Here said a businessman a group of diners digs into a meal of chinese food which could include a helping from one or More endangered species. Who eats at Mengji several times a week. His average Cost for a meal is the equivalent of $88 to $175, said the businessman who would not give his name. The average wage in China is about $44 a month. The preferred Way of cooking at Mengji one of about 40 game restaurants in Haikou is to chop up the carcass put it in a Large pot with medicinal herbs let it simmer an hour or so then bring it to a Burner at the customer s table. Generally the result is a Dull looking Stew of whitened Bones and greyish meat coloured Only by Orange bits of Wolf Berry fruit which is said to be Good for the lungs kidneys eyes and stomach. Diners snatch a piece of Snake Vertebra a Turtle Shell or a Partridge Wing with their chopsticks the meat is stringy and flavor less but the thick Broth is surprisingly tasty a Rich combination of meat flavors and the lighter taste of herbs. A dishes made from monkeys Are reportedly among favourites at a Canton restaurant. Not All game is illegal to serve. Two protected animals the sea Turtle and masked Civet Are on the menu at Mengji but a supervisor said the civets were raised on a Breeding farm and the turtles came from Vietnam. He claimed that made it Legal to eat them. Traditional chinese health food according to traditional chinese Medicine eating wild animals can cure numerous human ailments. Here Are some widely accepted prescriptions menstruation problems Anteater Scales. Severe chronic headaches owl. Fever Turtle shells Rhinoceros horns. Male infertility Bull s genitals Snake blood Otter. Chronic scabies Fox. Rheumatic pain brain of the sloth. Flatulence wild cat. Upset stomach Tiger s stomach. Severe heart and abdominal pains Civet glands. Constipation Musk Deer Otter. Cough ground Bones of the chinese Badger in wine. Blood in the sputum chinese Badger fat. Dysentery soup of jackal skin or wild dog skin. Malaria Tiger meat or skin. Backaches shake blood i scr Fula Tiger s testes. The associated press waitress Robin Mank flirts with customer John Drake amid the hubcaps of the roadkill cafe. Where both the food and staff Are fresh by Michelle Kearns the associated press n the Way to Maine s North Woods where every few minutes a rumbling logging truck hits critters that Don t move fast enough there s a Little restaurant that makes no Bones about cooking what gets left behind. Instead of a grilled Chicken Sandwich the roadkill cafe in Greenville serves up Chicken that did t make it across the Road. A Basic Bye Bye Bambi Burger comes with Tomato onion Mayo and what appears to be either a Pickle or a very old Don t take the menu literally. The cafe s vittles Aren t scraped off the local Highway. It s Basic restaurant fare including hamburgers Chicken sandwiches and salads dished up with a Sprinkle of Black humor to give patrons what owners Mariette Sinclair and Leigh Turner like to Call a memorable dining for a Sample of what they mean by memorable ask for some Cream in your Coffee and the waiter might toss a few plastic containers of Dairy Creamer into your cup. Or wonder aloud if the Venison is real. As opposed to the fake Wax stuff they sell in most restaurants says Greydon Turner a waiter. Bac talking waiters and waitresses an irreverent menu Kitchen dramatics and decor chock full of Road Memorabilia Are the ingredients that have made the roadkill afe a top tourist attraction in Greenville a town with a population of Only about 1,400. Thousands of visitors drop by the roadkill cafe every year. One Man flew in from Dallas on a private Jet for lunch and then flew Home again. Everyone on the restaurant staff gets into the act. When orders Are ready someone in the Kitchen might ring a Cowbell or blow a Horn that sounds like a Goose a Moose or a Crow. Each server is assigned a different noise. A Cook named Freddy is fond of Yelling Down boy Down boy As he pounds on Chicken breasts before grilling them. When he s done he might throw handfuls of feathers out the Kitchen door. Management encourages As much creativity is possible. What we Tell servers who come to work for us is you May do anything you like in the service of your guests qualified Only by two restrictions you can t offend anybody and we want to hear laughter coming out of your tables says Leigh Turner. We try very hard to Lampoon the pretensions of Fine one waiter specializes in impressions. Waitress Robin Mank is an unashamed flirt. I personally love single men on vacation she says. And then there Are the roadkill performances that Are a team Effort. Mayhem broke out one night when a party of 20 people got so Rowdy that the waiter handed out straws and napkins and offered a Dollar to anyone who could hit another server from behind with a spitball. The place erupted with spitball fights. They ended up putting him Down on the floor and spraying shaving Cream All Over his head after he attacked them with whipped Cream says Leigh Turner. The place just went often the staff seems to have More fun than the guests. We re amazed when we get vegetarians. We say in a loud voice Why Are you Here did t you read the sign " Leigh Turner says. On a recent evening someone called the roadkill cafe to make reservations for 1 3 people who planned to drop in for dinner after a funeral. The first thing the waitress wanted to know was this How far could she this is a killer. These people. Come to the roadkill after a funeral Mank says. I d really like to play with this you know but i just Don t How sensitive they just in Case she s ready. She quickly rehearses a couple of Deadpan lines Well it s been dead today. Sorry it s so dead 18 the stars and stripes wednesday january 26, 1994 the stars and stripes 19
