Mmm...Mellified Man
Inga brought me some chicken shawarma from the Pita Inn today (5 star establishment in my book) and I was thinking that it is just about one of the best dishes ever. Now if someone could only make a tofu version...
So, in food induced bliss, I read an entry on Gridskipper by Joshua Stein this evening about an Outlaw Dinner in L.A. where the chef is serving edgy dishes with ingredients that seem dangerous or forbidden (foie gras, absinthe, morel mushrooms, hemp seeds). The piece however points out that none of the dishes served in the Outlaw Dinner are actually outlawed and goes on to list food items that are illegal, the most interesting being mellified man.
So what is mellified man? It was brought to popularity recently in the book Stiff by Mary Roach, which surprisingly was on our bookshelf as Inga had read it a few months ago . The book refers to a recipe from the 1597 Chinese Materia Medica by Li Shih-chen, a compendium of medicinal plants and animals, which says:
In Arabia there are men 70 to 80 years old who are willing to give their bodies to save others. The subject does not eat food, he only bathes and partakes of honey. After a month he only excretes honey (the urine and feces are entirely honey) and death follows. His fellow men place him in a stone coffin full of honey in which he macerates. The date is put upon the coffin giving the year and month. After a hundred years the seals are removed. A confection is formed which is used for the treatment of broken and wounded limbs. A small amount taken internally will immediately cure the complaint.
For the record, according to Roach, Li points out that he does not know for certain if the mellified man story is true. You just get the feeling it is though. With all the weird stuff we humans do, it sounds plausible. I can see some King or Queen, giving this a shot and doing forcing some hapless subjects through the process for their heirs.
If mellified man is true and the process still active, it would leave you with more options as you make out your will. Instead of donating your body to science, you could donate yourself to Hershey.
Technorati Tags: Mellified Man, Stiff, Honey, Mary Roach, Outlaw Dinner, Gridskipper
