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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2000)
Monday, Ocioli 1 [onday, October 2, 2000 UIRRE Continued from! ] ico’s] Secretary of Del i said. ”1 The cadets] were ;as A&M’s long militan ind also recognized tbai ut a world-class univera lonored to have them int ring their stay, the Meij , participated in all (] including formations, Corps run and Midnigl; ;e. On game day, the Mi formed the final unit march-in. Ish said one of the mosts tarts of the experience an and American cadet Itural awareness that the :ecl. i saw a lot of similariti our governments and nything we a AGGIE/ Page 3 THE BATTALION ooking ‘Eddie’ Homemade surf and turf is just what the chef ordered to impress <$ urfand turf is, undoubtedly, the iltimate date dinner. Nothing uite invokes the same ambiance of fine dining like seeing a bright red critter of the sea Sprawled out on the plate before you. Unfortunately, lobster is usually the most expensive item on any . restaurant’s menu (it will currently tO lUVOlVC Mf,I cost you more than $20 to buy a sin- i j .< >le lobster dinner). And then you have the problems of C O l lllll l At till S ua jiy digging into the hard-shelled beast in public. nerica we stilm :e t ^ ieire ' s no wa y t0 eat *°' :,ster ^at does not end Mih your hands soaked in crustacean guts. . ft's an homi The solution is simple — prepare boiled lobster din- / i t \ / n GS yourself at a fraction of the cost and messily enjoy fOl / icZM. G delicacy in the privacy of your own homed Buy ing the critter You have more than likely ;n the lobster tanks at your al stores swarming with aid. “It's great to sff lht'se hard-shelled mon- sn our country andthe^rs. Simply ask a store — Veronica j :| tant director of the Offe| Latin American Pi . assistant dire pf rk for assistance (they itin Americanfi A&M, deroic MiE* is an officer training sctofi r graduation, cadets eitkB into the military or go dtp' Molessional degrees, c Military College is Mm st military academy. | .‘half of the Heroic Milrif the visiting cadets presep [’. "Ted" Hopgood.coniHifj tie Corps, with a saber* illy wear on their unifoiri said programs like this#! dations between Texas® ,md the United States si hing we can do to invoE md Latin America, we f honor for A&M,” she sail do Migoni. a Mem .1 he enjoyed his experienc because of the friew&Vj ik this is one of the r universities in Ameit aid. “The cadets andt udents are very kind* feel like one of them! ' taught me of theirculw ons.” know what they are doing) and have them weigh and package the lobster for safe traveling. Be careful when choosing the lobsters. If you are mak ing two meals, make sure you select two that are rough ly equivalent in size so they cook evenly while you are boiling them. You also want to choose the most active lobsters in the tank. Those that are sitting there waiting to die will prob ably not survive the trip home and most likely will have less flavorful meat. Always remember: Losing the will to live makes you less tasty. tion’t play with your food Make sure you get the animal home and into your re frigerator as soon as possible. You might want to leave a note on the fridge door in case your roommate opens the lobster boxes expecting leftover Chinese take-out. The lobsters need to remain in the fridge until you are ready to cook them. They are designed by nature to be on the ocean floor where it is cold. Room temperature will cause their untimely demise, and you want them to be alive when you put them into the Jacuzzi of death. Do not unneces sarily toy with or attempt to entertain the lobsters. Trust me, they are not in the mood to play, and lobsters’ claws have been known to snap pencils in half. Lobsters also tend to lose body parts faster than a leper on a tilt-o-whirl, and there is noth ing more pathetic than trying to serve your date a lobster with an amputated claw. When you do handle the animals, grab them only by the middle of their bodies, and be very careful when removine the mbber bands around their claws ■Take a deep bread ? You have the salt water boiling, and your date will be arriving in less than an hour (lobster should be cooked and then served almost immediately). Now is the time to face the music and send the little critter to its doom. No matter how disgusting, delicious or inanimate the lobster may seem, it was very difficult for me to serve as executioner to this animal that reminded me of a’pet her mit crab I used to have. I tried everything from rationalization (“it’s just the circle of life...”) to attempting to hate the lobster (I named it “Eddie” after a bully f knew in the fifth grade), but to no avail. Scientifically speaking, the lobster has a less-devel oped nervous system •— thus less ability to feel pain than a fish, and I love fishing. And, after you immerse the lobster into the boiling water, it only feels that pain for a second or two. But there is something that makes you feel sorry for an aquatic critter that someone could easily keep as a pet. Then the lobster tried to take a nip at my finger, and I threw die sucker in. Lobsters will flap their tails around for a few seconds after you put them in. Do not be alarmed — it is basical ly the same thing as a chicken with its head cut off. Just take a spatula and hold the critter down as best as you can. By the way, regardless of the rumors, I have never heard a lobster scream. Whistling may occur, but that is gas escaping from underneath the lobster’s shell (lobsters do not have’’lips). wallet Cooking You can add any spices you wish to the boiling water, but I find that lobster does not seem to pick up flavors well, and anything it does absorb only tends to take away from the natural taste. Shortly after the lobster stops wiggling around, you will notice it taking on the stereotypical red color that you usually picture a lobster being. The color does not in dicate that it is done. j§ To tell whether a lobster \ is done, pull on the antennae or \ one of the smaller legs. If it comes off easily, your lobster is ready to eat. Well-prepared lobster meat is white, firm and opaque. Seirii ig Layer a plate with lettuce and place the whole crustacean on top along with some lemon wedges. Melt some butter with a little garlic (about a quarter teaspoon of garlic powder to every two tablespoons of butter) and enjoy a lobster dinner with a salad and steamed vegetables. There is no way to make a whole lobster look bad on a plate, so do not worry. £al up Eating a lobster is always tricky business. My favorite tools are my hands, but I also suggest buying a couple of nutcracker sets (with the nutcracker and picks) just in case you do not want to crack the claws open with your teeth. Proper etiquette dictates that you begin consumption of the lobster by twisting off the two claws and then turning tfie lobster over and splitting the tail and main body in half to reveal the body meat. The majority of the meat is in the tail, but just about any thing in the lobster is edible (except for the lobster’s stom ach, which is an easy-to-recognize, sack-like organ in the front of the body). I suggest that you give the tomally (a green, sludgy material toward the tail) a try. Many people consider it a delicacy. No matter what you do, try not to remember that her mit crab you once had while you are chowing down on your dinner. t) In a very lai ye pot, bring enough water to cover the lobsters to a boil (Do not put the lobsters in yet). 3) Add 1/4 cup sea salt for every gallon of water and spices if wanted. Put lobsters into boiling water head first (This kills them faster). Return to a boil and allow the lobsters to cook for the time indicated on the chart. COOKING TIME CHART 1 lb. 1 1/2lbs^| 2-3lbs. 31/2-5 lbs. 12-15 minutes 15-20 minutes 20-25 minutes 25-30 minutes RUBEN PELUNA/Tnij Battauqn 0(ampi— ftastrafian for haring dmpetition has become heart-wrenching saga of self-important athletes riAL] ( 1055-4726) is published daily, Mo# g the fall and spring semesteis ^ iday during the summer session (0# d exam periods) at Texas A&M Unirt aid at College Station, IX 77840. P0S> as changes to The Battalion, Jem 0 I College Station, TX 77843-1111. news department is managed bystf University in the Division of Stud® 1 department of Journalism. News off® maid Building. Newsroom phone# 7; E-mail: ThebattalioniiotmsiW* lion.tamu.edu an of advertising does not imply sp®' it by The Battalion. For campus, I# idvertising, call 845-2696. For class- 345-0569. Advertising offices are 11 and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5# . Fax: 845-2678. of the Student Services Fee entiles ant to pick up a single copy of * ee, additional copies 254Jails« l, ■ school year, $30 for the fall or sp®l :he summer and $10 per monP Card, Discover, or American Express /I ^ver has there 1 l#been such a trib- • w ute to human achievement as the Olympics. The Olympics teach people that deep within all of them, there is a great reserve of physical and spiritual energy that catapult them from the depths of de pair into the spotlight of greatness. Idiots would not believe that. Every four years, television program ing in America is cluttered with countless tours of people running in circles, jumping over things and throwing javelins at noth- ng. Through it all, the network broadcast- ng this glorified screensaver details the horrific struggle of each athlete. Never has the world seen such a group of downtrod den, disease-ridden, world-beaten slobs. Every gymnast had his or her leg cut off with a butter knife, but, through hard work and perseverance, rose to the top of the ath letic world. Every swimmer had his or her appendix removed, every archer has two glass eyes and every runner struggled through high school after having his or her soul torn out by God in a dramatic gerbiling accident — this cycle is repeated 20 times a day, every day, for two weeks. Dimitry Sautin was stabbed, Alexei Nemov missed his child’s birth to train, Amy Van Dyken came back from crippling shoulder surgery to win gold and I made it to college though my mom smoked when she was pregnant. Who car^s? The Olympics derive half of their excite ment from the prima donnas who populate the sports. Perhaps athletes have seen their own touching documentaries and are begin ning to believe the hype. Or perhaps they are just anal retentive. Who in the world did not see the tense moments between Michael Johnson and Maurice Green in their Olympic dials and qualifying heats? Everything was on the line, this would decide the fate of these two men’s lives for the next four years, and these are some tough, lumberjack-like men. They were not about to back down, understandably. Oh, wait, not understandably — these people run around in circles for money. How can one act serious about something like that? Boxers need to insult one another because it is an inherently violent sport, and a bit of animosity helps one deal with the idea of pummeling another man into a bloody pulp. However, there is not much testosterone involved in running circles. It seems many of the athletes were in fected by the trash-talking/overly-intense bug this year. The media made much of Svetlana Khorkina’s mercurial personality during competition. The consensus was that she is a fierce competitor who should be admired for her fiery spirit. However, I beg to differ with this analysis. I believe she is a tight-ass. Khorkina was but one of the ath letes experiencing delusions of grandeur. For two weeks, these people are at the top of the world, and their every desire must be sated. The problem with most of them, and especially Khorkina, is that they seem to avoid the fact that, outside of these two weeks, they are nothing to the vast ma jority of the world, ft must be torture to be led to believe one is the world’s most fa mous person for a few days, only to be for gotten in less time. One can almost hear a tortured hammer thrower calling, “But I am the greatest hammer thrower of all time!” Not surprisingly, some voice will answer, “That is not a real sport.” What a crushing blow it must be. While these as pects of the Games are irritating, there are serious problems that should be ad dressed — drug use among them. Ever since Butch Reynolds stuck his first needle into a stinking, prurient vein, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been anti-drug. So much in fact, that medals are taken away for drug use. The IOC has gotten completely out of hand. Now, any drug use, even of drugs that are not performance-enhancing, is se verely punished. Every four years, someone has his or her medal seized by the IOC stormtroopers for sipping some of Grandpa’s cough medicine. There are always athletes who have their medals taken for ridiculous infractions. Swimmers lose their medals for tak ing aspirin, javelin throwers are stripped of their medals for shooting a little hero in and weightlifters cannot do even one line of cocaine without fear of repercus sions. Why? These drugs do nothing to enhance performance — they just en hance life. For someone who will be a no body again in two weeks, cocaine must be a nice release from the pressure of short- time stardom. Come on, let the fiery competitors who have had their children taken from them while fighting lung cancer and un wanted pregnacy, while fighting govern ment oppression and performing their own abortions, have a line. RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion