Editor’s note: This is another column in Bill Boyd’s new series, “The Way It Was,” about growing up in Marysville. Bill continues to work with the Union County Historical Society to obtain information for his stories. With Marysville and Union County celebrating Bicentennial anniversaries in 2019 and 2020, respectively, these articles help depict what life was like in those early years.
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During the early ‘80s I had an office in Columbus. Not far away was a great little restaurant where I often went for lunch. I loved their food and I got to know the owner pretty well. He worked behind their bar during lunch hour, and I would sit at the bar to eat my lunch rather than go to a table. I think I went there to talk with him as much as to enjoy their food.
One day while we were talking, he suggested that I try a cup of their seafood soup. It contained a couple kinds of fish, but the main ingredient was squid. I had never eaten squid, but he recommended it so highly that I gave it a try. It turned out to be even better then he said it was. I liked it so much that I ordered it a couple times a week.
Not long after that, I was in New York City working with a guy named Tony Bandini. I had met him a few years earlier when I was working at Scotts. Tony was the kind of guy you might meet around noon, and by one o’clock you were good friends.
The only thing about him that became a little annoying was his love of Italian opera music. He kept a radio in his office tuned to a station that broadcasted nothing but opera music. He kept the volume low on the radio, so it didn’t interfere with our talking as we worked. Nevertheless, it was still a little annoying.
One day, after we finished work, Tony took me to a Japanese restaurant for a dinner I will never forget. It was one of those authentic Japanese places, where we sat on the floor in our stocking feet as we ate at a very low table. The restaurant was one of his favorite places, and he went there often. Since he was a regular customer and he knew all their dishes, I asked him to order for me, which he did.
While we were waiting, I asked him what they would be serving first, and he said it would be the squid. I was thrilled, as that had become one of my favorite foods. But as we talked he said the squid was raw.
That was a little unsettling. Up to that point in my life, the only things I had ever eaten raw came from the plant kingdom … things like fruits and vegetables. I figured that if God had intended us to eat animals raw, He would not have invented the charcoal grill. I would normally have refused that course, but Tony had been so nice that I thought that would be rude. So I vowed to eat the raw squid.
I wasn’t sure what the proper procedure was for eating raw squid, so I just watched Tony. We each had received a shallow bowl containing four rather large chunks of it. Next to each dish was a porcelain china scoop. Tony used his scoop to lift one of the chunks from the serving dish. He then put a couple drops of some kind of sauce on it and put the scoop in his mouth. I didn’t notice him chewing. I think he just swallowed the whole thing.
I repeated that procedure myself, up to the point where I slid the first chunk into my mouth. However, I just couldn’t swallow that big, slippery chunk of raw squid without chewing it first. When I put it in my mouth, it automatically slid over to the right side. I thought that was convenient, as all I would have to do was bite down on it.
But when I bit down, the whole thing just squirted out from between my teeth and slid over to the left side. So I decided to chew it there. But when I bit down on the left side, it shot back to the right. After repeating all this a few times, I could feel tiny beads of perspiration breaking out on my forehead. I just couldn’t swallow that large slippery mass, but I also couldn’t chew it. Oh man, how was I going to get rid of that thing.
So I said to myself, “Bill, you have to bite the bullet and swallow the whole chunk of raw squid”. Surely, I could do that. Biting the bullet would certainly be easier than biting the squid. You just can’t bite raw squid.
The longer it remained in my mouth, the larger the chunk seemed to become, but eventually I got it down. It wasn’t easy, but I did it. I then repeated the whole thing three more times.
The rest of the meal was great. But that is the last time I ever ate raw squid. If you ever get an opportunity to eat it, my advice is … turn it down.
Those wishing to contact Bill Boyd can e-mail him at bill@davidwboyd.com