Take on the surprise meal

I sat down at a lunch the other day after a long hard negotiation on
the price of an item without much success with a vendor and thought
the worse part of my day was behind me. As I usually do in a formal
Chinese eating setting, I checked out the options and tried to find 4
or 5 things which I knew I could eat without fear of salmonella
without insulting my hosts.
First they passed along a plate of grilled mushrooms (check), some
steamed snowpeas (check), some mind of stew (no way), a mystery meat
(pass) some thing that looked like beef tongue (check) and a couple of
off looking pig feet (no thank you). Then came one dish which looked
sort of like jelly fish which is actually surprisingly good. I asked
what it was and neither the factory manager nor the translator would
answer me. I say that I will pass but they insist saying it is a
local delicacy. I ask if it's pork and they insist it's not but said
they ordered it specially for me. I chow down on a couple of pieces
which were a bit chewy, had kind of a weird texture but overall was
not all that bad tasting. I felt pretty good about my decision but as
soon as I swallow, I knew something was wrong. It wasn't the flavor
or the way it went down that was odd, it was the fact that all four
Chinese people at my table started giggling like school girls. I
asked again what I was eating but they said that they would only tell
me after I took another bite. Of course at this point I am completely
aware that they are feeding me something horrendous and all the
possible options race through my mind...monkey brain, rooster gizzard,
dog, cow intestines, rat or avian bird flu Asian bird like I was on a
live episode of Fear Factor.
Well it took me a good ten minutes to find out the local delicacy I
was chewing on like a piece of spearmint gum was the best part of the
male cow... Yes, I was basically blowing a gigantic bull.


FML