One chef isn't afraid to put a personal touch to his cuisine. The special ingredient: his own genitalia. Last month, an illustrator in Tokyo named Mao Sugiyama publically seasoned and braised his own genitals, under the guidance of a licensed food preparation specialist. If that wasn't not shocking enough, he then served them on a plate to five people, who each paid $250 for the privilege of eating them. There was a sixth person who was expected, but they didn't show up.
Sugiyama considers himself to be "asexual," and chose to have his genitalia removed on his 22nd birthday as a way to demonstrate that he does not affiliate with either gender. After his private parts were returned to him -- frozen and doubled-bagged in plastic, according to CalorieLab.com -- Sugiyama annouced his intentions via Twitter on April 8. Though the original tweet is not in English, the Huffington Post quotes the translation as, "[Please retweet] I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen ...Will prepare and cook as the buyer requests, at his chosen location."
The chosen location turned out to be the Asagaya Loft A event space in the Suginami Ward of Tokyo, and the ocassion became a public event, with a panel discussion and piano recital before the much-anticipated meal. It was named the Ham Cybele - Century Banquet in part because "century" and "genitals" are Japanese homophones. A crowd of approximately 70 attended, in addition to the five adventurous eaters. Those who were not eating human flesh that night feasted on a less-shocking, though still exotic, meal of beef- and crocodile-based dishes.
Sugiyama served his braised privates with button mushrooms and Italian parsley. He originally wanted to add his nipples to the menu, but they could not be cooked after his attempt to burn them off using the chemical compound sodium hydroxide. Anyone curious about the recipe will be able to find it on the Cookpad.com website, where Sugiyama said he intended to post them.
CalorieLab's article offered a description of the diners reaction to the cuisine. It says, "According to the deleted blog post by Matsuzawa, the hard, rubbery penis root almost bent his fork, and he spit it out after a few chews. The only taste was of the red wine that it had been pre-stewed in. The scrotum was surprisingly even harder and more rubbery than the penis, but tasteless. (Matsuzawa didn't mention the pubic hair.) The testicles were hard on the outside, soft and glutinous in the middle, with a fishy or gamey taste."
Prior to the dinner, Sugiyama was tested for any venerial diseases and was found to have none. Although the participants signed waivers that absolved Sugiyama and the event organizers from any liability, there is no law against cannibalism in Japan, so the authorities did not interfere with the banquet.
