The lunch special was grilled calamari in a pesto sauce over a bed of arugula and bruschetta. I liked every word of that.
Then the dish arrived. As soon as I looked at the white rings of squid I remembered the story I’d heard on NPR a few months back reporting that some restaurants have been using pig rectums to stand in for squid. Granted, this was for fried calamari – on the theory that something that’s rubbery and fried tastes rubbery and fried – but the image has stuck in my mind. I ate my lunch but it wasn’t as enjoyable as I’d thought it would be.
