Runaways. That’s the local name for chicken feet. It’s a South African dish that my kids at children’s camp have been talking about all week. So on July 5, 2007, one of the girls in my group asked her mom to make them for Allison and I (her leaders). How thoughtful!! I was excited to try something new. And the kids’ attitude reflected “of course they’d like the runaways.”
So what do they taste like? It’s kind of like chicken wings…except not really at all. Sound good? Well, let me describe them for your reading pleasure.
The runaways look exactly like what they are—chicken feet. They had the fatty, droopy skin attached to the boney toes with hard toenails. Still intrigued? Since Allison and I were the first to try I didn’t know exactly how to eat this South African delicacy. I looked for assistance. The kids said that you’re supposed to eat the whole thing. And they weren’t lying.
So I took a bite of a runaway. I knew it would be fatty, but I had no clue that it would be completely comprised of fat and tendons. There was no meat on my runaway. Well, except for the toes & toenails, which I initially on my plate, assuming those were like chicken wing bones, uneatable. I was wrong. The girl said that I was eating them well, except that I forgot the toes & toenails. Gulp. Remember, I’m the girl who doesn’t like hot dogs and eats spinach salads every day…when in America.
So I ate the fat & tendons off one of the toes. That’s all I could handle. I picked apart the rest of the toes, like a little kid who pushes around her lima beans because she doesn’t want to eat them. (The difference being that I loved lima beans as a child so I would scarf them down. Don’t believe me? Ask my mom & dad & brother.)
Throughout this process, the Lord enabled me to keep a poker face. After all, I had an audience of a dozen kids or so. The best part: The homemade spices the girl’s mother put on the runaways. They were excellent! When asked how I liked the runaways, I talked up the spices, exclaiming how excellent they were. Seriously they were wonderful. I would love to try that on a piece of white chicken breast meat…next time gadget, next time.
