[Advanced] To Eat or to Offend? (2)

Searching for solutions
Michael Soon Lee, author of Cross-Cultural Selling for Dummies, says that an "outright refusal" to eat foods served "would be very insulting."

A "white lie," he says, is an acceptable alternative. "If you don't want to be adventurous, you can simply fib and say you're allergic to whatever is being served," says Lee, "Or simply say, 'My doctor has me on a strict diet, so I have to watch what I eat.

The rewards of adventure
Seid suggests business travelers try unappealing food abroad if they can. "I've tried rattlesnake meat, fried crickets and barbecued scorpions and have lived to tell it," she says. "They may not be my favorite food items, yet they were great experiences I enjoyed."

Irving says that in most business situations abroad, the locals are understanding if an American refuses to eat something.

"If you have a good attitude, however, and are a little adventuresome with your choices, it is much easier to break the ice and relate to your hosts," he says.

He remembers several tasty "bizarre" meals. "One would never eat fish maw soup if it was known that it is fish intestines, but it is absolutely great," Irvine recalls. "Another favorite is fried morning glory — the same vine that grows around your mother's mailbox."

Other side of the coin
Not every strange food eaten on a business trip, though, was a pleasant experience. "I can do without another course of fried rat in Jinghong, China, or the dog soup in Korea," Irving says.

Though Irving apparently has a very wide palate, he couldn't finish an unsettling business meal in Hanoi in April 2004. "We tried the special lobster sashimi, picking the translucent flesh from the tail when we noticed the lobster move across the table," he says. "When my business associate and I discovered that the lobster was still alive, we couldn't eat anymore. But our Japanese hosts gobbled up the delicacy."


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