Tuna is a fish

I always thought that tuna just existed as meat in cans, and that STARkist (not sun) would just come by, slap a label on it and send it to the grocery store. How dolphins figured into that I never really figured out. Turns out that they're really just GIGANTIC FISH.

lol take pix

They didn't cook the fish at all, we just had sashimi. Or at least, they didn't cook the body. They did, however, cut off the head, split it in two and "baked" it in the most jerry-rigged oven setup I've ever seen.

MMmmmm...appetizing. How was it cooked again? Baked? Oh, what did they use to cover it?
Oh cool, that's very reassuring.

I was really hesistant to try it, mainly because I am a processed-food kind of guy (wonder bread, american cheese and hot pockets plz. Veggies and vitamins ain't really my bag) and also because the guy who gave me a bunch of stuff mentioned "gelatin" and "collagen", both of which I plan on never consuming, while dropping the meat in my bowl. Also some dude was eating the fish's pupil which really turned me off. However, despite the strange fats and optical humors, I did try the fish and it was delicious. Kind of tasted like a hamburger, which was weird, but a delicious hamburger.

The sashimi was pretty damn good though. They had many different types of cuts because we ate from the entire fish. Different parts of the fish have more fat than others, and those cuts are much more expensive and sought-after because they supposedly taste better. I don't really fully agree with that.

This small portion of tuna would set you back around $100 USD. The reason why it's so expensive is because it has so much fat. Everyone else seemed to love it, but I could barely finish one piece. After maybe five chews, you were pretty much just chewing fat, and I had to force myself to swallow it to avoid spitting it out and offending the people who were hosting me.

DA CHEEP(er) stuff. As you can see, this meat is redder, meaning there's less fat breaking it up. I really prefer this stuff even though it's considered less-desirable in Japan.

Despite the weird fish-eyeball stuff and the super fatty sashimi, the food was really good. Really expensive though. I was told that the fish itself cost about $1000 USD, but I'm sure it was more. Plus, the hosts hired professional chefs to set up, cut the fish and prepare the food, so they paid even more for that. However, the Rotary Club hosted the event, so I'm sure it wasn't a problem for them. There were probably 50-60 people there (Rotary members and their families), but the fish was big enough that they were able to feed everyone and also give each family stuff to bring back home as well.