"A Family Supper" begins with an explanation of fugu, a variety of toxic pufferfish considered a delicacy in Japan and Korea, where the fish is known as bogeo or bok. While regulations require years of training before fugu can legally be served, improper preparations of the fish—especially those performed by amateurs—have led to deaths and hospitalizations.
Historically consumed and periodically banned in Japan for centuries, species of fugu contain tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin that can cause dizziness, nausea, paralysis, and asphyxiation leading to death. Without a known antidote, medical intervention for fugu poisoning involves stomach pumping before giving the patient activated charcoal and keeping them alive on life support. Certain fugu deaths have been attributed to suicide.
Since 1958, Japan has required fugu chefs to train for several years and pass tests to obtain a license that allows them to serve the fish legally. Although a variety of fugu preparations exist, the flesh of the fish is most popularly consumed as sashimi. Some fugu enthusiasts consider the best tasting parts of the fish to be the parts with the highest concentration of toxins, which create a tingling sensation on the lips that contribute to the appeal. Despite its supposedly superior taste, fugu liver has been banned in Japan since 1984.
Outright banned in EU countries, fugu is strictly regulated in the United States, where fugu chefs must be licensed by the Food and Drug Administration. Because fugu's toxicity develops through their consumption of other marine animals containing tetrodotoxin, it has been possible for fish farmers to raise non-poisonous fugu.
