Back during the coronavirus scarcity scare of April or so a can of Vienna Sausages was one of the few things I could grab. IMO they're a true end-of-the-world emergency ration-type food that will make you envy the dead. And I think any kind of barbecue sauce would just compound what I dislike about them.

It was enough to inspire the following passage in an upcoming chapter of my serial OFF THE DEEP END. Two mermaid princesses are discussing human food, which by its nature seems rare and exotic in their world (Well not to the narrator, she was a human boy until just a week before...) >>>>>>>>>>>>>

We headed back to our room, passing the throne room and the treasure room with its big bank-vault door. One of these days when Mom was in a good mood I'd ask her to let me see it. I was curious about how big it was and what all kind of mermaid treasure we might have in there.

Anemone pointed at a little side hallway coming up ahead, “Let's grab some dinner from the kitchen and take it upstairs.”

I gestured at my little backpack. “No need for that. We've got dinner right here.”

“That can of anchovies we took on our island crawl? That's not even a meal for one person.”

“That's in here too, but I meant something the family from that boat gave me.”

“Human food?! Oh cool! There's so many kinds I've never tried before... Please tell me it's Pringles!”

"That's a random thing to wish for.” I laughed, "Why Pringles?"

“A few months ago there was a tube of Howlin' Habanero Pringles in the dry case at the human artifacts store. But before I could save up to get it someone else bought it. And now there's this can of these little meat things called Vienna sausages I have my eye on. Maybe with this money we got babysitting Gillford we could-”

I shook my head.

“No good?”

“Not for how much they would cost here! They're mooshy and tasteless, like weird little baby-food hot dogs. Pringles would be better, and this is a million times better!” I said. I shrugged the pack off, pulled out the big ziplock bag Phyllis Rosado had given me and handed it to her. “Smoked albacore!”

She inspected it, squishing the chunks of fish under the slick plastic around with her thumbs, and said disappointedly. “So it's just tuna? Not some kind of land meat, pigs or cows or camels or bears or something?”

“Try it!”

“But how do I- Oh, it's got like a little zipper! How cute,” she said and slid the tab open.
Pulled out a chunk and sniffed it. Her nostrils flared and she bared her baby vampire fangs before chomping down on it. She groaned in ecstasy and came to a complete stop, like her brain had gotten so overblissed that she'd forgot how to swim; after which I think if I tried to take it away from her she would've bitten my hand off.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> A passage that might seem really off topic here, except for the fact that while mermaids aren't technically diabetic they don't even have a human-type pancreas, so it's a good thing their diet is 90% protein + a little kelp (which also explains their enlarged canine incisors)
~hugs, Veronica