The Strangest Food(s) You've Eaten

[krawlx]

In a separate thread started by Echophonic (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22676#post270905) the discussion was about a cheese in Italy. I thought it would be a good idea to see what strange foods others have eaten. Try to remember to include where you ate this as well. I'll kick things off.

1: 산낙지 (san-nak-gee) Literally translated: living octopus. A traditional Korean dish. They pull the octopus from the tank, cut it up, and put it in front of you....while it's still squirming. It's often a battle to get it off the plate because the suction cups are still working, and they cling to anything the can. Once it's off the plate it goes into a oil-salt mix, and then into the mouth, where the fight continues as it attaches itself to the tongue. Chew thoroughly. Swallow. Repeat. Delicious! Pictured below: (I hope you didn't just eat!)


http://image.ohmynews.com/down/images/1/choch1104_338131_1%5B568669%5D.jpg

http://image.solon.co.kr/file3/20070109/090820893_229625.jpg

2: Snake Soup in TaiPei. The snakes are in cages, and they cut it up in front of you and put the pieces into a broth. But, that's not the weird part. The weird part is drinking the 50% alcohol, 50% snake blood mix that is served with the soup. Not to mention a small green pill that contains the sexual organs. It does the stamina good.

3: 육회 (yook-hwey) A Korean dish of raw horse meat. It's served chilled. Not as bad as you might think. Plus it comes with a few other dishes, such as horse soup, sweet and sour horse, and finished with another raw dish.

I guess those would be my top three. Can't wait to hear of others' forays into the strange.

[MCsommerreid]

Lutfisk. That stuff is just plain wrong.


sweet and sour horse

For some reason I found that incredibly hilarious.

[echophonic]

1: 산낙지 (san-nak-gee) Literally translated: living octopus. A traditional Korean dish. They pull the octopus from the tank, cut it up, and put it in front of you....while it's still squirming. It's often a battle to get it off the plate because the suction cups are still working, and they cling to anything the can. Once it's off the plate it goes into a oil-salt mix, and then into the mouth, where the fight continues as it attaches itself to the tongue. Chew thoroughly. Swallow. Repeat. Delicious! Pictured below: (I hope you didn't just eat!)

That's both super freaking gross and somewhat sad-- octopus are extremely smart creatures and I wonder if there's some consciousness going on there.

Seriously, you won this thread already. I cannot top that. :scared:

[SalvadorMontenegro]

For some reason I found that incredibly hilarious.

+1 x 50.

I can't stop laughing at the idea of walking into a restaurant and seeing that on the menu.

I don't think I've eaten anything weird.

[krawlx]

That's both super freaking gross and somewhat sad-- octopus are extremely smart creatures and I wonder if there's some consciousness going on there.


Then I guess you'll be equally sad to learn that dog-soup is a common dish here as well. I have yet to eat that, but if I look out my back window I can see one restaurant, and if I look out my front window I can see another.

[KenS]

[quote=MCsommerreid;271248]Lutfisk. That stuff is just plain wrong.


You must mean the jellied Lutfisk which is in my opinion pretty bad. The nice flaky white stuff in a cream sauce with boiled potatoes is worth trying..

Ya Sure You Betcha...

[TimmyBoston]

I've never had the opportunity for anything too weird, so for me, it's escargot.

[Nick]

Seriously, you won this thread already. I cannot top that. :scared:
A big ditto on that one. I like to think I'm somewhat adventurous, and will give most anything a try once. Thank god I've never been anywhere you've eaten, as it would've seriously tested that assertion!

I thought just the little side dishes of weird fish cake and kimchi I had with my bulgogi in Incheon were strange. :eek:

Aah, let's see, aside from the 'normal' bizarre foods like goose liver and sweetbreads (neither one I care for), the weirdest have been Jellyfish, Sea Urchin, and Crocodile. The tastiest weird foods were Kangaroo, and Ostrich.

-Nick

[PZBarber]

My 'real' job involves a fair amount of worldwide travel and as I spend most of my time in factories I eat what the locals eat.

Here we go with some of the more bizarro things I've eaten.

China:
Pigs Brains
Chicken Necks
Ducks Head
Ducks Feet
Pigs Ear
Pigs Tail
Sheep Stomach
Donkey
Dog
Rat Soup
Deep Fried Frog
Pickled Fish Eyes
Birds - Don't know what they were but they were small birds.

Japan:
Raw Squid
Hot Sake with Blow fish fins - Fish Sake is not a good drink.
Raw egg with some kind of animal in it.
Blow Fish/Puffer Fish - Fantastic fish, beautiful flavour and texture.
Live elvers (baby eels)
Mostly japan has great food.

Korea:
Raw Sea Cucumber - almost made me retch
Dog
Animals in slimey stuff - not sure what but it tasted ok
Snake
Rat

See, now that all sounds strange to us, until you do a job in Louisiana and end up eating:
Armadillo
Alligator :biggrin:

I like to try all the food, it's good to be submersed in someone elses culinary culture. Although these things seem weird and even gruesome to us it is normal daily tucker for a lot people.

The one thing I refused to eat was Horses Penis. :eek:

There are probably loads of other things I've eaten but can't remember what. I filled a 28 page passport in 12 months 2 years ago so it's impossible to even remember half the places I've been.

I like food :biggrin:

Yum Yum

Mat

[Nick]

I'd imagine you'd only have to make a short trip north to eat Sheep stomach. :wink:

That reminds me, add to my list Haggis (yum), and I had frog's legs earlier tonight (for the second time) which are surprisingly good when done right.

-Nick

[krawlx]

Great list Mat! I am the same in that when I travel i like to try as many new and different foods as possible. It gives a sense of the people, and if you're doing business it really helps to endear you those you need to do business with.

[MarSellus Wallace]

@Mat: very interesting. What do you do for a living?

Tell me, what does dog taste like?

[PZBarber]

I design, build, program and commission control equipment for industrial glass furnaces and production lines. That's when I'm not shaving people in the shop.

Dog is a bit fatty, I would say almost greasy. It leaves a sort of layer of grease on the roof of your mouth. It tastes fine, it's just light red meat, kind of like veal but tough in comparison. It's ok, nothing special and I don't think I would choose it off the menu. Not for moral reasons (I have no morals :biggrin: ) but because there are nicer meats to eat than Fido.

Cheers

Mat

[bjrn]

Okay, here's another one for you: Surströmming. It's a Swedish thing (but please don't think that everyone from Sweden likes this), and basically it's rotten fish. They take herring, let it ferment in barrels for a few months, then can it and let it ferment in the cans for another few months (up to a year apparently). Of course Wikipedia has a page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surströmming).

And not very different is the Icelandic Hákarl, which is shark, which has been buried for two or three months. Wikipedia knows about that as well: Hákarl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hákarl)


Edit: I've actually never eaten either of them, but been nearby when served and eaten.

[MarSellus Wallace]

Duck and goose liver and riz de veau (sweetbread) is the farthest that I've gone so far. I believe strange stuff is eaten all over the world. Folkloric customs over here include(d) eating/swallowing live goldfish (new EU regulations on the consumption of live animals caused a big row in that particular town), eating the baked entrails of porc (horrid smell), consuming starlings (dead), muskrat (dead) and of course, during WWII and particularly in the north(east) of Holland where liberation wasn't accomplished until 1945 (hongerwinter), all dogs and cats were suddenly no longer to be seen.

[Mama Bear]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Its_a_Mad_Mad_World_/Taiwanese_chef_blamed_for_serving_twitching_fish/articleshow/2186701.cms

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Flaxorca]

Okay, here's another one for you: Surströmming. It's a Swedish thing (but please don't think that everyone from Sweden likes this), and basically it's rotten fish. They take herring, let it ferment in barrels for a few months, then can it and let it ferment in the cans for another few months (up to a year apparently). Of course Wikipedia has a page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surströmming).

I live relatively close to where they make this stuff... Seriously I would eat most of what has been listed here before I try this. Open the can outside or underwater because of the pressure build up due to the fermenting process. And then the smell... I once was at the world championship Surströmming eating and that put me off completely. They just kept stuffing fermented fishes down their throats and of course vomiting meant you were out of the competition... Normally you are supposed to eat it with potatoes and onion, but I pass... A variation to this is gravad lax (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravlax) (salmon), which used to be buried in sand to let it ferment, nowadays it is made industrially and no longer really fermented and I am happy for it, since it is a fantastic product!

[Frank7580]

The strangest foods that I've ever eaten have been:

Haggis
Ox tail
Lamb's head soup

These will score me a lot of points in the US, but they don't sound quite as adventurous as the snake soup :blink:. The octopus I could eat but the snake/blood concoction... YECK :scared:!

(BTW, if anyone wants to broaden their horizons by experimenting with a canine I'll offer up a few in my neighborhood in the interest of culinary diversity :wink:)

[bmwe28m5]

Chocolate chip cookies with tobasco sauce, soul food in saint louis, oh and fugu.
http://images.bimmerforums.com/smilies/ausw_6.gif

[NurseMedic]

I thought that my penchant for sushi, sashimi, and nigiri was pushing the envelope, not to mention the gator tail I've had on several occasions, but y'all got me beat by a WIDE margin. :thumbup1:

Mike in Michigan

[MarSellus Wallace]

Chocolate chip cookies with tobasco sauce, soul food in saint louis, oh and fugu.
http://images.bimmerforums.com/smilies/ausw_6.gif

Very funny, this reminds me of a business trip to Poland ten years ago. I stayed in a hotel in Lodz. They served me scampi with chocolate sauce...

What a funny thread this is. I like it.

[Ernie]

A human liver, of course.



http://images.dawgsports.com/images/admin/Hannibal_Lecter_closeup.jpg




:lol:


Some of you have quite an exquisite taste.

[MarSellus Wallace]

A human liver, of course.



http://images.dawgsports.com/images/admin/Hannibal_Lecter_closeup.jpg




:lol:


Some of you have quite an exquisite taste.

Seared?

[JasonS]

I couldn't resist the thread - keep in mind that he only tries things that are really food:

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_steve_dont_eat_it.php

Jason.

[sullivanpm]

Chocolate chip cookies with tobasco sauce, soul food in saint louis, oh and fugu.
http://images.bimmerforums.com/smilies/ausw_6.gif

What do you mean by soul food?
I had turnip greens, fried okra, stewed squash and corn bread last night for dinner.
Lord how I love Southern food.

[PZBarber]

sullivanpm

My hands are clean as a whistle, my breath fresh as a daisy and my razors are always as sharp as my wit. :001_tt2: :001_tt2:

Cheers

Mat

[Ernie]

Seared?
No, deep-fried, southern style.

[bmwe28m5]

What do you mean by soul food?
I had turnip greens, fried okra, stewed squash and corn bread last night for dinner.
Lord how I love Southern food.

Chitterlings, pig feet/snout, tripe, etc.

[rickw]

What do you mean by soul food?
I had turnip greens, fried okra, stewed squash and corn bread last night for dinner.
Lord how I love Southern food.

Pastrami on rye with chopped liver.

Rick

[Kenyth]

Don't brag until you've tried the "Maggot Cheese"

:wink2:

[sullivanpm]

Chitterlings, pig feet/snout, tripe, etc.
Ah I see

[SmoovD]

I had a corn dog at a county fair....still unsure of what kind of meat it was.:a38:

[osks]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Its_a_Mad_Mad_World_/Taiwanese_chef_blamed_for_serving_twitching_fish/articleshow/2186701.cms

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=2789

It grossed me out...

[Thomas]

And not very different is the Icelandic Hákarl, which is shark, which has been buried for two or three months. Wikipedia knows about that as well: Hákarl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hákarl)

Edit: I've actually never eaten either of them, but been nearby when served and eaten.

We had an Icelandic exchange student stay with us recently, and he won't even speak of the stuff. He calls it sour shark, and dismisses it as one of those manly, viking things that they have to endure once in a while. Then again, he lived on Cheerios and Quizno's.

Oh, and I had thought I was adventurous until I read this thread. Thanks for stripping away that illusion.

[BrianP]

"Scrapple"

I was in Radnor Pennsylvania and liked eating at this local greasy spoon, I think it was "joe's". Anyway... ordered breakfast and one of the optional sides was "scrapple". I figured it was all the busted up pieces of ham, bacon and sausage left on the grill. Nope. It was a weird white/grey pasty brick of... stuff. I asked they guy next to me what it was:

Me: "What exactly is scrapple?"
Him: "It's a Philadelphia delicacy."
Me: "What's in it?"
Him: "Well, you know what they make hotdogs out of right?"
Me: "Yeah"
Him: "Scrapple is the stuff that's left over."

I used lots of ketchup.

[adp113]

Iguana, was actually pretty good.

[Lynchmeister]

I've had some weird stuff during my international travels such as raw octopus recently in Mexico and sheep lung in Bavaria, but you haven't lived or (more appropriately) cheated death until you've walked into a Scottish chippie at 2:30 in the morning, drunk off your ass. At this point in one's life, you're willing to put anything into your mouth, chew, swallow, and say "Thank you, may I have another?" I can remember one evening in particular when I had 1/2 a wit about me and so I went with what I thought to be the safer side of things. Pizza and a cheeseburger. Allow me to elaborate:

Pizza: Frozen, folded in half, dipped in batter, deep fried.
Cheeseburger: two frozen meat patties with a frozen block of cheese product sandwhiched in between, battered, deep fried, no bun.

Editor's note: for the love of God, give the cheeseburger time to cool! Molten cheese is not a good start to the hangover!

[FriscoSoxFan]

I'm quite adventurous in the food department, let's run down the list to the best of my ability geographically (& Chronologically)

Louisiana:

Cracklins: Personal favorite - basically a pork rind with the fatback left on.
Blood Boudin: All of the crap in a pig that gets thrown out, combined with rice and seasoning, then boiled. Add blood and a casing.
Road Kill Gumbo: Everything killed in the swamp that couldn't be labeled.
Nutria Gumbo: Big Effin' rat.

Ivory Coast:

Agouti stew - best described to me as "jungle rat" Internet lookup has it as being either a rodent or monkey. Dunno, but is had a great sauce and was served over rice with a side of fresh squeezed passion fruit juice. Tasted like an oily dark meat turkey.

Cairo:

Grilled pigeon: Like chicken, only drier and stringier.

Singapore:

Some odd seafood noodle thing. Not sure wat it was, but it was good.

Spain:

Horse burger. Better than beef IMO

Scotland:

A very expensive beef ribeye steak. I live in Texas. I know beef. I am good friends with beef. That sir, was no beef. I sent it back. They were offended and said, "that is the finest Scottish beef" I thought, "That was alpo."

[boboakalfb]

People think I am wierd for eating wild game...hah. Not even worth listing in a thread like this.

I will say that Korea is a place I won't be visiting...let alone eat there.

[echophonic]

I couldn't resist the thread - keep in mind that he only tries things that are really food:

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_steve_dont_eat_it.php

Jason.

Oh my god that was great! Everyone needs to read the WHOLE page.

[Scotto]

Oh my god that was great! Everyone needs to read the WHOLE page.

I got one of the best laughs of my life reading this guy's blog. I had to close my office door so people wouldn't think I was nuts. Hilarious.

[BD1970]

I've never really traveled abroad much, but the strange things in the US I have tried are:

1. Buffalo
2. Gator tail
3. Turtle
4. Goat
5. Beaver
6. Just about all wild game in the US

[Phog Allen]

Well I've had only one thing I would rate as exotic or weird and that was roasted and toasted bugs from Africa. We had a student worker from the Congo who offered them up to me. I do not remember the name of the bugs but they were African. They were not bad. Some sort of large insects. Certainly not slimy. Very crunchy and lightly toasted. Still, they were a bit odd and I don't fancy another go at them. Now, some of that refuse you guys are showing from the East is never going down my gullet.

Regards Todd

[Zeni]

My brother went to the Testy Festy, and sampled the local fare. "Not bad tasting, but horrible texture."

[Kenyth]

I've never really traveled abroad much, but the strange things in the US I have tried are:

1. Buffalo
2. Gator tail
3. Turtle
4. Goat
5. Beaver
6. Just about all wild game in the US

I wouldn't call #5 weird. Kinky maybe, but not weird. :wink:

This comment is, "Tongue in cheek". :tongue:

[ratcheer]

Lutfisk. That stuff is just plain wrong.


Even worse is surstromming (I have never tried it - wouldn't even want to be near it).


I had a very enjoyable octopus soup in the Dominican Republic. I enjoy escargot. I do not particularly enjoy alligator, though I have eaten it several times. Frog legs can be very good. I have never tried, but would like to try turtle soup and fried rattlesnake. I have even eaten sushi!

Tim

[Jim]

The strangest for me ~ any meal at my inlaws house!:blink:

[BD1970]

I wouldn't call #5 weird. Kinky maybe, but not weird. :wink:

This comment is, "Tongue in cheek". :tongue:


LOL. It could be both kinky & weird when use in their respective contexts. :ladysman:

[Amyn]

I love GOAT BRAINS!!!!!!!!

:drool: :drool: :drool:

[gus]

Guinea pig (Cuyi) accompanied with a fermented beverage called Chicha. The fermentation is started by the maker spitting into the vat!

Aproveche y

Bon Appetite!

Nat

[krawlx]

Tonight I added three more to my list:

Cow Stomach
Cow Heart
Cow Intestines (small & large)

[Doc4]

Seared?

With a nice Chianti.

I've eaten hotdogs and big macs ... a lot scarier than sweet & sour horse if you check the ingredients! :w00t:

[RJSquirell]

1. Night crawlers
2. Opossum on the-Half-shell (Armadillo)

[TstebinsB]

I got one of the best laughs of my life reading this guy's blog. I had to close my office door so people wouldn't think I was nuts. Hilarious.

I have always been partial to the economical one gallon jugs myself. I'm all about getting more bang for the buck. :thumbup: :biggrin: :wink:

[jamacdon]

Not really strange, but escargot, chicken livers, chicken hearts, cherrystones, raw oysters, sheep's stomach lining.

[Roman414]

Spam.

[scagooch]

Escargot which I liked and Deer which I also liked. This is as "wild" as I get.

[vcowman]

In Japan they have a dish called "dancing shrimp". you eat live shrimp. kill it by crushing it to death with your teeth.

I like my meat dead, thank you.

[perry]

Strangest I can remember is ostrich at a restaurant Jim Davis used to have that has since been torn down in favor of an IHOP. I wouldn't touch most of the stuff mentioned in this thread..

[cptranman]

"Scrapple"

I was in Radnor Pennsylvania and liked eating at this local greasy spoon, I think it was "joe's". Anyway... ordered breakfast and one of the optional sides was "scrapple". I figured it was all the busted up pieces of ham, bacon and sausage left on the grill. Nope. It was a weird white/grey pasty brick of... stuff. I asked they guy next to me what it was:

Me: "What exactly is scrapple?"
Him: "It's a Philadelphia delicacy."
Me: "What's in it?"
Him: "Well, you know what they make hotdogs out of right?"
Me: "Yeah"
Him: "Scrapple is the stuff that's left over."

I used lots of ketchup.

Okay, I do like scrapple which is basically left over pig parts ground up, seasoned and formed into a block. This is where I draw the line, though. Puddin is what you get basically with what is left of the pig after making scrapple. Someone offered my dad puddin and he thought they were offering pudding and said we loved it. I tried valiantly to make it edible, but failed. I think I have a recipe around here somewhere for scapple....

Randall

[krawlx]

In Japan they have a dish called "dancing shrimp". you eat live shrimp. kill it by crushing it to death with your teeth.

I like my meat dead, thank you.

I don't mind living octopus, but the "dancing shrimp" makes my stomach crawl a bit. Something about imagining the feeling of those tiny little legs on my tongue.

[ponyplayer]

Check this show out if you get the chance. I have never been able to make it through an entire episode.

http://travel.discovery.com/tv/bizarre-foods/bizarre-foods.html

Patrick

[Markus]

I couldn't resist the thread - keep in mind that he only tries things that are really food:

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_steve_dont_eat_it.php

Jason.

fermented soybeans :eek:

[TimmyBoston]

I couldn't resist the thread - keep in mind that he only tries things that are really food:

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_steve_dont_eat_it.php

Jason.

Wow, I couldn't even finish scrolling down the page before I got nauseous.

[Lynchmeister]

I don't mind living octopus, but the "dancing shrimp" makes my stomach crawl a bit. Something about imagining the feeling of those tiny little legs on my tongue.

...but all those suckers weren't a problem? :blink:

[Nancy Boy]

Grubs and grasshoppers in Mexico City at a fine restaurant.

They were DELICIOUS.

[professorchaos]

As I am former chef, current gourmand and avid traveller, I have explored some strange nooks and cranies at the top on the food chain. Among them:

1. Roast bone marrow. Initially daunting, endlessly delicious.
2. Sheep brain pate. Wonderfully cream and rich.
3. Crispy pig's ear and foie gras. Anytime, anywhere.
4. Ortolans. Little fattened game birds, drowned in armagnac then roasted and eaten whole. Uttlerly beyond eighteen year old.

[murph]

I've eaten quite a lot of the things in this thread and am quite partial to almost anything from the sea, being brought up on the coast I've eaten lots of things live from the sea like razor clams, limpets, fish etc. I also like snails, frogs legs, foie gras, ostrich, kangaroo and all game. I'm not so keen on things like starlings, quail or other small birds without much eating on them.
I like fermented beans like natto as well but I could live without tripe, brain or other offal quite easily.
nsects is where I draw the line though. Oh, and rotten and dried fish which I can't get past my nose.

Lynchmeister,
I can't believe you went into a Scottish chipper without having a deep fried mars bar or some other chocolate bar!

[Rustylee]

Armadillo= Possum on the half shell. My mom fixed it once for us. She cleaned it as you would any animal and filled the body cavity with bar b que sauce. Baked it in a slow oven. It tasted like pork.

The old Florida Crackers would eat a manatee before they ever thought about touching gator tail. Gator tail is getting rather pricey, around $9 a pound in some places.

Maybe we another forum here for cooking.

Rusty <><

[doctorsimon]

That octopus is without doubt the strangest food. Congratulations you win hands down.

Can I win the strangest kosher food prize though?
We do chicken stomachs, necks, feet, and livers without battering an eyelid. But I've also done intestine, udder, testicles, and brains.

Of course I wouldn't eat brain anymore -- risk of CJD.

Simon.

[Roman414]

I once ate a balut in the Philippines. But I still say the strangest is Spam. Ever look at that stuff up close? Read the label?

[Tinzien]

Cat simmered in camel milk. :blink: :huh:

I opted out of seconds.

[Lynchmeister]

I've eaten quite a lot of the things in this thread and am quite partial to almost anything from the sea, being brought up on the coast I've eaten lots of things live from the sea like razor clams, limpets, fish etc. I also like snails, frogs legs, foie gras, ostrich, kangaroo and all game. I'm not so keen on things like starlings, quail or other small birds without much eating on them.
I like fermented beans like natto as well but I could live without tripe, brain or other offal quite easily.
nsects is where I draw the line though. Oh, and rotten and dried fish which I can't get past my nose.

Lynchmeister,
I can't believe you went into a Scottish chipper without having a deep fried mars bar or some other chocolate bar!

:c3: I know...believe me, there are a lot of things I wish I'd done (and not done :whistling:) during my stay...

Oh well, there's always next time! :biggrin:

[elveeskee]

Being a military brat when I was younger and living everywhere, i've eaten:

Philippines-Balut, Pig Brains, Pig ears, Pig blood, jumping salad (similar to "dancing" shrimp), water out the faucet(got sick on that one) and all the fermented shrimp and fish sauces.

Sicily-tripe, cow spleen sandwiches (Squeeky)

Japan-Fugu, Sea Cucumber, Jellyfish (got sick on that one), Grilled dolphin (Flipper, not mahi-mahi)

Thailand-Durian fruit (tastes good if you can get past the "Un-hygenic" woman smell if you know what I mean!!:biggrin: )

[Lynchmeister]

I once ate a balut in the Philippines. But I still say the strangest is Spam. Ever look at that stuff up close? Read the label?

One of my best friends is from Austin, MN. Home of Hormel and Spam. You know how every town in America has some kind of "days" celebration during summer, like for example where I grew up in Stillwater, we have Lumberjack days, since the city started as a logging community in the 1800's. Take a guess what Austin has...


...SPAM JAM!

[Daves]

I have eaten nothing in comparaison to what some of you have eaten. However I went to university in France and the strangest thing I ate there was smoked donkey meat. It was slice thin like prociutto and wasn't too bad. I would have it again. :smile:

Daves

[OldSchoolYoungin]

I've eaten dead raw squid and octopus, but never living. Both are excellent, especially with fish sauce or soy sauce plus some wasabi.

Lightly pan-fried crickets, mealworms, grasshoppers, and scorpion are all great and very healthy fare. An excellent protein source and the digested chitin acts as sort of a dietary fiber.

Fried tarantula is excellent, as well. I didn't eat the abdominal contents, but the meat from inside the legs and cephalathorax is very tasty.

Crushed red ants used as pepper. Just like pepper, no kidding.

Bullfrog
Squirrel
Opossum
Quail
Alligator
Rattlesnake
Wild Boar - If you can get past how truly gamey this stuff is, it's good eating.
Ostrich

I'm sure there are a few others.

[Tinzien]

I've eaten dead raw squid and octopus, but never living. Both are excellent, especially with fish sauce or soy sauce plus some wasabi.

Lightly pan-fried crickets, mealworms, grasshoppers, and scorpion are all great and very healthy fare. An excellent protein source and the digested chitin acts as sort of a dietary fiber.

Fried tarantula is excellent, as well. I didn't eat the abdominal contents, but the meat from inside the legs and cephalathorax is very tasty.

Crushed red ants used as pepper. Just like pepper, no kidding.


I've done the squid and octopus thing and I agree it is quite good. The other stuff you mentioned above has me intrigued indeed! Did you have to crack the grasshoppers open or do you just pop them like popcorn?

[ratcheer]

I have a funny, true story. I was at a Club Med in the Dominican Republic (I think - I went to several in my younger days). At meals, they seat people at fairly large tables so people will get to know each other. An excellent cream soup was served. An older gentleman had sampled it and proclaimed to everyone, "This is the best soup I have ever tasted. Does anyone know what kind it is?"

I was looking at a circular sucker in my spoon and I replied, "Its one of two things - either octopus or squid."

The man replied, "No way", then he proceeded to ask if anyone else knew what kind of soup it was. No one else had an answer.

So then he asked the waiter, who spoke little English: "Es pulpa." The man did not understand, so he again asked if anyone knew what pulpa means. Another man at the table was from Puerto Rico and he had his hand over his mouth, laughing to himself. He informed the other man that pulpa means octopus.

So, the first man pushed his "best soup I ever tasted" away and wouldn't touch it again. :tongue:

Tim

[judge]

lets see:

Durian fruit (stinky but amazingly delicious tropical fruit taste

dried camel milk - you break off pieces and suck it like hard candy

fresh lobster sushi, with the lobster still moving around on the plate

[sporkboy]

I've had the chance to eat some pretty strange stuff, nice for it to finally pay off. I guess the oddest would have to be...

Coagulated blood cake AKA black tofu (beef blood is better than pork blood)

[moses]

Hmmm.... I usually win this contest hands down, but in this crowd I'm an honorable mention at most.

Had a bunch of the more ordinary odd foods, like blood sausage and Haggis. (Darn tasty.) Really do not consider sushi to be in this category, even.

One I am surprised not to see yet is thousand year old eggs, which while not stretching the limits remotely are pretty special. Only think I've ever eaten that really tastes like caustic cleaning products. (Well, more smells like.)

The snake's blood mixed with extremely strong rice "wine" is a fun one. The blood is a little congealed, which gives it a special texture. When I had it (China), they also served another drink, which was the same idea, but the snake's bile instead of the blood. (The rest of the snake was pretty uneventful, in terms of oddness, but delicious, served as several different dishes.)

I also had sea cucumber in China, with barbeque type sauce. The sauce was lovely, but the sea cucumber left a lot to be desired. You know those brown, crumby Artgum erasers? The ones children love to stick their fingernails in. The texture was like that.

Oddest thing from that trip was fish intestines. Funny looking dish, because they were basically clear, in a clear sauce. (Also saw this with cellophane noodles.) Very slimy texture, not so much my favorite.

-Mo

[andrews]

Groundhog and coon very good great as a slow cooked stew and great barbecue very tasty

[CitizenDan]

Nothing too exotic but some might think them strange foods-

Squirrel (BBQ)
Raw Beef (served raw intentionally)
Alligator
Frog Legs
Iguana (Costa Rica)

McDonald's :tongue:

[moses]

Raw Beef (served raw intentionally)


Tartare, or carpaccio? (Or something else?)

Surprisingly tasty stuff, the raw beef. So, I am relatively down with raw beef, and very very very down with raw fish. Think pork is a not-so-much, though, and chicken a just-nasty.

-Mo

[krawlx]

I am a big fan of raw beef. A restaurant I frequent serves raw beef mixed with a few vegetables as a side dish. Very tasty.

[moses]

I am a big fan of raw beef. A restaurant I frequent serves raw beef mixed with a few vegetables as a side dish. Very tasty.

veggies cooked or also raw?

-Mo

[krawlx]

Also raw. Not sure exactly what vegetables they are actually. They're green if that helps!:biggrin: But, they mostly serve to add colour to the dish.

[TimmyBoston]

Tartare, or carpaccio? (Or something else?)

Surprisingly tasty stuff, the raw beef. So, I am relatively down with raw beef, and very very very down with raw fish. Think pork is a not-so-much, though, and chicken a just-nasty.

-Mo

Not a tartare fan, but Carpaccio, that's some good eats. :thumbup1:

And raw chicken, my friends Sam and Ella love it! :biggrin:

[Lynchmeister]

Tartare, or carpaccio? (Or something else?)

Surprisingly tasty stuff, the raw beef. So, I am relatively down with raw beef, and very very very down with raw fish. Think pork is a not-so-much, though, and chicken a just-nasty.

-Mo

I'm half Lebanese and grew up with great stuff like cabbage rolls, grape leaves, and...kibbi (raw ground beef with other stuff). I remember the kibbi from when I was just a little kiddo...back when we weren't worried about all these food-borne nasties, but (thankfully) it hasn't been served by anyone in years. I remember trying it once, but thinking, "This isn't very good...why the hell aren't we frying these up and putting them on buns?" :wink:

[patrisVII]

My 'real' job involves a fair amount of worldwide travel and as I spend most of my time in factories I eat what the locals eat.


...Raw Sea Cucumber - almost made me retch...




+1 http://www.muralsplus.com/discus/clipart/puke.gif

My work situation was like yours for a number of years.

When folks ask what is the worst thing you've eaten that is #1. I had it in Taiwan (not sure if it was raw, but it was room temperature.). A flavor that defies description as to how bad it was - among it's complex palate of nastiness it was pretty easy to pick out strong notes of urine and motor oil though.

Other unusual food I've tried:

-snake, bear and pigeon in China.

-most of the 'dare' cuisine in Japan.

-reindeer meat with green pepper and black bean sauce and in a burritio at Chinese and Mexican restaurants in Norway.

-the 'exotic meat' buffet on the top of the Sydney tower (Crocodile, Camel, Emu, Ostrich, Kangaroo, Bison, and others)

The one food I have never seen prepared in any country is rat - I'm sure someone besides Blackadder's troops in WWI has eaten it, but I've yet to actually see a dish or even a recipe.

PS: I lived in Scotland for several years and I actually do like haggis.

[moses]

Hmm.... So it looks like we have a consensus champion in the just unpleasant category: Sea Cucumber.

-Mo

[rabidpotatochip]

My "just unpleasant" food is sea urchin. If I had only one word to describe it I would say "brown". This one word pretty much covers appearance, taste, texture, smell, and sound if you drop it on the table...

Strangest things I've eaten are a tie between a chicken foot and a scorpion.

[krawlx]

Hmm.... So it looks like we have a consensus champion in the just unpleasant category: Sea Cucumber.

-Mo

I admit, the look of sea cucumber is off-putting, but I don't find it unpleasant. For me, it has almost no taste whatsoever. The texture is a bit strange, but maybe I've just grown accustom to it as it's a regular side dish when I eat raw fish.

[Lionhearted]

Mine is pretty tame compared to some here. I've had fried grasshoppers, chocolate covered ants, and grilled rattlesnake. I really didn't care for the ants but rattlesnake is GOOD.

Richard

[Kenyth]

A Sea Cucumber is basically a Sea Slug. Slugs (and a few other animals, like Hagfish) have survived their soft bodied, unprotected existence over time by evolving a nasty slime production of unparralelled quantities, and a horrifying taste. They are prolific in the wild, because practically nothing will eat them. The only land animal I know that will eat a slug is a duck, and even for them, it's a last resort.

I can't imagine them tasting good.

[CitizenDan]

Tartare, or carpaccio? (Or something else?)

Surprisingly tasty stuff, the raw beef. So, I am relatively down with raw beef, and very very very down with raw fish. Think pork is a not-so-much, though, and chicken a just-nasty.

-Mo

I believe it was more of a tartare since it was minced with added fat. It was served at a Middle Eastern restaurant and I forget the name of the dish on the menu.

[patrisVII]

A Sea Cucumber is basically a Sea Slug.....

It's actually in the same phylum as starfish and sea urchins. Slugs are mollusks, in the same group as squids and clams.

That makes sense cause snails, squids and clams can all taste pretty decent whereas the ingestion of see cucumbers would give water-boarding a run for its money as a form of torture.

[analog_kid]

I have absolutely nothing to add to this thread! Never once eaten anything really odd. Best I can think of at the moment is Deep Fried Oreos.

Now if you want to talk largest amounts of food eaten in one sitting, I have stories! :lol:

[Lynchmeister]

I have absolutely nothing to add to this thread! Never once eaten anything really odd. Best I can think of at the moment is Deep Fried Oreos.

Now if you want to talk largest amounts of food eaten in one sitting, I have stories! :lol:

You just reminded of one night when me and a car full of buddies (who were taking full advantage of me being the DD) pulled into a White Castle after exiting the...uh...gentlemen's club. :sailor:

They were drunk, beligerant, and ho--hungry! I stood witness as 3 guys polished off a Crave Case in less than 1 minute. It was a sight to be seen and I've never been the same since...:001_unsur

[kcinghana]

The dish I enjoy telling most people about is duck tongue on the half bill. It was served still attached to the lower bill, which had to be torn off. It actually wasn't bad, just very chewy.

[Tieguy77]

Now that's one I have never heard before!!