# What are the three strangest things you've eaten in your lifetime?



## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

If you're Eastern Indian, it could include a tuna fish sandwich!

I'll start (off the top o my head):

1. Sea Cucumber aka sea slug.

2. Pig's Brain, was told it was eggs when I was 8.

3. Raw, fresh water salmon. To think, I was expecting it to taste like sushi! (Stick to the fish from the salty sea!)


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## foodnfoto (Jan 1, 2001)

Sea Urchin...yeaccchhh!

Natto Beans-tastes like.., like.., um...oh, never mind.

A three-year-old pink petit four that we found underneath an old bakery display case. A little explanation: it looked as perfect as the day we unwrapped them and I won $50 on a bet. Tasted fine, though a little dry.


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Not on purpose, mind you, but I once ate the chopped up family jewels of a bull (floating in soup), and wasn't told until afterwards what it was.

Really beyond disgusting!!


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

I second the *UGH!!!!!!!* on natto. The only food I have ever had that I will never, ever, EVER eat again. Indescribably ... not delicious. (I'd even venture sea cucumber again, depending on the sauce.) Of course, in my family a Big Mac is just as much the object of revulsion.


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## marthaoncrack (Feb 13, 2002)

Okay, here goes:

I ate fried squirrel brains when I was a kid in the South.

I have eaten sea urchin (eeeeyyeeccchhh!!)

And I have also experienced Dunkin Donuts....


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## roon (Jan 9, 2002)

Escargot- couldn't keep it down, though I suspect it was either the sauce or perhaps the fact that I was 14 at the time.  I knew full well what it was- my sister and I both agreed that "I'll eat some if you do". I'd try it again.

Cow's tongue. This I bought at a schlathof in Germany. I always wanted to try it, so I got it and followed the recipe. It looked rather odd- I'm not sure if I cooked it right, but it was rather tasty. :lips: 

some kind of goat cheese- hubby and I were vacationing in the south of france- got a cheese platter at a restaurant with all kinds of yummy cheese. Chris tried one and said I ought to taste it but it was a "little strong". Gag. Ick. Most vile, awful stuff I ever had. Don't get me wrong, I've had good goat cheese! but this particular kind (don't know specifically what) was awful. Bleargh.


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## nancya (Apr 30, 2001)

I shoulda known better than to read this thread.

<blurk>


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## daavery (Dec 9, 2001)

you pikers 

lets see - in the nagano japan area:

equine sashimi ( raw horse meat)

saute'ed ( on soy sauce) bee larvae

natto - all over japan - i even like it

in the osaka area:

puffer fish sashimi - deadly if not perfectly prepared

various goat cuts in turkey and jordan


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Equine sashimi!?! 
There goes my breakfast...


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Natto~ is that the Japanese ferminted soybeans that have an outrageously strong harsh flavor...if so that.

Grey gelantinous roll in a San Fransican Dim Sum Restaurant, I have no clue what it was....then or 15 years later now.

well....I guess to a non-cajun sucking crawfish heads would be pretty gross....


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## coolj (Dec 12, 2000)

Durian fruit
Jelly fish
Seaweed soup


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## roon (Jan 9, 2002)

Can I add one more?  There's this Korean restaurant- they serve dried anchovies with the other kimchi dishes...I mean whole dried anchovies- heads and eyes and all. My mother loves them. I tried one (I'll try anything once) but aside from the ick factor, they were way too salty.


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## risa (May 11, 2001)

These items don't really seem strange to me but they appear to be strange to some of you judging by previous posts:

Pig ears -- not the dried out ones that you give to the dog.
All sorts of dried fish and squid
Jellyfish (yum! they actually go well with the pig ears)
Cow brains and other innards and parts -- same goes for cow
Balut -- but just the yolk part, don't even show me the baby duckling
Natto -- I like them also
All sorts of seaweed
Seitan and other meat substitutes (strange if you're not a vegetarian)

List goes on and on. I'll usually try anything at least once. How else would I know if it tastes disgusting?

*Oh the topic said three... I guess I can't count*


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## marthaoncrack (Feb 13, 2002)

I almost forgot -- I won a "Who Can Eat The Weirdest Thing at Dim Sum" contest once. I ate chicken feet. DEFINITELY wasn't worth it just to win the dumb contest.


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

Of course, what is normal or common to some seems outrageous to others. The purpose of this post was not to gross one another out but rather to gain new perspectives. It's always interesting to find out what people perceive as their top three (or more). Sometimes it's out of curiosity, sometimes peer pressure, sometimes ignorance because we're kids, or someone didn't tell us. It's always intriguing to discover what some consider gourmet, others wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. Of course it can be influenced by where and how you grew up. Some people grew up eating these things practically every day and have never thought twice about it.

 

marthaoncrack,
sea urchin? I'd love to have some!
chicken feet? I think the presentation is what the problem is.

roon,
cow's tongue? personally, I couldn't handle the texture.
whole dried anchovies? Usually you're supposed to eat a tiny bit with a mouthful of rice. This cut's down on the flavor saturation. Also why so many Asian dishes are so flavorful. They're not meant to be eaten singly, but rather with rice in your mouth at the same time.

daavery,
very intriguing... I assume this was all primarily eaten in Japan?
equine sashimi (raw horse meat)? where and why?
saute'ed (on soy sauce) bee larvae? where and why?
puffer fish sashimi? was it delicious? what did you think?
Have you had blue fin tuna?
various goat cuts in turkey and jordan? assuming you wouldn't list this unless they were prepared unusually...

shroomgirl,
Grey gelantinous roll? You inquired about this in a previous post didn't you? Was it savory or sweet? (Somehow we'll figure it out!)
"guess to a non-cajun sucking crawfish heads would be pretty gross..." assuming this is not an issue with you, "More for us!!!"

coolJ,
Durian fruit? what did you think? the aroma is supposed to be quite strong...?
Jelly fish? how was it prepared? It's delicious no matter how I've had it.


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## culinarian247 (Jan 21, 2002)

Oddly enough. Krispy Kreme doughnuts are too sweet so I don't like them.


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## athenaeus (Jul 24, 2001)

Porcupine with red sauce ( as if it was with lemon sauce would make a difference)
Snake , which is delicious!!!!!

All the other things you have mentioned does not sound strange to me. 
What's the matter with you guys and urchines???? I mean. I LOVE THEM!!!!!:lips: :lips: :lips:


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## daveb (May 1, 2001)

Wierd things?

Natto. Certainly the wierdest taste and texture.

Szechuan alligator (in Atlanta, Ga.). Pretty good if a bit rubbery.

Pilot whale (St. Lucia). Stringy, fishy-tasting pot roast. Not worth the 3 hour prep time.

Duck's feet. Definitely wierd but tasty.

Win a few, lose a few


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## roon (Jan 9, 2002)

cchiu- the cow's tongue was yummy, but you're right about the texture being a bit- odd.  Texture will do me in with certain foods. No nuts with my brownies, for example. But I didn't mind tongue. 

I did eat the anchovy with some rice- didn't think to mention it, though! Most of the kimchee dishes are quite strong and/or spicy, so eating them with rice is wonderful...but it was still too salty for me- along with the aforementioned ick factor.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

not an issue, I quit trying to talk people into eating crawfish a long time ago....7-10# for an adult at a boil is pretty normal....

savory as I recall but it was really blue/grey and cylindrical....

chicken feet are ok, as are tendons....started eating them with Chinese friends...

Though the fermented soybeans used in sushi were rank....the sushi guy said that they were an acquired taste....not sure that's an acquisition I would want.


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## shawtycat (Feb 6, 2002)

1. Circe Bush Tea (whenever the flu strikes we drink this and it goes away)
2. Aloe Vera Plant (the clear stuff in the stem)
3. Chicken Feet Soup
4. Fish Eye Soup(told you my grandmas can't cook)
5. Tripe
6. Oxtail Soup
7. Bran with Condensed milk (Hey I wanted something sweet and crunchy, plus my kids now LOVE bran)
8. Sorrell Punch
9. Soursop Punch (I think the Spanish call this Guanabana)
10. Gooseberry Jam


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## thebighat (Feb 21, 2001)

I know some people are used to the dishes, but the first time I had cervelles de veau aux beurre noir at a long gone place in Boston called Dodin-Bouffant run by a couple named Pritzker who then moved to NYC, the first time I had a humongous platter of calamari aglio olio (sp?)in Little Italy in NYC with all the little tentacles sticking up (I'll eat any amount of it fried), and the first time the kitchen manager made me eat a raw scallop to check it's freshness are my three.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Hey, why do you guys not like chicken feet? I grew up eating them in my high chair, along with necks and gizzards (ok, stomachs). Of course, the key is: _my mother would eat them, and feed them to me!_ She did not, however, eat sea urchins, which I also adore. In fact, she might not have known a lot of the "weird" things I've eaten even existed. But she probably would say, "Well, if it makes you happy..." Most foods do, except for natto!!!!!!!!! And, yes, Krispy Kreme which in addition to being too sweet are WAAAAAAAY too greasy. burp.:blush:


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

My mother used to feed me chicken feet, calves' feet, brains, gizzards, hearts...

Yes, I still speak to her.


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Culinarin247, I agree completely about the Krispy Kremes. Nasty! Lucky for me, too. Struck me as greasy cotton candy, if you can imagine such a thing.

I grew up eating beef tongue. When my mom cooked it, it'd be ready to peel by the time I got home from school. She left the job to me because, for some weird reason, I liked to do it. We ate gizzards and hearts from chickens and turkey, as they were boiled for soup. My grandmother bemoaned not being able to get chicken feet for soup, so I never got to try them. I'm guessing they're like the chicken equivalent of pig's feet (never tried them). We also ate fried beef heart slices. But no brains! And no beating cobra hearts, either. 

French andouille sausage is made with tripe, as I found to my surprise, and bears no resemblance to the Cajun product. I have made tripe a la mode de Caen at home with honeycomb tripe; but when I tried it in Caen, it was inedible (tasted like bad breath smells). I have eaten a 1,000 year old egg (getting past the nose-ful of ammonia smell was quite a feat), and decided it wasn't worth it.


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## shawtycat (Feb 6, 2002)

What kinda egg was it??


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

ShawtyCat,

The following is taken from my post under the topic You Ate WHAT? Contest.: Gold Medal Winner

"Even though they are called "1000 Year Old Eggs" it only takes 100 days to cure them.

You should be able to find them at your local asian grocery store. They are usually duck eggs. They are extremly unique in appearance and smell. They look like black/grey jello with crystals (once you peel off the shell) and they have an extremely strong sulfuric aroma. (so don't be surprised by the smell) I find I have a craving for them once every few years. A tiny piece goes a long way when mixed with a mouthful of white rice. This would be one of those "acquired tastes".




























Also called 100- or 1,000-year-old eggs, preserved duck eggs are a Chinese tradition during the New Year celebration. They are preserved in lime, pine ash, and salt for 50 to 100 days, then peeled, sliced, and served as an appetizer.


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## monpetitchoux (Apr 24, 2001)

My mother, the special woman that she is, used to save the chicken heart for me, and only me, for helping her with domestic work so much. And I knew it was special because there is only one. She'd eat the liver and then slice up the gizzard to divide amongst the rest of the kids so that we wouldn't fight over it. I rate dimsum restaurants according to how well they prepare their chicken feet. Yep, organ meats are not too strange to me. Though I don't eat them as much anymore, I eaten tripe, stomach, liver, kidney, intestines, tongue you name it. And from various animal's too. I've also had bull's testicles, but they were not cut up into cubes for me. Istead, they were simply grilled with salt and pepper so I had the pleasure of eating it in it's full effect.

The weirdest things I ate:

1. In China, I ate these little black lumps the size of my thumb nail in rice wine. I don't know what they were but they looked like some sort of snail/slug that didn't have a shell. They were swaying so they were still alive, albeit, probably blessedly intoxicated in that pool of rice wine. Their interesting texture had me going back for more.

2. Dragonfruit. I couldn't resist the urge to try it when I was in Vancouver 2 years ago. It was flaming red with green tips. And when you cut into it, you get a semi-translucent white flesh that is speckled with black seeds that look like sesame. Despite its raging beauty, it tasted a little bland to me. Prior to dragonfruit, pomegranate was the only other fruit that has ever stirred so much anticipation in me (I was eight years old at that time).

3. The soup that Jose cooked up for family meal last week. It was like eating the scraps of everything on the menu only wet.


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## svadhisthana (May 6, 2001)

This is really sad, I've been trying to think of the strange things I've eaten and I don't have any. The only people who would think so are my family members who eat the same dozen or so meals over and over again. Pomegranite, strawberries with balsamic vinegar, seitan(like Risa said-not strange for a veggie), brie, leeks, tofu, asian pears, and other very normal things (normal to me) would make my mother and sisters wrinkle their noses. "What is that?" "Eeeew". I guess the only thing that would be strange is cheese curds-for those of you NOT in the midwest.


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## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

I too ate strange thing at dim sum, duck feet. It wasn't bad the texture just felt weird in the mouth.


I would never do eat this today and I still can't believe I actually ate that but in Finland I ate reindeer.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I adore congee with 1000 year old eggs, salt pork and crullers....it is comfort food....I discovered it a couple of years ago and get it whenever I can.
* anyone got a good recipe for the congee and/or crullers?


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## marthaoncrack (Feb 13, 2002)

I've just had yet another bad food memory: When I was in the third grade elementary, my teacher asked us to bring in a food for a science experiment on molds. I brought in raw bacon and left it in my desk for about one week. Finally, I couldn't take it any more and I took a bite of it. I didn't die, but I didn't feel so well for quite a few days. I have never told anyone about this until now....

I suppose this isn't the kind of thing that you had in mind for this thread, huh?

-Martha-


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## marthaoncrack (Feb 13, 2002)

Can you enlighten me on 1,000-year-old eggs? How does that happen?

Thanks!


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

What's weird to some is normal to others. Differences make life interesting. Be not afraid. Food is love (happy v-day, all!). Let's eat!!!!


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## billyg60 (Jun 28, 2001)

Boy we are an adventurious bunch!!!

I will eat almost anything(and have) but 2 things I cannot stand are Beets and a Watergate salad my mom makes at Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving (basicly green jello with all kinds of fruits and nuts mixed in with cream cheese also)


1. Sea Urchin and I liked it
2 Rattlesnake--ok but chewy tasted like chicken.
3 Vegimite from Australia, before i knew it was basicly a salty mold.


Billy


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Dog food.

Hah!

Not bad, really!:lips:


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I cannot figure out how the bone meal cleans teeth.....I ate um as a dare when I was pre-5.
My brother ate spiders for a penny, and banana peels....tough being a little brother.


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## svadhisthana (May 6, 2001)

Put me down for dog biscuits. I was 6 maybe? My older sister ate one too. Amazing how easy it is to forget these things........... 




I've had watergate salad too-Yuuuuuuuuuuuck!

Velveta fudge- another one I've mentaly misplaced as a defence mechanism no doubt. 

Actually most of my mothers cooking could be classified as strange to those who had mothers who didn't think "Fluffernutters" and any recipe printed on the back of a can of Campbells soup was good eats.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Speaking of dog biscuits, my Mother-in-law once made some dog biscuits for sasha and kodi. I walked in and said "wow! Those look good!" so I picked one up and bit into it!

Anyway, as far as human food is concerned, I think the weirdest thing I ever consumed was whole roasted sheep head at a theme party. I didn't eat the whole thing, just what was given to me which was a little bit of meat. I think it was there for shock value, nobody really ate any of it. I just had to get used to the thing staring at me.

Kuan


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## canstandtheheat (Feb 14, 2002)

I was at a superbowl party where they served Hormel "chili" with Velveeta "cheese" melted on it with Tostida "tortilla' chips. Talk about disgusing. Bring on the moldy bacon, squirming snails in rice wine, chicken feet, and greyish blue cylincrical dim sum thingy!


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## athenaeus (Jul 24, 2001)

Kuan, in Greece, in Easter, we fight who is going to have the sheep's head ...  and of xourse we eat it ALL


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Many, many years ago, I went out to eat at a Greek restaurant with some friends. One of the other girls (yes, it was so long ago that we were "girls") ordered the half of a sheep's head, roasted. We all ended up picking at it -- it was actually pretty good. Roast lamb, after all, what's to be bad? (That plus enough retsina!!)


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## marthaoncrack (Feb 13, 2002)

Thanks, cchiu, for the info on 1,000-year-old eggs!

Okay, this one isn't too weird, but it is one that most of us don't admit to liking: some call it "the Pope's nose", some call it "the last thing over the fence", but I just call it "the chicken's butt". It's that wonderfully flavorful, chewy tail piece of a chicken or -even better- turkey. Yum, Yum, Yum. Wish I could buy them by the pound...


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## thebighat (Feb 21, 2001)

Saw a show on the food channel about a place in nyc that served whole lamb's head. Wonder if this the place Suzanne went?


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## catciao (Jan 23, 2002)

I can't say that I'm as adventurous as some of you, in fact, I don't think I want to be. The top of my wierdest food list includes Giant Clam from a sushi bar - not much taste and was like biting into cartalidge. Fried Rattlesnake - tastes somewhat like chicken and so being, I'll stay with the fowl. Kimchee - my dad loves this rotten cabbage he discovered while in Korea. I'm sorry I tasted it.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Will you guys stop trying to make me hungry?!?!?!

Kimchee! "The part that goes over the fence last" (extra-crispy)!! Tongue (2nd Ave. Deli has THE BEST sandwiches)!!! Sea urchin!!!! YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess my motto is, I'll try anything -- how else can I learn?


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## chefboy2160 (Oct 13, 2001)

Suzanne , Im with you , food is food and meat is meat . I live in Reno Nevada and am constantly reminded of the Donner party and there life saving diet . Beef tounge tacos rule . Ill be nice and leave it at that .


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## shawtycat (Feb 6, 2002)

Donner party???


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Well, I think I would probably draw the line there.

_(Shawty Cat: the Donner Party was a group of settlers who got lost on their way over the mountains and ended up cannibals in order to survive.)_


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## svadhisthana (May 6, 2001)

They began their journey in my town, we have a little plaque downtown and everything.


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

Intriguing!

Anyone out there with things you've eaten which seemed "strange" to you even though others find it normal?


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## athenaeus (Jul 24, 2001)

:bounce: 
Svad and others!! Could you plllllllease ( as Roger Rabbit would say) tell me more about that?????

:bounce: :bounce:


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

In order to keep this particular thread "on topic" according to the title, I've started a new thread for The Donner Party, feel free to discuss that topic there.



You can read it but it's been closed for obvious reasons.


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## dear abby (Mar 7, 2002)

How wonderful that there are many adventurous people in this lovely forum. Dear Abby herself has traveled extensively.

She once ate ika sashimi in Hakodate, Japan. This is thinly-sliced raw squid. One knows the squid is fresh when it's still moving as one puts it into one's mouth.

She drank Scrumpy once in Cheddar, England. For those unfamiliar with Scrumpy, it is a fremented beverage made from apples, raisins, and raw meat. Truly vile, but after a pint, Dear Abby didn't care. She woke up the next morning with a single red rose on the pillow beside her. And a citation for disturbing the peace from the local constabulary.

Oh, and Dear Abby once consumed a perfectly horrid thing referred to as a "_hot dog_."

Abby


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## karlat (Nov 7, 2001)

Kim chee Yes! (although the aroma stays with you for a full 24 hours. Like it's coming out of your pours!)

Burgoo (sp) never again. I know there are numerous recipes. Just that throw anything in thing......

As a small child my mother fried brains once (cow I think) and I tried it but don't really remember if I liked it or what it tasted like.


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## kimmie (Mar 13, 2001)

Chicken combs...YUCK!!


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## marmalady (Apr 19, 2001)

Kimmie - One up on ya - from the local Asian grocery store - duck tongue!! (Never had it, never will). Pig uterus (ditto). Straight up - packaged in standard meat packages, all lined up nice and neat in a row. Oh well, I guess there's something to be said for using every part of the animal!!


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## chefbk (Mar 3, 2002)

I have had the wonderfull opportunity to experience-
sea urchins-yuch
headcheese- pg brains and jowls made into a summer sausage
chunnina- duck's blood soup with homemade noodles
szechuan chicken feet- in an oriental restaurant in NY
rocky mt. oysters- Pig testicals,I wasn't told until after I ate them
All of these items were less then a pleasurable experience!!


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## risa (May 11, 2001)

I saw an interesting book at the library the other day: Strange Foods: Bush Meat, Bats and Butterflies, An Epicurean Adventure Around the World .

It's a beautiful book and lots of information; however, I couldn't look at many of the pictures. They made me rather queasy and I'm not normally squeamish.


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## kimmie (Mar 13, 2001)

_Unmentionable Cuisine_ by Calvin W. Schwabe and _Creepy Crawly Cuisine : The Gourmet Guide to Edible Insects_ by Julieta Ramos-Elorduy would make a perfect threesome along with the aforementioned


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## brreynolds (Apr 26, 2001)

after you've had horse sashimi and a fish soup in which the eyeballs are considered the delicacy.


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## chiffonade (Nov 29, 2001)

Our parents exposed us to all kinds of delicacies...

Italian...
Brains
Squid with Cuttlefish Ink
Sanguinaccio (St. Joseph's Day Blood Pudding)
Tripe
Sofrito (now illegal...windpipe and esophagus of cow)
Snails
Pig's Feet
Pig's Skin

Chinese...
Chicken feet
Tripe

Middle Eastern...
Lamb spinal cord
Brains

French...
Kidneys


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## vegetable man (Dec 2, 2003)

Sorry to bring this up to the top, but what a great thread.

Weirdest food for me, while living in Santa Barbara:

Cow Tongue(shredded) Burrito(wonderful food)
Cow Brain Burrito(which I couldn't keep down)


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Don't apologize; that's one reason we love new members.  

But since when is tongue weird??? Well, maybe if you didn't grow up eating "delicatessen" -- but to some of us, it's as usual as salami. Mmm, time to go to the 2nd Avenue Deli for a tongue sandwich.

And brains are not necessarily weird; just hard to get nowadays. What do you think of sweetbreads? (another YUM to me  )


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## chefboy2160 (Oct 13, 2001)

suzanne , enjoy the sandwich . I must admit to having a taste for the lesser cuts of meat as some would say . Chitlins rock !
And so do kidneys , liver , heart and yes braines . Boudins was a mountain man favorite in the early west . As we say in the western U.S . meat is meat . And rocky mountain oysters are pretty darn good . Traditionally the offal meats were eaten first while the butchering was going on or otherwise they were incorperated into sausages . If we take an animals life for food should we not enjoy what it gives us? Menudo , a very old soup made by the mexicans has the great incorperation of tripe . All I can say is YUM . 
3 things I have eaten and would not go there again .
1. Raw octupus sushi ... To rubbery .
2. Fish on monday ... Yeah I was young 
3. Mary Lou , she wanted to get 
married! 
Peace friends , Doug.....................


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## vegetable man (Dec 2, 2003)

Suzanne, I'm not sure I've had sweetbreads. Unless I'm over complicating what you mean.

Funny story about cow brain. I was visiting my brother up in Allentown, PA and we stopped by the farmers market for a bit. I made a stop by the first butcher I saw and asked if he had any cow tongue. His eyes lit up, and his excitement was palpable with someone there to experiment his less purchased goods. He had me sample some of his cow tongue and when I didn't flinch, he offered me to try something else. When I asked about cow brain, both he and his high school aged helpers kind of recoiled at the question. 

Until this day, I carried with me a little bit of pride in that I made a butcher recoil. However, this thread has humbled me, and I will have to seek out new adventures.


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Maybe so, just not the blood sausage or blood soup!  That's the one kosher law I follow faithfully.


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## hexnymph (Apr 15, 2003)

I can't believe nobody has mentioned Lutefisk, but for me, that has to be one of the strangest.... I'd eat it again... but never order it again.

While camping in a remote area we decided to harvest freshwater clams(Which I believe are protected)... I will never eat them again! (We will eat anything we can catch at least once)

From the PA dutch... pork pudding... or pudding meat.... and scrapple/pawnhoss(sp?)

Hex


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## soussweets (Apr 12, 2003)

i will eat anything three times,,, and chances are that if it takes three times for me to decide if i like it,,,, it sucks. pardon my spelling,,, but i think one of the nastiest things i have ever eaten is gafelta fish from the jar on a cracker. one of my teachers made us eat this in high school on a saltine so we could"expand our cultural horizons" ,,, frankly i would have prefered some potato pancake with apple sauce!


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Gefilte fish is definitely an acquired taste- just like lutefisk. However, the homemade stuff (for which there are infinite recipes) is far superior to the jelly-laden jarred stuff. Think "quenelle du brochet" (pike dumplings) enjoyed by the French. Those can be absolutely delicious. 

Having helped make gefilte fish from buffalo and carp, I can attest that the pike version is far tastier than the version made with either of those trash fish!


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## pongi (Jan 11, 2002)

This is the first time I explore this thread (perhaps it was too huge for me ) and I'm pretty amused at the fact that most of your "strangest things" are perfectly normal for Italians (except for my hubby ) 

I mean:

-Tongue
-Tripe
-Kidneys
-Brains and spinal cord
-Lamb head
-Blood
-Urchins
-Snails
-Frogs
-Pig's feet and skin
-Chicken combs
-Raw horse meat

But we are wild people, you know...and I'm the Queen of wild people 

I LOVE all those things, especially kidneys, tongue and snails.

I can also add something more to the list: SQUID EGGS. They look - and taste- about like octopus meat, but are softer. Imagine 1-2 inch white, soft balls, made of octopus meat. Weird, huh?

Pongi


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## ritafajita (Mar 2, 2002)

Crawdads - freshly caught from a creek in Oak Ridge, TN (think Manhattan Project  ). I was eight years old. Still in my memory, it seems like one of them was as big as a lobster, but maybe that was a dream. I hope so, anyway, otherwise I probably glow in the dark!
RF


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## nick.shu (Jul 18, 2000)

3 things, ehh?, well ok here goes:

1) Witchetty grub - soft texture, very nutty flavour

2) Salt water crocodile - texture like chicken, with a very washed out fish flavoured overtones

3) Kangaroo - very gamey, dark meat not unlike a strong flavoured beef fillet


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## gilbear (Sep 19, 2003)

1) Pickled pigs foot, from a jar, in a bar in Barstow, Ca. on a hot August day.
2)Various things from various carts at various Fleet Landings along the Atlantic Coast(both sides) and the Med.
3) Green Jell-o


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## chef from va (Nov 13, 2003)

WOW this is the best thread i have come across so far! i have a few things to contribute. 
when i lived in Panama (as an army brat living right on the canal) 
- iguana, and no it doesnt taste like chicken it tasted kinda like duck
- camen, similar to aligator quite tasty
- day old siveche NEVER TO BE EXPERIENCED AGAIN!!!!!!!!

here in Virginia
- squirrel of course and its realy good
- raw oysters of questionable origin ALSO ONE OF THOSE NEVER AGAIN THINGS 
- sweedish caviar past that my norna used to shove down my throat  
- a shot of oyster sauce.... what can i say i commute to school and i needed gas money

there are a ton more but this wilol have to do


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

The strangest thing I've ever eaten: barbecued hippopotamus lips.


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## chef from va (Nov 13, 2003)

YUM! that is the strangest one i have heard yet


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## azrael (Feb 9, 2004)

sheeesh! most of this stuff i'd eat without blinking.
I like Thai chicken feet salad.
Sea urchin roe? uni....GIMMMIE i can't get enough of that stuff.
cow's tongue in aspic is pretty okay.

I will not eat, however, IGUANA..ICK!!!!

Strangest thing I've eaten?

Horse Shoe Crab *YUMMY* at that a Phuket
ate some ants inadvertently..don't know if that counts.
Is the spit of a Swallow (no spit or swallow jokes) considered exotic? they market it as Bird's Nest
Snake bile, supposedly medicinal, but it tasted really really bad.


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## radish (Mar 7, 2004)

ooh lots of yummy yummy things!!
My wierdest ould have to be

alligator
tripe
horse meat
snails
gizzards
raw quails eggs
haggis


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## xaleto (Jan 26, 2004)

My Italian grandmother grew up in a poor family and during WW2 nobody had too much money so any body part of an animal was consumed. Even later she kept cooking occasionally some of the things she used to eat while younger. My father, her son, still cooks the most outrageous things to this day.

Here some of the things I tasted as a kid...

Beef coagulated blood sauteed with onions (similar recipe to the Venetian "Fegato alla Veneziana"). BLAH!

Bull [email protected] (ok, I guess, but I will never have it again)

Fried brain of some animal (YUCK)

Little escargout (sp?) that tasted like the ton of garlic they add to them (not anymore)

Kidney (I actually liked it)

Lung (YUCK!)

Beef heart 

Chicken feet

I love Beef tongue!

Dolphin meat, it was dried, like beef jerky

I am sure I am forgetting something....


Laura


:chef:


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## phoenix-thereal (Mar 10, 2004)

Interesting thread. 

Ohmigoodness, over 6+ decades and having traveled or lived over about half the world's surface, I've eaten so many strange things... many that have already been mentioned. So, I'm trying to think of a few that have not.

1. Whole oven roasted cow's head. Sweet meat, good... pick it clean to nibble on and use to make some really good Mexican tamales.

2. Monkey Balls, yummy.... chewy lil morsels roasted on bamboo sticks over the coals of a brazier (actually, we were told that they were monkey balls but never knew what kind of meat they might have been... probably dog).

3. Cow's hoof, not too shabby. Used to thicken and flavor a GOOD menudo, gnaw on it a bit to eat off the soft gelatinous parts after cooked.

4. A handful of _chiltepines_ that some guy I didn't know dropped into my palm one night in a bar--consequences were effluently devastating in every manner one can imagine. Had I been able to find him later (several hours to recover) I would have maimed him for life. LOL, they look like red-skinned Spanish peanuts under dim light. They aren't.

One thing that I was offered but did not eat was whole monkey rotisseried over a bed of coals.... ummm, it just looked too much like bar-b-qued baby on a spit.

Heh, nor would I eat some of those thangs they have had the 'contestants' consume on the various survivor shows on TV.


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## tee (Apr 8, 2004)

1. Frog taste great but when you trhink about it it will gross you out IMO.
2. chicken intestine(BBQ) taste great.
3. oax tongue cooked with cream of mushroom. It has a soft texture that is nice when you chew it. :chef: 
4. Duck egg! When the egg is starting to form the baby and it was boil. 

By the way I eat them when I was in Philippines before I move here four years ago.


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## onehsancare (Mar 31, 2004)

Strangest things ever eaten:

tapeworm larvae in sushi (unknowing, but the grossness factor is astronomical!)

natto (gag)

Unusual protein I love: escargot, tongue, frogs' legs


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## leezachris (Mar 19, 2004)

wow, some of these are crazy!!

When my husband was in China for a visit he ate Dragon Phoenix - aka Cat Chicken Snake soup!! (I wasn't married to him at the time, thank goodness as I LOVE cats, and it made me sad to think that he tried one ).


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## rasputin1072 (Apr 9, 2004)

Is fried squirl brains a common dish in the south? I guess I don't live far enough south for that one myself.


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## thebighat (Feb 21, 2001)

I was sitting alone in the dark one night, watching the Red Sox lose, drinking beer and eating Triscuits, when I became aware of a tickling sensation on my hands and lips. When I snapped on the light, the Triscuit box was full of ants and now they were walking all over me. Don't remember what they tasted like, as I was just hammered enough not to freak out.


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## leezachris (Mar 19, 2004)

OOOHHHggggghhh - that's what nightmares are made of.....


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## basil baker (Apr 19, 2004)

I'm a vegitarrien and one of the oddest things I ever ate was when my friend and I tried to make chocolate flovored tofu. Yes, we are crazy and It was very gross.


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## frizbee (Sep 27, 2003)

Umm I live in SC and i am sure i have Never seen that on any menu....LOL


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## phoenix-thereal (Mar 10, 2004)

In Mexico, where I spent quite a lot of time after retiring from the Army, out in the 'campo' on the 'ranchos' when they hang a goat up to a rafter to kill it, as they slit its throat (with the typically dull knife that has been 'sharpened' on a rock...requiring a sawing motion during the jugular sticking process) they will hold a basin underneath to catch all the blood as it spurts out. Then they just toss it as coagulating into a frying pan over a fire and fry it up simple like that. Salted with a rather coarse salt that sorta clumps together, it tastes quite good... eaten with tortillas... :lips: and everybody has a good time. 

I just thought I'd add that as *Xaleto* had mentioned beef coagulated blood sauteed up with onions... I reckon those 'venezolanos' just ain't purists.


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## armand (Apr 23, 2002)

Seems to be my turn to add another delicacy...

I just happen to return from my annual bike meeting from a motorcycle list I´m on. We`re a bunch of old men on bikes all over Europe (and a couple of guys from the other side of the pond) who meet once a year somewhere in Europe (new place / country each year). Our tradition asks for everyone to bring something interesting to eat or drink from around his home aerea, mostly some spirits, wines, cheeses (lovely pecorino and homegrown olives from our Italian attendees this year...yum!), and we do have a strong Scandinavian fraction. This year they brought surstromming (sp?), which is nothing less than canned rotten fish!

I couldn´t specify the fish, but they were about the size of small sardines. For preparation, the heads of the fish are cut off, the rest of the fish remains intact however. The put the fish in cans and add salt and leave the cans open for about a week to 10 days, according to temperature and the amount of sunshine (yes, they are fermenting outside the house). Only after that, the cans are closed and the fish is allowed to ripen for at least another eight weeks.

The whole thing smells like somewhat inbetween old overdone Limburger Cheese and salted herring, and it tastes quite similar, but worse. The smell is so intense, that the can that was brought to our meeting was not opened inside the hotel, but somewehere outside on the parking lot. Still it was intense enough you didn´z have to ask for directions but simply follow your nose to find the place they had opened it.

I tried two pieces of surstromming (oh yes, they do filets from the fish after taking them out of the can, so luckily you don´t eat the rotten intestines) and managed to swallow them - imagine eating fermented smelly old socks...

For my part after this experience I was happy there was still enough Grappa and Genever left to wash down the taste, but obviously it´s a delicacy in parts of Sweden.

Armand


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Chacun a son gout, I guess! 

I hear they eat similarly rotted shark in Iceland.


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## pepper-passion (Dec 31, 2003)

In my travel to 65 countries I have been served some interesting delicacies. Ones that come to mind are as follows:

Shark and shark Fin Soup
Whale
Kangaroo
Horse
Birds nest soup (dried bird saliva)
Fish head soup
escargot
Iranian Beluga caviar
Kobe Beef ($120 for one steak!)
Alligator
Frogs Legs

These are not to high on the weirdness scale but they all were excellent.

Bruce


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## headless chicken (Apr 28, 2003)

Gator after my trip from New Orleans

Bird's nest, I forgot what bird its from but its quite expensive. Used in chinese soups, suppose to be very good for you. Grandmother was looking for some and found it to be at cheapest $100(can). Its apparently very hard to come by, climbers must scale steep mountains to find and it can't be cultivated or farmed, must be wild.

Sea cucumber, agian, used in chinese soups.

Those are the top 3 but I do have more to add like sea horses, snakes, turtle, I don't know if you'd consider wild boar to be exotic, snails (escargot), a few insects (unknown to me, was snuck into a few things I ate, the complete edible kind of course or else I'd sue).


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## sancyr (Apr 7, 2005)

What a fun thread! I just had to bring it back.

Oddest things I ate that seemed perfectly normal to everyone around me:

1. *Casserole.* I had never had one before, until I met my Mother-In-Law in Florence, Alabama (I'm Chinese brought up on Chinese/Vietnamese/Philipino/Chamorro/Japanese/Korean food). To me, it looked like browned puke (sorry) in a glass dish. When it was served, it kind of oozed onto my plate. But one taste and I was SOLD! Lesson learned: best not to judge Southern food by looks.

2. *Green Jello Salad with nuts and cottage cheese.* Someone else had mentioned its is called "Watergate Salad." Served by the same Mother-In-Law. Very ugly, slimy texture, no good! Lesson learned: Although I may like all the ingredients separately, they don't necessarily go well together. Also, Jello is not always wobbly.

3. *A big rice ball.* It was hand shaped by a Japanese friend, accompanied by an expansive Japanese dance and song that spanned the entire dining room with everyone clapping along. Each person in the room got their own ball (big enough that you have to hold it with two hands) with their own song and dance. There was a little spice tucked on the inside. Lesson learned: Rice is better with a song and dance.

All the other lists with Asian food are not odd to me at all. Jellyfish salad with julienned cucumbers and carrots are a personal favorite. I also love juk (congee) with thousand year old eggs - comfort food. Fried shrimp chips that get all puffy - YUM. My mother used to give my eldest sister chicken hearts to make her heart/spirit strong. I was content if given a gizzard or neck. Ox tail soup with the ox tails softened in a pressure cooker first... YUM YUM.

Sounds like surstromming is the Swedish answer to Asian fish sauce! Sounds like the same process but fish sauce is loaded with salt.

Sara


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## redace1960 (Apr 1, 2005)

the absolute weirdest thing was fresh, raw crab eggs-wonderful,
sweet, buttery and bright orange. this as i was hauling
up crab pots with a buddy-crack one,<slurp> toss one, save one, etc.
-salmon eggs preserved in borax...i was a kid, we were fishing, they were
pretty...........but not tasty.
-walter kendall fives dog biscuits. the red ones were particularly good, as 
i recall.


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## cssamerican (Apr 12, 2005)

I am not very adventuous when it comes to food; however, a lot of things I do eat have been mentioed here. Funny thing is that all these foods are considered common place where I live in southeastern Louisiana.

1.) Raw Oysters (_Serve them on the halfshell over ice, eat them with cocktail sauce/hot sauce/lemon juice, pretty good_)
2.) Alligator (_I have eaten this fried a few times, and to be honest it tasted similar to fried catfish._)
3.) Turtle Soup (_I ate this as a kid, but I remember thinking it was pretty good._)
4.) Boiled Crawfish (_One of the greatest foods on the planet, and I can't figure out how anyone thinks its wierd or disgusting_)
5.) Frog Legs (_I have eaten this fried many times, and it taste like chicken legs._)
6.) Pickled Pig Lips (_My dad loves these things, I personally dislike all things pickled other than cucumbers and onions._)
7.) Red Boudin (_My dad has eaten this a bunch of times, I tried it a couple of times when I was younger. It was alright, nowhere near as bad as it sounds. Oh and in case you don't know what it is, its Blood Sausage_)
8.) Hog's Head Cheese (_If made well this stuff is the BOMB. You usally eat with crackers or melt it over a bowl of hot grits._)
9.) Turducken (_Nothing really weird, but most people are suprised by the idea for some reason. It is a Duck with stuffing stuffed inside of a chicken stuffed inside of a turkey._)
10.) Choupique patties (_This one is probably wierd even for people were I live. It is kinda like crab cakes, but it uses the meat from a Choupique aka Bowfin fish. If made right it isn't bad, but it has the potential to be horrible, my aunt used to make it for us when we were kids. After she died I have never eaten it since, and I have never even heard of anyone else who eats this fish. So it is very possible this could be pretty far out there in the relm of wierd. Of course it is also possible everyone in the world eats this but people from Louisiana_)


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## kerryclan (Mar 13, 2005)

Great thread, guys!  

Pickled pigs feet - My mom's favorite snack. (the Irish don't waste anything)

Goat's pancreas - had it in a middle eastern place. (good stuff, lucky I only found out later what it was!  )

Stuffed derma (a Jewish sausage thing, no idea what's in it)

Conch - big sea snail an African friend served. It smelled real bad. But I was polite.


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## gmengrmetsales (Feb 21, 2005)

All of which were done off a bet.

I drank this one - the rubber mat under which they pour rail drinks, most bars will drain it into a glass and let you drink it for free - it is always different - Yorch.

Pig nuts - The hairs kept getting stick in my teeth.

Pizzles - Otherwise know as deer penises. They actually taste nothing like chicken, but more like hot dogs.


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## eve12 (Dec 13, 2016)

Some of the strangest I've eaten include:

1. Escargot - This was actually delicious!

2. Goat Brains - Tasty as well.

That's about it for now! Nowhere close to you guys......YET!


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

Damn, you guys sure have me beat.
I mean I ate Rattle snake one time, out in the wild, and squirrel.
A story I will no longer be telling with the same zeal as I have
in the past. lol


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## laurenlulu (Sep 9, 2012)

It makes me laugh because I'm not quite sure what's weird.. Cajuns eat literally anything (though opossum is gross) and not only that but create festivals up and down the bayous cooking protein different ways. Snapping turtle, gator, snake, squirrel, ****, whatever's got muscle. Escargot and egg sacks from seemingly every creature with egg sacks was a regular meal. 

Had a mess of little snake eggs once, my uncle hit the jackpot killing a mama that tried to bite us. Cut the head off and slit the belly to find it full.

I went to a Burgoo festival in Illinois and they were making it in big iron pots under the trees where the squirrels were playing. One man said that it was there instead of the field because squirrel droppings made the flavor just right. If he wasn't kidding, I guess that's the weirdest thing I ever ate. Squirrel droppings.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Freshwater clams cooked in the campfire... NASTY, muddy, chewy, super fishy taste

Eelpout, a fish caught in northern Minnesota lakes. Slime drips off them and when you clean them make sure you are standing upwind because they STINK. Steamed and served with butter they are called poor mans lobster!





  








matt-breuer.jpg




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maryb


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Dec 29, 2016








And a tie between mud duck stew (tastes like everything that floats in a swamp...) and muskrat stew that was nasty, oily, fishy, swampy tasting...


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

laurenlulu said:


> It makes me laugh because I'm not quite sure what's weird.. Cajuns eat literally anything (though opossum is gross) and not only that but create festivals up and down the bayous cooking protein different ways. Snapping turtle, gator, snake, squirrel, ****, whatever's got muscle. Escargot and egg sacks from seemingly every creature with egg sacks was a regular meal.
> 
> Had a mess of little snake eggs once, my uncle hit the jackpot killing a mama that tried to bite us. Cut the head off and slit the belly to find it full.
> 
> I went to a Burgoo festival in Illinois and they were making it in big iron pots under the trees where the squirrels were playing. One man said that it was there instead of the field because squirrel droppings made the flavor just right. If he wasn't kidding, I guess that's the weirdest thing I ever ate. Squirrel droppings.


* You come from a wondrous, enchanting and frightening place, Dear Lulu. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lookaround.gif*


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## laurenlulu (Sep 9, 2012)

HA! Meezy you crack me up! You know the saying, cockroaches and Cajuns will survive the apocalypse. Where are you from, btw? In my head you have an English accent [emoji]128513[/emoji]


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

laurenlulu said:


> HA! Meezy you crack me up! You know the saying, cockroaches and Cajuns will survive the apocalypse. Where are you from, btw? In my head you have an English accent [emoji]128513[/emoji]


Cockroaches?

Cockroaches?

Did someone say cockroaches?

Tasty tasty little buggers....yum!


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## mulehead1990 (Apr 8, 2016)

My owner is Mexican so cow tounge tacos on the regular

when I was in Iraq in the kitchen the third country nationals in my kitchen served me every part of the goat

and in korea I ate the puppy


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## eve12 (Dec 13, 2016)

Every part of the goat huh? Ever try goat brains? If you did, then what do you think?


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## eve12 (Dec 13, 2016)

MaryB said:


> Freshwater clams cooked in the campfire... NASTY, muddy, chewy, super fishy taste
> 
> Eelpout, a fish caught in northern Minnesota lakes. Slime drips off them and when you clean them make sure you are standing upwind because they STINK. Steamed and served with butter they are called poor mans lobster!
> 
> ...


There are some things I wouldn't dare eat, and that's one of them!


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## scott livesey (Jan 25, 2013)

#1 has to be sea urchin roe spooned out of the live sea urchin I was holding.   #2 would be pan fried tuna eye.  1 and 2 were when living in Hawaii, the locals do not waste any part of the fish.   I learned a valuable lesson there, when offered food, take a small portion and eat it.  If you like it, have more, if you don't, then don't.   Making a face and asking "what's is this", is an insult to the cook and home owner.   #3 would be a horse burger eaten in southern France.


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## jinda (Jan 2, 2017)

Fried grubs at an Indian Days celebration.


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## ericbowles (Feb 1, 2015)

You have not lived until you've eaten chitlins - or chitterlins to be proper.  But it's not just the food - it's preparing the hog intestines and boiling them that is really bad.  The smell is among the worst foods you've even experienced.

Rattlesnake, squirrel, possum, hog jowls and raccoon are normal southern foods.  Either fry them like chicken or slow roast them like pot roast.  For some, they join okra and collards on the bad food list, but prepared properly all these items are good.

Duck tongue, duck feet, chicken feet, and tripe are each different, but pretty good properly prepared. I can even live with blood sausage and haggis.

A not quite ripe persimmon may be the worst food.  Not ripe persimmons may be the most bitter food I've ever tasted - completely a turn your mouth inside out bitterness.

A number of years ago in Lucca I was being adventuresome and ordered an item that was translated as "boiled beef".  The owner of the restaurant said something like "Are you sure you want to order this?  It's normally for locals only."  I insisted it was what I wanted.  A short while later a plate of some sort of round cartilaginous food came out in a tomato sauce. I had a few bites - and then gladly accepted the offer of another entree.  I still don't know what it was.


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## eve12 (Dec 13, 2016)

ericbowles said:


> You have not lived until you've eaten chitlins - or chitterlins to be proper. But it's not just the food - it's preparing the hog intestines and boiling them that is really bad. The smell is among the worst foods you've even experienced.
> 
> Rattlesnake, squirrel, possum, hog jowls and raccoon are normal southern foods. Either fry them like chicken or slow roast them like pot roast. For some, they join okra and collards on the bad food list, but prepared properly all these items are good.
> 
> ...


Haha interesting story you got their mate! When you think of boiled beef it doesn't sound all that bad, so it's hard to imagine.

Probably tasted a lot worse than minced beef or anything of the sort I bet!


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## victorero (Jan 5, 2017)

I'll start by saying I'm adventurous when it comes to food but haven't had the opportunity to try some stuff I would like to, such as the scorpion pizza that was served 3 yrs ago at the Stampede here in Calgary.

-Sea urchin (though I like it and so does my wife so I catch some from time to time to have right by the sea when we are back home in Cuba). Btw, this creeps most fellow Cubans. Raw (of course) and also with some key lime juice.

-Chapuline (grasshoppers), love it with some beers in the summer.

-Roasted Red Snapper eyeballs. Mixed feelings about this one, flavour is good but texture not so much)

-Black ants when I was a kid ~4-5 yrs old (just a sour little tinge). This was of my own accord and away from adult supervision hehehe. 

I've tried really disgusting stuff but it mostly had to do with preparation and handling. Except for Claria (a type of catfish) perhaps, that's just nasty in general.


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## victorero (Jan 5, 2017)

Well, my wife and I tried Kimchi about two years ago and fell in love with it, so much that we now make our own and Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Stew) has become a fixture in our table since she demands it at least 3 times a month. The interesting part is all the ingredients that we now have rolling around the house or in the fridge, of which the king of weirdness is probably the fermented baby shrimp. Talk about stinky...

I also remembered a weird bad food I had and I tried to forget. My mom decided to pickle red radish in vinegar... at some point me and my brother braced ourselves and dumped the whole thing when she wasn't looking. The whole house stunk of rotten eggs every single time she opened the damn container and the worst is that she seemed to enjoy the wicked thing. And she dared to criticize mi love for fermented napa cabbage sigh.


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Okay, for me this thread only makes sense as things I've eaten and would eat again. When I was 9, I ate worms on a dare. Doesn't count.

1. Nattō: takes some getting used to. I suggest adding a bit of gochujang instead of the standard mustard. Eat it for breakfast over white rice. Breakfast of Champions!

2. Fish heads: So what you do, you take the head of a big white fish and split it in half, then cut the halves so you get nice bite-sized pieces. Rinse well and remove any scales you can, but ultimately you will not get them all. Put a layer of shaved burdock (gobō) in the bottom of a pan, put the fish on top skin side up (it should be staring at you), and add dashi, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake. Bring to a boil, then put on a drop lid and simmer fast until it's down to fat, greasy-looking bubbles (that's sugar, not fat, btw). Pull the lid and add a whole bunch of freshly grated ginger and above all the pressed ginger juice. Swirl the pan to mix, then put the results in a bowl. Burdock on bottom, fish on top, pour sauce over all. To eat, grab a piece and kind of gnaw the good stuff out. Incidentally if you're breaking down your own fish, cut the spine in chunks (shear off the sharp spines at top and bottom) and cook them in there too. Pros: this is the ultimate family meal for a place that breaks a lot of fish. Works ok with salmon, but it's better with any firm white fish.

3. Stinky Tofu: yes, it smells kind of like raw sewage, but it's weirdly delicious. I prefer it fried or grilled, not stewed ma-la, but whatever.

I have eaten Taiwanese fried crickets, didn't hate them, but it's not something I'd especially look to do again.


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## johnk631125 (Jan 8, 2017)

I have eaten all sorts of things over the course of my culinary career, not afraid to try anything and very open minded

The first strangest thing to me, at the time, I was 19.  It was beef wellington, I did not like the foie gras and truffle, I just ended up eating the filet mignon and the puff pastry, little did I know that this is a very classic French dish!!  Now I would devour delicacies such as this.

I open my mind up after going to culinary school, I have tried veal sweetbreads, which I absolutely love!  Also, veal kidneys, foie gras, intestines, cow tongue.

I have made calves brains ravioli   Truly out of this world!!!


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## johnk631125 (Jan 8, 2017)

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the first exotic food was baby Octopus, I was 10 at the time, my family and I were out to eat dinner one night

Upon placing my order with the waiter, my father told me that I had better eat every last bite, Im not sure that I liked it at the time, but I believe I ate it out of fear


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## johnk631125 (Jan 8, 2017)

Really, squirrel brains?? Wow!

What was that like?

I had doves breast once too   weird eating dove


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## johnk631125 (Jan 8, 2017)

What is Natto?

id love to know please


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## johnk631125 (Jan 8, 2017)

I have heard of 1000 year eggs, but Id be willing to try them 

Sounds very interesting


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## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

Alligator, Wild bear, Thousand year eggs.

I've eaten quite a few of the items others have listed as strange but these three I would eat again. 

       The absolute worst thing i've ever attempted to eat was labeled a "Blind Robin". This was offered as a bar snack in a local, old fashioned bar my friends and I frequented. They also had pickled eggs and ham hocks but the Blind Robins were the worst. Sort of a fish jerky. Came in a plastic sleeve package. Once you tore it open, you could smell it five seats away. We had a Blind Robin club. All you had to do was bite it. Extra points if you could swallow it. No one I know of ever ate a whole one.


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## johnk631125 (Jan 8, 2017)

There is the Taiwanese restaurant in Elmhurst, Queens that uses everything from the pig, some things I have tried, such as Blood rice cake 

Its slightly warm with the pigs blood mixed in with the rice, with some spices to offset the strong flavor


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

Back in 1989 I spent some time in Sierra Leone.  Many of our meals there consisted of wonderful stews with "mystery" meat.  It could have been as mundane as chicken or pork in some of those stews or it could have been a variety of bush meat, I don't know and never asked so I can't rightfully answer the OP's question as I, myself, am not quite sure.


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

johnk631125 said:


> What is Natto?
> id love to know please


Fermented soybeans.




  








image.jpeg




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chrislehrer


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Jan 9, 2017







The texture is, um. Well. Er.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Texture resembles snot...


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## sunshinerivera (Jul 18, 2015)

Its not strange here in the south but other folks might find it strange -

Gator jowls

Rattler

Possum

****

Squirrel

Armadillo

Cooter (yum!)

Of course, mountain oysters

Sometimes you eat what you have available. ;-) Just saying.


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Snails

Frog legs

Stuffed spleen

Tripes

Lamb's brains


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