weird food

[Ken Gargett]

following on from what was emerging from the deep fried beer thread, thought it worth a weird food thread. anything - good, bad, indifferent.

for me, worst thing was bear paw. i didn't know what it was till after i had eaten it (and was not happy when i found out). long story for when i have a bit of time.

as for drinking scorpion wine or something called african hots. miracle i'm not blind.

[Warren]

Sounds like you're in need of some good old home cooking Ken.

[mmacleod]

following on from what was emerging from the deep fried beer thread, thought it worth a weird food thread. anything - good, bad, indifferent.

for me, worst thing was bear paw. i didn't know what it was till after i had eaten it (and was not happy when i found out). long story for when i have a bit of time.

as for drinking scorpion wine or something called african hots. miracle i'm not blind.

Perhaps a plate full of Prairie Oysters would fix you right up

Mal

[mazolaman]

Pork Scratchings,and jellied pigs trotter.........delicious!

[ChanceSchmerr]

The Navy takes me interesting places...

Sea Lion Stew in Prince Rupert, BC, just south of the Alaska Panhandle - Quite good, actually. The meat is very oily with a gamey aspect, but very palatable.

"Habu" Sake, Okinawa - A variant of the local tipple, Awamori, which includes a coiled Habu snake in the bottle, supposedly to lend energy to the drinker, I guess because the snake's venom is lethal in humans. I found it a honey-flavoured treat to drink, a rice aftertaste that I didn't particularly like, but otherwise a pleasure. I have two bottles at home.

Scorpion Hooch, Saigon, Vietnam - This stuff is flogged all over in Vietnam. Local hooch in a recycled liqour bottle (mine was a hennesey cognac bottle), stuffed in with (depending on the size of the bottle) A cobra snake, biting into a scorpion, with a bunch of foliage, beans and God knows what else. This was vile stuff, but at least the bottle makes for a good conversation piece.

Whale Sushi, Bergen, Norway - Described in the previous thread. A beef-like taste and consistency, with a heavy sea-saltiness. I would definitely try it again.

Steamed Barnacles, Vigo, Spain - These were delicious, just make sure you eat the muscular appendage that connects the barnacle to the rock, and not the tentacle-y bit inside the barnacle itself. THAT was disgusting!

Tripe, Porto, Portugal - The Porto citizens pride themselves on their hardiness for eating Tripe 600 years ago when the New World Explorers took all the good meat with them. I say, for that, but now that times are a little better, let's stick with better cuts of meat. Suffice to say I did not enjoy my cow's stomach meal.

Caribou Steaks, Iqaluit, Nunavut - If you havn't had the pleasure, you're missing out! Take the finest Moose meat you've ever tried, and multiply it's awesomeness by 10. Then you have low-grade Caribou. Magnificent meat.

Pig's Ears, Macau - When in Macau, stick with the egg tarts from the Lord Stow Bakery. This was a terrible dish. Just all cartiledge, no meat. What was the point of that?!?!

Japanese Cracker-ified tiny Fish - Ever tried these snack foods? I first saw them in Yokosuka, Japan during a fueling stop - little tiny fish that have been somehow processed into a cracker. Eyes and everything! Salty as all heck, and tasty too! I have since found them in specialty food stores here in Canada, but have yet to find anyone else that enjoys them as I do.

[MIKA27]

Pork Scratchings,and jellied pigs trotter.........delicious!

Back when I lived in Europe as a kid and even having returned over the years as an adult, Jellied Pork trotters were on the menu (At my grandmothers) quite often. Added to the 'Jellied' range, jellied smoked pigs ears, tongue, cheek meat etc.

I'm the kind of guy that gives any food a try and it was quite enjoyable I must admit. In saying that, it's not something I would eat often but it is very nice once in a while.

[mykeuva]

I'm a big fan of trying different kinds of foods, but this one I just won't try, b/c there's actually some danger to it (please do NOT read if squeamish):

Italian maggot cheese.

Cheese with maggots in it. The dangers include toxicity, intestinal larval infestation, and even laceration of the stomach lining as the maggots attempt to bore through human organs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu

[MIKA27]

I'm a big fan of trying different kinds of foods, but this one I just won't try, b/c there's actually some danger to it (please do NOT read if squeamish):

Italian maggot cheese.

Cheese with maggots in it. The dangers include toxicity, intestinal larval infestation, and even laceration of the stomach lining as the maggots attempt to bore through human organs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu

I once watched a documentary on food where they filmed Italian monks who actually make this cheese and allow the maggots to infest. It was totally gross to say the least and whilst I do stand by my own principles that I will taste almost anything once, that would be an exception mainly because of the list of serious complications that could arise but also because when watching the documentary, the gent filming could hardly keep a straight face as the smell was absolutely horrid.

All I ask about this is very simple..... "Why would you?"

[mykeuva]

I once watched a documentary on food where they filmed Italian monks who actually make this cheese and allow the maggots to infest. It was totally gross to say the least and whilst I do stand by my own principles that I will taste almost anything once, that would be an exception mainly because of the list of serious complications that could arise but also because when watching the documentary, the gent filming could hardly keep a straight face as the smell was absolutely horrid.

Yeah, here's an episode of Gordon Ramsay's food show going to Sardinia and eating this stuff:

[Ken Gargett]

maggot cheese would be out but i must say i didn't think of things like pigs trotters as weird. chook's feet a bit more so. curious thing is that if i like something, it never occurs to me to think of it as odd.

[El Presidente]

frog fat broth .....not my taste.

Cat/Dog/Bear/Dugong/Seat Turtle/Whale/Most Rodents/Witchity grubs/Sea Slug

[CanuckSARTech]

Head cheese. Friggen' nasty.

[Ken Gargett]

snake. yes, just like chicken.

bat. had a big argument with a woman in a little vietnamese place (far more of a zoo than a restaurant) because i ordered the bat and green beans and she kept telling me it was not for me and i kept telling her i wanted to try it and she was refusing - i thought she was just doing the 'white bloke won't handle our food' thing.

i said i wanted to try bat.

'ah', she says. 'bat is fine. you will not like green beans' so i had sauteed bat (need about 50 of the things to get a feed.

always wondered just what the beans were like.

[CanuckSARTech]

Anyone order some salted pooch????

[Ken Gargett]

another weird one was the juice of a water beetle (nice term for local cockroaches, i think).

known as ca cuong, i think. there is a street in hanoi named after a restaurant that serves just the one dish nad has for a century or more. you go up steps that nasa would struggle with and then a little room where they do one dish on a burner at your table. the only choice is beetle juice or not, as it is extremely expensive stuff (the beetles now quite rare and apparently you need a few for a drop of this stuff).

it is supposed to light up the dish. we had it with, and a terrific dish but who knows if any better than without.

apparently, the locals consider the stuff so valuable that back in the evacuation of vietnam mid 70s, quite a lot of families sold everything they had and bought whatever ca cuong they could as they knew they could sell it in local communities offshore, and it was easy to transport.

[Ken Gargett]

Anyone order some salted pooch????

that looks like something out of doctor who.

[Ken Gargett]

who wouldn't want to eat the juice of something that looks like a cockroach?

[El Presidente]

I showed Cohiba that picture and he knows full well what happens if he ever retrieves a Monte Open from the humidor.

[Ken Gargett]

I showed Cohiba that picture and he knows full well what happens if he ever retrieves a Monte Open from the humidor.

what is far more incriminating is that it would be possible for him to retrieve a monte open. what the hell would one be doing in your humidor???

[CBL]

Something I eat here quite often is Pig Brain Soup I love it (tastes like pathe) but I still consider it weird. One of the weirdest things I've ever eaten was Icelandic rotten shark downed with a shot of their local hooch! The shark is extremely vile and supposedly poisonous so you need the shot to wash away the taste and perhaps kill the poison

[Ken Gargett]

always wanted to try fugu but have not as yet. did catch one on a fly of all things, but never eaten it.

[CanuckSARTech]

that looks like something out of doctor who.

LOL. By the meat inspection stamp on the doggie's belly, maybe not Doctor Who, but definitely Doctor Wong!!!!

[CanuckSARTech]

I showed Cohiba that picture and he knows full well what happens if he ever retrieves a Monte Open from the humidor.

what is far more incriminating is that it would be possible for him to retrieve a monte open. what the hell would one be doing in your humidor???

LOL @ both!!!

[MIKA27]

LOL. By the meat inspection stamp on the doggie's belly, maybe not Doctor Who, but definitely Doctor Wong!!!!

Dr Wongs 'Dog Jerky'

I can just imagine the commercial promoting it!

[mazolaman]

Another good one is the Norwegian speciality of fish which is buried for six months with caustic soda,till it kind of cures......bleedin awfull!

My dad will tell you that when they were on the farm,the only part of the pig that wasn't eaten was the squeek!

So,we used to have brawn(brains),cheeks(delicious)etc....I don't personally consider these wierd,but many now do.

The dogs got the ear.Hence the phrase"you've made a right pigs ear of that",ie it was useless.

I too love biltong,fantastic stuff.

The norwegians make a version of this with a Reindeer hart.