"Strangest" or most exotic food you've ever tried

[capt_noonie]

I too love chicken feet. Just takes so long to eat such a small amount of food.
What are some of your favorites?

[hollie91999]

I also love crawfish...also another food that takes a lot of effort for a small amount of food.

Love sashimi, balut, tongue tacos, crispy fried intestines, pork feet. That's the strangest foods that I can think of that I've eaten so far.

[Doodlebug]

Originally Posted by SirTeddykins

Er. Not sure I'm up for trying calf eyeballs. I have issues re: certain things which is why I don't eat bologna etc.


I LOVE Anthony Bourdain! His face when he tries some of these foods is absolutely priceless!!!! He is very brave, though, I have to give him that. One of my favorite episodes is when he stopped by Russia and he almost "ate" vodka the entire time!

Haha, I just watched him "sip" his way through Asia. Lol. Very interesting the things he ate. He always seems to have a good time though.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by hollie91999

I also love crawfish...also another food that takes a lot of effort for a small amount of food.

Love sashimi, balut, tongue tacos, crispy fried intestines, pork feet. That's the strangest foods that I can think of that I've eaten so far.

Omg please walk me thru balut eggs. I want to try it but I need someone to hold my hand.

[hollie91999]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

Omg please walk me thru balut eggs. I want to try it but I need someone to hold my hand.

I eat Balut with a lot of vietnamese mint, salt, black pepper and lemon juice. They also have the baby chicken version which I like better than duck. If you get them at the right age, they are good. When they are older, they are more developed with more feathers and bone development and are not as good.

I grew up eating Balut so I love them, I think it's an acquired taste and a lot of people can't get pass the thought that it's a developing baby chicken/duck that they are eating.

[SirTeddykins]

Hubby reminded me that I've also had:


pigeon (tasted like tuna, which was surprising to me!)
calamari
sting ray wing (so bland, don't bother)


oh, and some other things but he's not here to ask now and my mind is so fleeting!

[SirTeddykins]

Originally Posted by gemy

OMG I am really plebeian in my tastes. Okay, I have had moose, and bear meat. Rabbit. Not frogs legs... I have no intention of having any of the aforementioned again.


Go for it gals.. I am not sure my stomach could handle some of your reading material.......... LOL

I've also had rabbit. It is a hugely common dish in Italy and Malta. I find it very oily and then, of course, they add olive oil. I'm not a huge fan of rabbit or duck for that reason.


What was bear meat like? Was it steak or ground? I'm not sure I knew that bear was eaten!

[SirTeddykins]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

Did you have to go to Africa to have zebra? I haven't traveled a ton. Mostly only to the Caribbean and once to London, once to several provinces in China, and then just around the states. I wanted to try turtle last time in the Caribbean but didn't get a chance.

Never had 'roo or horse.

Octopus isn't exotic in many countries but in the US it is I guess. I think it's how it looks that most people wouldn't want to eat it. But if prepared incorrectly, it's terrible.

Fish brains I've been eating since a kid. Asians always cook the fish whole, so the head is always attached. The cheeks and collar is the best part, and my mom told me to suck the brains out of the skull, which is like a jelly consistency, very flavorful. I have no idea why I started to eat the eyeballs but also very tasty jelly texture. But you have to spit out the cornea and there's a hard bone type ball inside. LOL

If you get the chance, try menudo. That made me love tripe, bc before like I said I only had it in pho and didn't like it. How did your MIL describe it to you?

And if you have a Taiwanese eatery near you, they will have the 1000 year old egg. Try it, but there's no way to know the brand they use. Or go to a Chinese market and they will have it for sure.

I love quail egg, but it is the food with the highest cholesterol in that tiny thing so I don't eat them anymore. I don't think I've have pheasant before. I had rabbit at a churrascaria before though.

I have travelled a fair bit but I have not been to Africa and I have no plans on ever going to Africa. As an insurance agent who dealt with insurance claims, most of those involving Africa were ransom related so I'm not willing to go!


In the UK (not sure about US - I haven't lived there since 2002), there are websites which allow you to buy "exotic meats". These were brought to our attention during a food fair where a stall had all sorts of things to try. I have wanted to try ostrich burgers but I haven't found another food fair with the particular stand of interest and I'm not brave enough to order it online as I don't really know what to do with it as far as cooking.


I didn't know that quail eggs had cholesterol in such a high proportion! Luckily, I have only ever eaten them once. I'm not a huge fan of eggs, anyway, but it was something new to try.


My MIL told me that when you cook tripe, it smells your whole house up and that it is often slimy but she loves it with onion. She went into some more detail, which I can't remember off the top of my head, but it has been ingrained somewhere subconsciously as "don't go there"...lol

[Cha Cha]

I would love to try some of the things listed. I like to try new things.

You can easily tell I'm not from the coast with my list
beef tongue
beef/pork brains
pig's feet
Escargo (snails)
Crawdads (crawfish)
mountain oysters
snapping turtle (never again!)
pickled eggs
wild mushrooms (lol)
cactus

And I agree, I think sushi looks like art.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by hollie91999

I eat Balut with a lot of vietnamese mint, salt, black pepper and lemon juice. They also have the baby chicken version which I like better than duck. If you get them at the right age, they are good. When they are older, they are more developed with more feathers and bone development and are not as good.

I grew up eating Balut so I love them, I think it's an acquired taste and a lot of people can't get pass the thought that it's a developing baby chicken/duck that they are eating.

I always see people eating them at this one Viet mall's food court and they don't seem to have any of the "fixings" but plain! I think I've only seen the duck ones bc the shells are bigger and quite thick. I don't really mind knowing what it is, just one of those things that I've never had, so not too sure about it. If you were to eat one in front of me, I would join you, but to buy one by myself, probably not.

Are you Vietnamese? What part of CA are you in?

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by SirTeddykins

Hubby reminded me that I've also had:


pigeon (tasted like tuna, which was surprising to me!)
calamari
sting ray wing (so bland, don't bother)


oh, and some other things but he's not here to ask now and my mind is so fleeting!

I've had stingray wing also, well similar, skate wing. I bought it at a Korean market already cooked, and they had it with a lot of chili and it was really good. The texture was almost like crab. I keep forgetting about skate wing when I want my crab fix. Much cheaper.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by SirTeddykins

I have travelled a fair bit but I have not been to Africa and I have no plans on ever going to Africa. As an insurance agent who dealt with insurance claims, most of those involving Africa were ransom related so I'm not willing to go!


In the UK (not sure about US - I haven't lived there since 2002), there are websites which allow you to buy "exotic meats". These were brought to our attention during a food fair where a stall had all sorts of things to try. I have wanted to try ostrich burgers but I haven't found another food fair with the particular stand of interest and I'm not brave enough to order it online as I don't really know what to do with it as far as cooking.


I didn't know that quail eggs had cholesterol in such a high proportion! Luckily, I have only ever eaten them once. I'm not a huge fan of eggs, anyway, but it was something new to try.


My MIL told me that when you cook tripe, it smells your whole house up and that it is often slimy but she loves it with onion. She went into some more detail, which I can't remember off the top of my head, but it has been ingrained somewhere subconsciously as "don't go there"...lol

I've had ostrich burgers before. It's lower in fat but the cost is so much higher than beef that it was just a one time novelty thing for me. I had it at this burger joint and I like how they prepare their burgers, so I knew it was the taste of the meat I didn't care for. They also had buffalo .

As for tripe, I've never cooked it yet at my house. Maybe I will try to make homemade menudo, but I guess doesn't everything you cook smell up the whole house? Just if it smells good to everyone it's not a problem. LOL

Originally Posted by Cha Cha

I would love to try some of the things listed. I like to try new things.

You can easily tell I'm not from the coast with my list
beef tongue
beef/pork brains
pig's feet
Escargo (snails)
Crawdads (crawfish)
mountain oysters
snapping turtle (never again!)
pickled eggs
wild mushrooms (lol)
cactus

And I agree, I think sushi looks like art.

I LOVE lengua! Mountain oysters, no thanks, I am not interested. I've seen lamb balls at this middle eastern market, and looks so gross you can see all the veins and stuff. I would not want to try the bigger ones!

What didn't you like about turtle?

I love pickled eggs. I should make some more soon.

I also love a good nopales salad, never had it fresh though, always from a jar.

Can't believe you ate wild mushrooms! OMG scary!

[Cha Cha]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

I've had ostrich burgers before. It's lower in fat but the cost is so much higher than beef that it was just a one time novelty thing for me. I had it at this burger joint and I like how they prepare their burgers, so I knew it was the taste of the meat I didn't care for. They also had buffalo .

As for tripe, I've never cooked it yet at my house. Maybe I will try to make homemade menudo, but I guess doesn't everything you cook smell up the whole house? Just if it smells good to everyone it's not a problem. LOL


I LOVE lengua! Mountain oysters, no thanks, I am not interested. I've seen lamb balls at this middle eastern market, and looks so gross you can see all the veins and stuff. I would not want to try the bigger ones!

What didn't you like about turtle?

I love pickled eggs. I should make some more soon.

I also love a good nopales salad, never had it fresh though, always from a jar.

Can't believe you ate wild mushrooms! OMG scary!

I don't know what it was about the turtle. Not the taste necessarily. I really love turtles and it bothered me to eat it.

As for the wild mushrooms, they grow here along sandy creek and river beds and they have "seasons." You definitely want to go mushroom hunting with someone who knows what they're looking for. But, they are very very good!

[Doodlebug]

One year I found tons of morel mushrooms growing all over the place in my yard. My brother told me he eats them from his yard and they are delicious. If I remember correctly, he told me to soak them in salt water to get the ltitle critters to come out. I was afraid to eat them and let them shrivel up on my counter. I threw them out. I have heard they are wonderful though. I have never seen them again after that year. I am not very adventurous when it comes to food.

My mom cooked cows tongue when we were kids. I did like that but can live without it now. Lol

[hollie91999]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

I always see people eating them at this one Viet mall's food court and they don't seem to have any of the "fixings" but plain! I think I've only seen the duck ones bc the shells are bigger and quite thick. I don't really mind knowing what it is, just one of those things that I've never had, so not too sure about it. If you were to eat one in front of me, I would join you, but to buy one by myself, probably not.

Are you Vietnamese? What part of CA are you in?

Yes, I'm vietnamese...I live in central valley (sacramento/stockton/modesto) area.

Just thought of another strange food item. It's called nem (vietnamese pork sausage)..its grounded raw pork with pork skin, pickled thai chili and garlic...a powder is added to it for it to "cook" (cured)....My mom used to make this for vietnamese new year...it is so good. It can be made with beef also but I like the pork version.