What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

[Rachel]

I once got the opportunity to try ducks' feet when I worked in a Chinese restaurant but the sight of them all standing there minus the duck was too much for my provincial mind. . .
I found it completely bizarre in the Bahamas to get rice (peas and rice) and pasta (mac'n'cheese) on the same plate - too much for me.
Although it's completely normal in Spain, i suppose squid cooked in its own ink to a Scottish mind would too much - thick black sauce with white meat.
But the weirdest thing anyone made me was cottage cheese mixed with peaches as a salad option at a university foodhall. the Italian that I was with at the time nearly fell off his chair laughing at the crazy idea or combining nt very good cottage cheese with tinned peaches and calling it a salad.

[Jock]

You can always count on Chinese food for weird - at least to the Western palate.
I've eaten chicken feet which, like duck feet are very gelatinous and really are just a vehicle for whatever sauce it is served with. Likewise jellyfish is pretty tasteless on its own. It has a crunchy texture and all the flavor is from the sauce.
A few months ago someone started a thread called, "I'd rather starve than eat....". I listed Poi which is a purple tinted paste (similar in texture to wallpaper paste) made from taro root. Yuk!!!
I dunno, some might think haggis is pretty weird

Jock

[phatch]

I like jellyfish. The blood sausage (giant fried scab) was where I drew the line.

Phil

[mudbug]

Hi Rachel,

You may be interesting in viewing the following threads:


Personal weird food combos

speaking of weird food.....

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

[Kimmie]

Don't get us started again with haggis, Jock!

[phoebe]

: What about foods that, in themselves, aren't particularly strange, but are prepared in a way that might give one pause (or the heaves)?

When I was in Hong Kong, my then-husband wanted to try something he'd read about in the airline magazine: drunken prawns. Live prawns are brought to the table, crawling around in an enclosed, glass bowl. Then Chinese white wine is poured into a small opening. At first, the prawns scurry and (appear) to squeek, as they try to avoid the (acidic?) liquid that is fast filling the bowl. Once it's filled, they slow down and seem (to the human eye) to get drunk as they ingest the wine--thus marinating themselves while still alive.
OK, at this point, I'm beyond queezy.
Next, a tureen (thankfully, opaque) of boiling broth is brought to the table. The waiter lifts the prawns out of the wine, one by one, and drops them into a small opening in the lid of the tureen. One did try to gain its freedom by making a break towards me (I screeched), but the waiter retrieved it quickly. Of course, the broth kills them. Then they are placed on plates.
I'd already told my then-husband that he was on his own. That I would wait for the waiter to leave, and then I'd put my share on his plate. But the nice young waiter decided that my hesitation was because I didn't know how to shell a shrimp. As he helpfully began to disrobe the sodden corpse (no, I am not a vegetarian, but, at that point, it seemed like a pretty good idea), his knife slipped and he splattered shrimp brains all over my blouse. Of course, I burst into tears and then immediately tried to comfort the waiter.
Yes, I know that this type of preparation quarantees freshness, and that it's more honest--you see that you are indeed eating a living creature--but it's way too primal an experience for me

[Rachel]

Yuck Phoebe. . .what an experience! Horrible.

BTW, I have recently discovered that the creators of haggis were, in reality, the Romans, so it's actually their fault, not ours.

[ShawtyCat]

Well, I had my son a month ago today and during the last week of my pregnancy I had this craving for vanilla ice cream and anchovies. Yeah yeah...say what you will but my son wanted them for some reason. I of course will NOT be eating those post pregnancy. YUCK!

Jodi

[Mezzaluna]

But the weirdest thing anyone made me was cottage cheese mixed with peaches as a salad option at a university foodhall.

That was one of the mainstays of my brother's diet as a child. You might be interested to know that he's now a chef/restrauteur! The combination of fruit (especially canned) and cottage cheese is common in the states. But then, Rachel, you have deep-fried candy bars, so I guess that makes us even!

[Suzanne]

Rachel -- how nice to see you again!!! Yes, cottage cheese and canned peaches is extremely strange (although I thing cc with canned pineapple is even worse, but that's just because I don't much like pineapple) -- but it has long been a mainstay of the American weight-loss field; maybe because it's so awful!

Shawty: when my mother was expecting my older sister, family lore has it that all she could eat was hard-boiled eggs and anchovies -- Mom, that is. Oh, and smoke cigarettes. No wonder my sister is so strange ...

Duck feet are okay, not + or -, just okay. And I grew up on chicken feet, after the soup was done, so I'm neutral to them, too.

But blood sausage -- oh, YUM. And I just had the most wonderful baby squid rings in ink at a Basque restaurant a couple of weeks ago.

I don't denigrate people who won't try things; that's their choice. But so many "strange" things turn out to be delicious -- and so many "normal" things are yuck (to get back to the cottage cheese thing).

[Flirfette]

Wow Phoebe, that was quite an experience, one that i would never want to go through. But hey, whatever didnt kill you only made you stronger, right?

As i think with most dishes, the level of queerness is determined by the region it is from. i've tasted some pretty peculiar foods, most of which i enjoyed. i consider myself very open to new things. And i know the topic is WEIRDEST FOODS, but i automatically thought of the time i had some sea urchin at a Japanese sushi bar. It had a disgustingly potent scent, and tasted just the way it smelled -- rotten! It was presented to me on a beautiful oriental plate, with lovely garnishes. The urchin itself, was in the center of the oversized plate, and looked like a tiny little blob about 1/3 the size of a dime. Though it was a very small portion, i did not finish it. But i am happy to say that i did try it!

[chrose]

That's funny that this came up. I had cottage cheese and peaches this morning and for the last 6 mornings as well. The cottage cheese is a good source of protein and the carbs in the peaches give me a balanced combination in my quest to change my body. (I said Body, not sex!) I have a hard time this morning with mistakes and misconstrued sexual innuendos!

[miahoyhoy]

Lambs Eyes in Saffron Broth

Curried Lambs Tongue (whole with the taste buds still on)

An Awesome cocktail of Spicey Tomato Sauce/soup, Raw Oysters, Octopus, Mussels, and Cooked Shrimp (kind of ceviche style)

Spicy Schezwan Dog

and 35 Saltine Crackers without a drink on a bet from my little brother!

Jon

[momoreg]

DOG?!!

Uy!

Did it taste like chicken?

[miahoyhoy]

Highly spiced, the meat was gamey, muttony and stringy.

My least favorite of the ones posted

Jon