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What Proteins won’t you eat?

MetsFan5

By MetsFan5
in Food Traditions & Culture

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

The tastiest of the "rats" isn't a rat, as such. That is the so-called bamboo rat. The local species, the Chinese bamboo rat, Rhizomys sinensis, as its Chinese* and English names suggest, lives in the bamboo groves and it lives on bamboo almost exclusively. It can grow up to 8½-15 inches long (plus tail) and is rather stout.

 

*竹鼠 (zhú shǔ, literally 'bamboo rat')

 

1457627291_bamboorat.thumb.jpg.41836946c5cb0aa746003c09a5a5479f.jpg

Rhizomys sinensis - Kunming Natural History Museum of Zoology - Public Domain Image

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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  • Delicious 1

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

IowaDee

IowaDee

Posted
Posted

I recently made a Kiva load to a chef in Peru to buy more cuys (guinea pigs).  She caters to the tourists that feel eating one of the rodents is a "must" on their trip to visit Machu Picchu.  She repaid the loan on time so I guess she knew her clients! 

eugenep

eugenep

Posted
Posted

hey. i'm surprised no one said "human." 

 

It's a dark thought but, as everyone knows, this did happen during war and famine in many cultures. 

 

There was an article in Vanity Fair where a former war refugee was starving and he found a place where the shop owner had a lot of "sticks of meat." 

 

He tried it and he immediately recognized the taste and reported it to the police. The police was surprised that the refugee knew right away and found out that the refugee took part in the civl war in the country not too long ago and that he told the police he could recognize the meat as human bc it had a taste (like humans have some kind of unique taste in the way other animals do: pork, chicken, beef etc).

 

Ummm...if I had to guess..we are a species of monkey so...the taste he sensed out might be monkey meat??? 

 

I would like to try veal brains. Author James Peterson said it's cooked just like sweat bread and tastes the same but costs less and that it's just cultural prejudice that makes many people not want to buy or try it. But it has to be super fresh though. Never tried but maybe one day. 

lindag

lindag

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, eugenep said:

hey. i'm surprised no one said "human." 

 

 

 

Just. Ewwwwwwww.

demiglace

demiglace

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, eugenep said:

hey. i'm surprised no one said "human." 

 

It's a dark thought but, as everyone knows, this did happen during war and famine in many cultures. 

 

There was an article in Vanity Fair where a former war refugee was starving and he found a place where the shop owner had a lot of "sticks of meat." 

 

He tried it and he immediately recognized the taste and reported it to the police. The police was surprised that the refugee knew right away and found out that the refugee took part in the civl war in the country not too long ago and that he told the police he could recognize the meat as human bc it had a taste (like humans have some kind of unique taste in the way other animals do: pork, chicken, beef etc).

 

Ummm...if I had to guess..we are a species of monkey so...the taste he sensed out might be monkey meat??? 

 

I would like to try veal brains. Author James Peterson said it's cooked just like sweat bread and tastes the same but costs less and that it's just cultural prejudice that makes many people not want to buy or try it. But it has to be super fresh though. Never tried but maybe one day. 

@JoNorvelleWalker said long pork which is human.

Edited by demiglace
forgot the @ it didn't help (log)
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

Why all the hate for people?  I was served brains once on an eastbound crossing.  Can't recall what species. Quite good, although I had some reservations with the thought.  A Dalmatian friend once said she could never stomach brains after seeing them splattered on a train station wall after a bombing in the war.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Kerala

Kerala

Posted
Posted

I gave up beef 11 years ago for religious reasons. I miss it occasionally, and this choice makes Argentina less attractive as a holiday destination.

I wouldn't like to eat monkeys.

I've tried tripe in Florence and andouilette in Paris. The first I couldn't swallow a second fork full. The second I couldn't quite make myself pull off the fork and into my mouth before spitting it out. Looks like a turd, smells like a turd, now I know what a turd tastes like. Are chitlins this bad?

caroled

caroled

Posted
Posted (edited)
22 minutes ago, Kerala said:

I gave up beef 11 years ago for religious reasons. I miss it occasionally, and this choice makes Argentina less attractive as a holiday destination.

I wouldn't like to eat monkeys.

I've tried tripe in Florence and andouilette in Paris. The first I couldn't swallow a second fork full. The second I couldn't quite make myself pull off the fork and into my mouth before spitting it out. Looks like a turd, smells like a turd, now I know what a turd tastes like. Are chitlins this bad?

I wish I could answer your question...I grew up in the Southern rural US and had a few occasions to enter places where chitlins were being boiled. My mom couldn't abide the smell of them so they weren't ever cooked at our house, nor did she ever encourage me to eat them.  I have no problem eating an intestine for what it is,  bit I can't get past the smell enough to want to try them. 

After having eaten squirrel brains as a child, and enjoying them at the time,  I have no desire to eat them as an adult.  

 

Edited to add; now after looking andouilette up,  and seeing what they are and how they are made, I feel assured I can add them to my list of things to not eat. Apparently the further down the intestinal tract you go, and the larger it is,  the more likely the colon has been used culminating in a stronger odor and flavor.

Edited by caroled (log)
  • Like 1

And this old porch is like a steaming greasy plate of enchiladas,With lots of cheese and onions and a guacamole salad ...This Old Porch...Lyle Lovett

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

Having grown up in Philadelphia I confess a fond memory of pepper pot.  I try not to overthink it.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

Posted
Posted
On 8/26/2019 at 7:12 PM, eugenep said:

hey. i'm surprised no one said "human." 

 

It's a dark thought but, as everyone knows, this did happen during war and famine in many cultures. 

 

There was an article in Vanity Fair where a former war refugee was starving and he found a place where the shop owner had a lot of "sticks of meat." 

 

He tried it and he immediately recognized the taste and reported it to the police. The police was surprised that the refugee knew right away and found out that the refugee took part in the civl war in the country not too long ago and that he told the police he could recognize the meat as human bc it had a taste (like humans have some kind of unique taste in the way other animals do: pork, chicken, beef etc).

 

Ummm...if I had to guess..we are a species of monkey so...the taste he sensed out might be monkey meat??? 

 

I would like to try veal brains. Author James Peterson said it's cooked just like sweat bread and tastes the same but costs less and that it's just cultural prejudice that makes many people not want to buy or try it. But it has to be super fresh though. Never tried but maybe one day. 

My mother used to cook brains every once in a while.    I never liked the consistency, which as a child I compared to scrambled eggs.     I have not encountered brains as an adult, but adore sweetbreads.    Perhaps support for my premise that there are no bad foods, only bad cooks.

eGullet member #80.

Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Kerala said:

I gave up beef 11 years ago for religious reasons. I miss it occasionally, and this choice makes Argentina less attractive as a holiday destination.

I wouldn't like to eat monkeys.

I've tried tripe in Florence and andouilette in Paris. The first I couldn't swallow a second fork full. The second I couldn't quite make myself pull off the fork and into my mouth before spitting it out. Looks like a turd, smells like a turd, now I know what a turd tastes like. Are chitlins this bad?

I totally agree about monkeys.   Tripe can be delightful, i.e., menudo, or various French preps.    Andouillette is, again, a favorite of mine.    Quality varies, as do cooks.    Again, my theory about no bad foods, only bad cooks.

eGullet member #80.

Duvel

Duvel

Posted
Posted

Last week’s hot pot surprise ...

 

6BC975B5-9A5A-4445-B24A-380733DADB60.thumb.jpeg.2da9abdd4ef8a9de7107ee090ebaa859.jpeg

 

Only one way to describe it, once poached: Custardy. 

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

968829251_Pigbrains.thumb.jpg.9763d8861dbd896e3ec62ec7af117280.jpg

 

My brains. Not literally. Pig brains what I purchased. Indeed a custardy treat when poached.

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

CantCookStillTry

CantCookStillTry

Posted
Posted

This topic really made me think 🤔. At first my answer was Offal. But then I remembered I have eaten Liver on a mixed grill in Majorca, just to try, and I love certain specific Patè. I would also do alot to be able to have my Nan's steak and kidney pudding again. So I can't say I would avoid offal. 

I am scared of Shellfish but last week I tried Scallops (loved em). And I adore Scampi (battered deepfried, pub style). 

I always say I'll never eat a Horse/Dog/Cat because of social norms, but I wouldn't have said I would eat crocodile before last week. 

I guess my answer depends on the day. Nothing is solid. Probably no bugs. 

eugenep

eugenep

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

My mother used to cook brains every once in a while.    I never liked the consistency, which as a child I compared to scrambled eggs.     I have not encountered brains as an adult, but adore sweetbreads.    Perhaps support for my premise that there are no bad foods, only bad cooks.

I agree -  I do wonder how veal brains might taste if it's cooked just like sweetbreads since the texture could be the same. 

 

I got to get brave enough to try next time I see them at shoprite (the ubiquitous grocery store in NJ)  

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