Wackiest thing you've ever eaten

[QuinaQuen]

But that aside, my best wacky food is stir-fried grasshoppers from my own yard. During the drought season at the ancestral home in Bastrop County, you can't step on a spot of grass without a cloud of grasshoppers jumping every which a way. They're so easy to catch that you can't use them all for bait.

All you have to do is break off the jumpers on the hind legs and toss them in a hot wok with a splash of oil. The flavor is so concentrated you'd think they have fish sauce for blood.

[rabidscottsman]

Sounds very interesting, how were the cougar and swan prepared?

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Spaghettti

Im not really sure how they prepared it. At this dinner everything was served in steam tables and you walk through a line and you are given spoonfulls of the different meats.

I can remember a member of the local sportsmans club saying that they tried to leave the prepartaions as simple as possible so you can get "full taste of the meat"

[Captain Hongo]

Going back to the post about kangaroo. At the foot of the Harbour Bridge in Sydney I had pizza with kangaroo and another with emu.

[Gastro888]

Hmm...y'all are making me think of all the more interesting foods I've had in my life:

Duck Blood (the best out of all the bloods)

Pork blood (too gamey)

Duck tongue (stir fried w/ black bean sauce...OMG...yum!)

Cow tongue

Duck Feet

Chicken Feet

Pig's feet

Fried quail's heads

Pig's head

Headcheese

Kororesti (dry as heck...bleah)

Patsa (Greek tripe soup...I got funny looks for ordering that. I guess they were surprised the non-Greek wanted some!)

Tripe (cow...various types...good stuff)

Pork intestines (small and large...stir fried and fried...)

Lamb balls

Jelly fish

and finally:

Snow frog secretions in coconut milk soup with Chinese herbs (otherwise known as-"10th aunt made it for you, it's so expensive...eat it and you'll have pretty, pale skin. Not like that brown stuff you have now!")

The weirdest thing I know someone else eats is a whole wheat sandwich that has sharp cheddar cheese, mayo and peanut butter. EW!!!!!!!

[Wine_Dad]

I guess it all started when someone asked me if I had ever had a peanut butter and mustard sandwich. Once I tried one, I must have eaten them every day for a year.

In university I eat about 6 goldfish and chased them down with Scotch.

However, while travelling the Indonesian island of Sumatra, I hooked up with some French backpackers who were going to Padang for the purpose of sampling the food. Apparantly, Padang is renowned in south east Asia for it's authentic dishes. It was the end of my first week there having travelledc for 2.5 days from the eastern seaboard.

We settled on a 2nd floor eatery above the market in central Padang. Not a word of english on the menu, not a word of english spoken by the staff - 30 Indonesians and 3 lilly white caucasians. We understood that they would bring 2 of each dish available and we would be charged by the number of dishes completed. They brough out over 40 dishes.

One the dishes was a chunk of braised meat prepared in a fashion known as "Randang" which I believe is marinated for well over 24 hours and then braised in some local concontion for another few hours. We ate it like it was going out of style - we must have consumed 6 dishes of it - meat of any quality was hard to find in the back woods of Sumatra.

We were then approached by an Indonesian man who was clearly western educated who proceeded to explain, in english what the dishes were. At that point I had a sinking feeling that the meat dish was not pork, beef, lamb, muskox, water buffalo or anything else I was accustomed to. In fact it was dog.

While I am a big fan of pets, each society has evolved in its own way with its local customs and I have to respect the care and quality of the preparation of the food. Who was I to judge the Indonesians for their choice of meats? Afterall, two more days trekking through Sumatra and I would have eaten one the Frenchmen.

[grandcru]

This was a snack I concocted after meals at my college dining hall: Goldfish crackers, ranch dressing, and bacon bits. Sorta like a salad without the lettuce. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it!

[Mnehrling]

I have eaten many 'strange' things from the earth and sea, but nothing seems to meet the Wacky factor like the snotty feeling of natto sliding down the throat.

[Mooshmouse]

For me, that'd have to be shirako tempura. What's shirako, you might ask? Why, none other than Alaskan black cod sperm sacks, of course.

We were enjoying a wonderful omakase dinner with two other eGulleters at one of our favourite izakaya restaurants. Midway through our meal, we were presented with a small basket with three pieces of rather suspicious-looking tempura... turns out it was the shirako tempura special that Hiroshi-san had so graciously explained to us upon our arrival. Emboldened by several glasses of Sapporo beer and figuring it would be the Bourdainesque thing to do, two of us took up the culinary challenge. Surprisingly enough, the shirako was quite good. No fishy taste whatsoever and it had a texture comparable to foie gras or a thick creme anglaise... soft, creamy and quite rich. Fear Factor, look out.

[Luckylies]

last night, while trying to bother my boyfriend I ordered a whole fried frog, the frog was very good, yet, me being me decided if they left the innards in, they must, in fact, be tasty. nothin' spells lovin' like almost yacking after eating frog entrails...very bitter...

[Ducky]

In Hanoi, just a few years ago, there used to be a restaurant behind the Sofitel that had a sign in the window advertising a dish called "The Fish That Found Immortality in the Oven". I walked past this sign a dozen time before deciding to give it a whirl with a friend of mine.

It turned out to be a large (about 20 inches long) freshwater fish that looked like a carp - which was deepfried only from the gills to the tail, and then served standing up on the plate with its stomach side down. The waiter artfully carved slices off the back end of the fish at our table, while the the uncooked head stared at us with the gills and mouth opening and closing for the entire 30 minutes or so that the damn thing was on our table.

The fish was very good though - and I can only hope that it really did find immortality.

[AzRaeL]

I have eaten many 'strange' things from the earth and sea, but nothing seems to meet the Wacky factor like the snotty feeling of natto sliding down the throat.

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I happen to think that Natto is delicious. I don't see why so many people fear it.

[Mnehrling]

I have eaten many 'strange' things from the earth and sea, but nothing seems to meet the Wacky factor like the snotty feeling of natto sliding down the throat.

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I happen to think that Natto is delicious. I don't see why so many people fear it.

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I have grown to love it, especially with mustard. It is the feeling that bugs me.

[NulloModo]

This was a snack I concocted after meals at my college dining hall: Goldfish crackers, ranch dressing, and bacon bits.  Sorta like a salad without the lettuce.  Don't knock it 'til you've tried it!

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Sounds like it would be perfect with the addition of sunflower seeds and a couple shakes of hot sauce...

[baconburner]

I had the experience of somehow becoming involved with a "One Up" Dinner Banquet between Managers of a Chain of Hotels that operates in Tokoyo, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Manila, Kula Lumpar, Bangkok, Indonesia. Siri Lanka, China, Singapore, Fuji and various locations in India.

This Banquet or Party was held at a neutral location at another well known hotel in Hong Kong since the availability, customs and access were the best in Asia.

What I didn't know until I actually accepted was that this was a party that evolved by them having got together over drinks at a company meeting where they kept trying to out gross each other about what was eaten in their local communities on a regular basis.

The Menu was set up with various courses with only several neutral items agreed upon such as Rice, Beer, Wine, Tea, Water and Congee. There were also Large Individual Bowls provided just in case.

Courses were in several guises; Raw, Cooked, Fermented and Pickled or Smoked.

Vegetables

Insects and Spiders and Worms

Fish and Seafood

Birds and Eggs

Reptiles of all types

Rodents

Wild Animals and Game

Domestic Animals

Combinations considered ethinicy acceptable.

Medications

I was awed as i'd be getting the opportunity of actually being able to see ediables that i'd never seem or imagined but hadn't considered that i'd be expected to actually eat the stuff. This was one occasion where I wished to become a Orthradox Jew or at least a Buddest, but two many of the hosts knew my eating ability.

There were 60 people at the Banquet seated in 5 tables of 12 and all the dishes were served Chinese Style from Lazy Susans in the tables center, being potioned out by our grinning waiters. Seconds were available if requested.

The only thing I approved of is that we didn't have to rate or comment on each dish provided, everything was served in good humor so we only tasred and ate what we wanted to try.

What I wasn't aware of was that our hosts had previously arranged that all items were weighed before being served by the food checker in the kitchen and then again after being bussed from the tables.

This was due to the fact that our Hosts had placed bets about how much of each dish would actually be eaten by the guests. The only table where the food wasn't being monitered was the Hosts since they felt it wouldn't be fair.

Looking around the room I realized that the most popular item was actually the alcoholic beverages, especially since in Hong Kong everyone took taxis so no designated driver was required.

My favorites were the Rice Worms, Civet Cat, Fermented Skate, Drunken Shrimp, Stinky Bean Curd, Hakka Beef Testicles, Pickled Baby Eel with Sea Slugs, Rice Birds, Monitor Lizard, Rice Field Rodents, Fried Soyu Cockaroaches and Beeatles, Fermented Fat Crabs in Pickled Vegetables.

What I didn't eat and considered the grossest items were: Live Maggots in Fermented Fish Guts, A dish of Fish Eye Balls, Several of the Casseroles that looked interesting but really stunk, and quite a few dishes that I couldn't handle because they were much to spicy hot that even just taking a small taste swelled my lips.  I will admit that there were dishes that seemed repulsive to me that I wouldn't even consider that others seemed to relish.

All in all it was a interesting experience that next time I will try to avoid if possable, since i'm no longer [i hope] getting paid to eat this stuff. I only wish that i'd kept notes as to what was served, but at the time I geared up apprehensively for the next course.

It would have been easier if I actually knew what we were being served as there wasn't any written menu and the servers only spoke Cantonesse. Fortunately others at the table were more familiar about what we were served, and told me about those dishes they were familiar with but there were many that i'll never fiqure out what they were.

Appearently the Medications were served to calm down our stomachs, but to me they looked and smelled the worst of all the items, even though others encoureged me to try them as they are good for you. HAH.

Irwin  

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You get my vote hands down

Baconburner

[stephenc]

I've probably accidently ingested a stir-fried kitten sometime in my life.

[AzRaeL]

I've probably accidently ingested a stir-fried kitten sometime in my life.

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does it taste like pussy?

[rooftop1000]

At the Viking House Restaurant in Hafnafjordur Iceland we were served a traditional Icelandic meal starting with hors' du ouvres.... dried fish, buttered flatbread, smoked salmon, pickled herring, putrid shark,(national holiday dish) and lambs testicals....waitress said " in america you call them Balls no?" all washed down with a double shot of Brennivan carraway schnaaps known as the black death.

luckily the entree was roasted lamb with veggies and baked potato

before nearly blacking out I remember the words.. no honey ...no ...dont throw up on the table.

Icelandic lamb hot dogs are really good though and shrimp and salmon and roasted lamb

tracey

[Culinista]

Wacky things I liked:

Haggis

Roasted agave worms in salsa, also same worms roasted alive on bed of hot salt

Pony carpaccio

Ant eggs and bee larvae

A kind of pudding steamed in a pig bladder, made only in my in-laws' village in Spain

Bird's nest soup

Natto

Camel-tastes a little like liver

Wacky things I didn't like:

Alberto Adria's white chocolate with black olives

Preserved duck embryos

Spleen at St. John's

Sheep eyeballs

Pig snout is only so-so, but my in-laws always give it to me

Bear-also in Finland, very expensive and not good

I'll usually try anything at least twice, but I draw the line at live monkey brain.

[irodguy]

Duck Feet

Jelly Fish

Live Shrimp in Sake

Taro Cake in pigs blood

Natto

Birds Nest Soup

Pig Snouts

Squirrel

ah yah woof woof

[His Nibs]

Most wierd stuff

Snake gall bladder, pierced to allow the bile to flow out (kinda greenish looking). Temple street, HK

Steamed eggs with grub worms, again in HK

and the regular,

pork blood, trotters, stomach, intestines

Chicken intestines, chicken feet

Goose intestines (best!), braised goose feet

Tripe (got this wierd look from a french couple when i ordered trippa alla fiorentina in florence, cos i'm asian looking)

bird nest soup

slime of the snow frog (xue3 ha1)

and didn't have the courage to try:

dog (tons of these in the winter at beijing)

cat (they hang these like roast ducks in teochew)

snapping turtle (huasi street, taipei)

[bergerka]

Most wierd stuff

Snake gall bladder, pierced to allow the bile to flow out  (kinda greenish looking). Temple street, HK

Steamed eggs with grub worms, again in HK

and the regular,

pork blood, trotters, stomach, intestines

Chicken intestines, chicken feet

Goose intestines (best!), braised goose feet

Tripe (got this wierd look from a french couple when i ordered trippa alla fiorentina in florence, cos i'm asian looking)

bird nest soup

slime of the snow frog (xue3 ha1)

and didn't have the courage to try:

dog (tons of these in the winter at beijing)

cat (they hang these like roast ducks in teochew)

snapping turtle (huasi street, taipei)

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Lemme get this straight.

You ate snake gall bladder and the slime of the snow frog and you wouldn't try cat?

K, who would such a chicken she would eat none of the above even if it were offered

[His Nibs]

The snake gall bladder was easy. They skinned it, expertly extracted the gall bladder, add it to a small wine cup containing some chinese rice liquor, pierced it and you shoot it down like taking a shot. And slime of the snow frog has no taste. Well... it depends on what stuff you add to the crock pot (usually rock sugar and chinese herbs) and it has a texture like jello.

Cat on the other hand...... can we say street side stall in provincial china?

[janevm]

Sorry if this has been done before (it must have been), but a favourite pub conversation among our well-travelled friends centres around the wackiest food we've ever eaten.

I'll start the bidding with deep fried scorpions. (Served as a started before duck in a restaurant in Beijing.)

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I once ate a slug by mistake. We were camping and it secretly slipped into an open can of Clamato juice. Next morning I had a Ceasar (with Vodka) and just as I tilted the glass for my last sip, it slurped down my throat. Needless to say I had to have a nip of Vodka after that.

[tissue]

i wonder if anyone here has drunk Kopi Luak?

Coffee beans harvested from Civet cat poop.

Gross! I hate civet cats because they used to walk and shit under my house in Terengganu, Malaysia every night, plus I was worried they would eat my chickens. And they left a horrible smell even if they didn't shit under the house. (Traditional Malay village houses, especially in a very flood-prone area like where I was living, were always on stilts, elevated some feet off the ground, so all manner of creatures could and did walk around under the house.) They were much worse than skunks, which only stink when they spray! Where did you have Kopi Luak?

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Didn't SARS come from civet cats... (shudders)

[Jinmyo]

Termite larvae, termite queen. Happy, happy, lucky me in Nigeria, more than thirty years ago.

But the weirdest thing was probably a gummi worm. What's up with that?

Or an Oreo?

Gross.