Foods you love that some people find disgusting

[DM51]

If I had to make a list of disgusting food I've had to eat in my time, there would be such things as raw insects, snake (raw and baked), canned margarine (~10 years old and a nasty green color), spit-roasted rat, fried guinea pig intestines, and various other stomach-turning items. Some insects aren't too bad, actually, and snake can be OK if you add some seasoning. The guinea-pig guts smelled delicious but it was like trying to eat pieces of burnt rubber.

The nastiest thing I think I've ever eaten was a rotting camel. It had gone off in the heat, but we were very hungry and hadn't seen meat for a long time. We put plenty of curry powder in it in the hope of disguising the smell and neutralising the putrefaction but it still tasted vile, and I was quite ill afterwards.

 

[CheepSteal]

If I had to make a list of disgusting food I've had to eat in my time, there would be such things as raw insects, snake (raw and baked), canned margarine (~10 years old and a nasty green color), spit-roasted rat, fried guinea pig intestines, and various other stomach-turning items. Some insects aren't too bad, actually, and snake can be OK if you add some seasoning. The guinea-pig guts smelled delicious but it was like trying to eat pieces of burnt rubber.

The nastiest thing I think I've ever eaten was a rotting camel. It had gone off in the heat, but we were very hungry and hadn't seen meat for a long time. We put plenty of curry powder in it in the hope of disguising the smell and neutralising the putrefaction but it still tasted vile, and I was quite ill afterwards.

DM51, are you Bear Grylls?! It's okay, I won't tell!

 

[DM51]

LOL no, he's a lot younger than I am.

 

[Steve K]

Marmite may belong in this thread but Vegemite has no place here.

after watching the video, my interpretation is that the kids were sent to a semi-military "re-education camp" and forced to accept Vegemite as a venerated icon?
Wasn't Pol Pot a big Vegemite fan too??

Actually, I shouldn't make fun of Vegemite at all, since I've never eaten it. I have had Marmite, and tried to adapt to the curious flavor, but it just didn't work out. I'll just stick to butter or jelly on my toast, thanks.

Since this is supposed to be a thread praising food, I'll mention that I really enjoy liver and onions!


Steve K.

 

[vali]

Where should I begin...?

There are a LOT of food people find "gross" where I live (and lots that people die for too, hehe).

Our most known dish is octopus. It's called here "polbo á feira" and for some reason tourist find them weird. It's just delicious properly done (which is not that hard, BTW). Another "weird" things you can get from the seas or rivers are serveral kinds of crabs (search images for "centollo" or "nécoras"), baby squids (chipirones) or grown up (sometimes boiled in his own ink) oysters (raw, of course), sea urchins and algae (these two are dishes borrowed from another country with great "rare foods", Japan), lots of differents clams ("navajas", "berberechos"...), scallops or lamprey (boiled in its own blood)

Inland we use the cow's stomach too to make "callos" and, finally, the PIG: We eat "everything but the squeal", like a book's title says.

Some people find disgusting the feet, tail, everything inside (lungs, kidneys, brain, liver...), ears or the spine. But, probably, the thing people find the most disgusting of all (and a favourite of mine) is "filloas de sangue". Creepes made with pig's blood instead milk (there are some recipes in the internet adding a bit of blood to the milk, but the real ones don't have milk at all) or "morcillas" (blood sausage).

We can eat some horse meat too, but it seems it is unusal in other countries (and even illegal in some).

Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention "percebes". They are very ugly and expensive but some die to get them (literally, check how they are haversted in some places -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N7eFxvf-0M)

 

[RBR]

.....

 

[Steve K]

I've been over to Spain a few times for bicycle trips, and really enjoyed it! The bike riding was based in the small town of San Mateu, located roughly between Barcelona and Valencia. It was about 20km from the Mediteranean, so we ate plenty of seafood. Primarily, we ate whatever they dragged out of the water that day! The cuttlefish was my least favorite sea creature, as it was somewhat rubbery. The shrimp was great, and fish was fine.

The classic paella was also great, except for the small bird that was dismembered and included on the plates. The worst part was to get the bird's head on you plate. If I recall correctly, it is considered a treat to get the head, and you are supposed to eat the head whole? Thanks, but no...

I did love the "pan con tomata", i.e. bread with a little olive oil and tomato rubbed into it. The area grew a lot of olives and almonds, and it was a great pleasure to relax in the plaza after the bike ride, enjoy a canya (small beer), some almonds & olives, and just chat with buddies. One of the odd food items was the ham flavored potato chips. Not that weird when compared to the barbeque chips here in the States, and certainly understandable considering how important ham is to the Spanish culture.

There was a little restaurant in the equally tiny town of Vallibona that served a wonderful goat yogurt (almost a flan, really).

One thing I loved was the liquor known as Pacharan, which is licorice flavored. Similar to Ouzo, I think...

I had many great meals and bike rides in Spain, and hope to get back there!


Steve K.

 

[CheepSteal]

Not sure if anyone finds it disgusting, but there is this basil/fried crocodile dish at a local Thai/Laos restaurant that I love. One of the best dishes I've ever eaten.
I also enjoy kangaroo once in a while!

Edit: This thread is making me hungry!!!

 

[arek98]

Edit: This thread is making me hungry!!!

+1
I think I will go buy some kaszanka (sausage made of pig's blood, liver, something else and buckwheat).
Yes, I can buy it here in NJ and it is very good.

 

[kramer5150]

I love innards, gizzards, feet, ears, tongue, tripe Mmm good stuff
Never tried brains, testicle or eyeball... although I know a lot of cultures find them a delicacy. Bugs and grubs have likewise remained off my menu.

I tried sea urchin 2 days ago... still don't like it, even though it was by far the most expensive thing on the menu that night.

 

[Sub_Umbra]

OK, I'm hungry now. Chicken livers and onions...I had to quit eating that 25 years ago...

 

[nbp]

DM51, are you Bear Grylls?! It's okay, I won't tell!

I thought the same thing! They are both from Bananistan ...and it would explain why his location changes all the time. :naughty:

You're revealed Bear51!! I want some free promo swag from your new line of gadgets with Gerber!



On topic, the stuff you guys are mentioning in this thread is nasty! In a survival situation, I could probably choke down some gross things, but why should I eat the garbage parts of the animal when availability and price make it as easy or easier to eat the meaty tasty parts? :thinking:

 

[kramer5150]

The nastiest thing I think I've ever eaten was a rotting camel. It had gone off in the heat, but we were very hungry and hadn't seen meat for a long time. We put plenty of curry powder in it in the hope of disguising the smell and neutralising the putrefaction but it still tasted vile, and I was quite ill afterwards.

UGH!!! thats disgusting!!! I'd rather go hungry for 2-3 more days and pick the insect grubs out of it.

 

[vali]

why should I eat the garbage parts of the animal when availability and price make it as easy or easier to eat the meaty tasty parts? :thinking:

They are not "garbage" and, in fact, most of them are very tasty. To my dead granparent the best and most tasty part of the pig were the brain. The bad news are they had only one and not big, so it was a sought after dish that you can only get once or twice a year (old times, when they grew up almost all they ate). Meat is bland if you compare it to liver, for example. Of course, you can't eat some of those thing all days because they are VERY high in cholesterol.

Almost all things that come from the water that I said before are more expensive than meat. Right now the percebes, are "devaluated" to 60 €/Kg and the amount of "meat" are about half of that. They can be at 300 in Christmas. "Angulas" are even more expensive.

Remember, what you don't like can be the very best thing for another guy.

 

[richpalm]

Yiiicccccchh... :sick2::sweat::green:

Glad I've been a vegetarian since the 90's! Never have liked any kind of meat and glad of it!

Rich

 

[Steve K]

... but why should I eat the garbage parts of the animal when availability and price make it as easy or easier to eat the meaty tasty parts? :thinking:

A lot of these dishes date back to more austere times, and times when the world was primarily rural and agricultural. When you raise cattle and hogs, by default, you have all the parts at hand and have a strong incentive to make use of them. It wasn't like they had the option of running down to the Kwiky-Mart and buying a few Twinkies when they got hungry.

My dad raised cattle when I was a kid, and I recall the time I saw beef tongue sitting on the cutting board. My mom explained what it was (and it did look like a big cow tongue), I was not excited about eating it! I'd seen the cattle in the pasture using their tongues to wipe up the snot dribbling out of their noses, and I wanted nothing to do with it! yech! It's easy to be picky when times are good, but when times are tough, some food-like substances start looking better.

Steve K.

 

[elgarak]

Matjes. These are young, 'virgin', herring partially fermented in a salt brine. Very popular in the Netherlands, northern Germany and Sweden.

Most outsiders find them disgusting and call them 'rotten', which they most definitely are not. Yummy.

 

[nbp]

A lot of these dishes date back to more austere times, and times when the world was primarily rural and agricultural. When you raise cattle and hogs, by default, you have all the parts at hand and have a strong incentive to make use of them. It wasn't like they had the option of running down to the Kwiky-Mart and buying a few Twinkies when they got hungry.

My dad raised cattle when I was a kid, and I recall the time I saw beef tongue sitting on the cutting board. My mom explained what it was (and it did look like a big cow tongue), I was not excited about eating it! I'd seen the cattle in the pasture using their tongues to wipe up the snot dribbling out of their noses, and I wanted nothing to do with it! yech! It's easy to be picky when times are good, but when times are tough, some food-like substances start looking better.

Steve K.

I understand that 100%, and I agree, when times are tough, even poor quality meats are better than no meat. My general opinion though, is that if I don't HAVE to eat organs and feet (how the heck do you even eat a foot? There's nothing but gristle, gross) I probably won't. As ground chuck, chicken wings, smoked salmon and pork chops are available, I will probably eat them before I gravitate to guts and brains. :shrug:

On the other hand, I do like canned smoked oysters (not raw) in oil and sardines. Some people I guess might think they are gross too, so maybe I just stuffed my own foot in my mouth. (Not to eat it though. )

 

[DM51]

I just stuffed my own foot in my mouth

Biting your toenails again? Tsk tsk.

 

[nbp]

Biting your toenails again? Tasty Tasty!

:nana: It cracks me up that we can blatantly misrepresent what another person says by editing what we quote from them, hehe.