Food you're curious about but have never tried

[Graphista]

I'm veggie for 30 years so I have a LOT of these. So lots I never will try but I still love food and I'm curious what they taste like/of and textures etc

And I think I may not be the only one. So not just a thread where you can say the things you've never tried but can describe for others those you have?

So here goes I have never tried:

Truffles - the fungal kind, mainly a budget issue (I've had WAY too many of the chocolate kind!)
Scallops
Fray bentos pies
Century egg
Hendersons relish
Eggs that aren't chicken ones - quail, duck etc do they all taste the same?
Kimchi (new takeout place offers it haven't braved it yet)
Raw fish
Smoked salmon
Jellied eel
Cockney pie, mash and liquor (what is this? Is it gravy?)

I'm sure I'll think of more too

So if you've tried these tell me what they taste like and if anyone posts anything I've eaten I'll return the favour.

Interested to see what people put.

Another curious about durian though I have smelled it I didn't have the nerve to eat.
Raw fish,I love gravadlax(even if spelt wrong),raw fish in sushi and smoked salmon(properly smoked not flavoured)and Henderson's relish yum.

Me, back again (this is one of my fave threads of the year!) - Stinking Bishop is the best cheese - I really can't understand why it's not available in every restaurant ever. Oysters are like a taste of the sea, and after eating one just breathe in, and it's like a sea breeze going through your head :) Escargot(s) are divine - but you really need a glass or two of wine first so you don't think about them too deeply. Same for oysters, except replace the wine with Guinness :)

Kimchi is awful

"Kimchi doesn't taste much different from pickles. Ever had sauerkraut? Not dissimilar." - it tastes tooootally different to sauerkraut, kim chi (made properly) is spicy and has a fishy undertaste and also sweeter than sauerkraut. The texture of the cabbage tends to be different too.

OP, if you try kim chi, make sure it's vegetarian, most of the time it has anchovies in it. Kim chi isn't just the typical cabbage kim chi, it can also be made from radish, cucumber and lots of other things. If it's too spicy/strong, it can also be made into soup/pancakes. (Husband is Korean, not a day goes by that I don't eat it and we make our own every winter.)

I want to try aaruul, it's a kind of Mongoligan cheese.

Kim chi is awful

There are so many types and different ways of making it though. If you've only eaten it in the UK/Europe, it probably was awful - it's normally a bland, watery mess.

Proper kim chi, eaten with a blob of rice, wrapped up in a piece of lettuce - so delicious.

Good for your stomach too.

I fucking LOVE KIM CHI.

seventh Durian is nothing special imo. It tastes more or less like any other tropical fruit once you get past the smell.

I really want to try that Norwegian brown cheese that's like fudge. It looks so interesting but wouldn't know where to get it in the UK and chances of me going to Norway are unfortunately very slim.

@Rockbird you can get it in Waitrose! My mum got some last week and I tried it. It was weird but OK. I'd tried it once before in Norway and hated it, but it was part of a breakfast buffet so maybe my taste buds hadn't woken up to it yet.

@ScreamingValenta I'm sorry to report peacock nuggets just tasted like chicken nuggets! Posh homemade ones of course, not to salty, but the meat didn't really have its own flavour. I ate them in a restaurant called Archipelago in London when I was a student! Also tried crocodile there (a cross between cod and tuna but slightly more solid like a well done steak) and locusts! They were odd but fine, they tasted how I imagine cat kibble tastes. Thta kind of savoury dusty back of the cupboard taste which unsalted jerky had, but really crunchy.

I've just spotted above something I'd like to taste - poutine! I love chips, gravy, cheese. All together sounds pretty gross, but I'm open to having my mind changed

@Hisaishi I don't suppose you'd be willing to share your husbands recipe for kimchi? I made some a couple of years ago (guardian rhubarb kimchi recipe) but it went mouldy before I'd eaten it all and it was searingly hot. I think I need to start with a traditional kimchi and branch out once I've nailed that!

Someone upthread was asking about century egg

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg

Its actually usually only fermented for a week or a month - it goes sort of jellified...its not as horrific as it sounds, but I can only eat a bit

Kimchi is LUSH! the range of types is amazing in Korea - all those veggies! yum.

I live in Asia (Japan) so have tried most things

@Graphista if you want a quick cheap truffle experience get truffle pesto! Made by Sacla, available in my sainsburys (which isn't huge and isn't even in London ). I think it migjt be truffle flavour and no real truffle at all, but it'll give you an idea. It's got that addictive taste you think about and crave afterwards.

DH got me some truffle infused honey a couple of years ago. I let DD try some, she hated it as she hates all mushroomy things. This did lead to her loudly saying in waitrose mummy I really don't like truffle honey as we rummaged in the jam aisle for a jar of bog standard honey. The looks I got

I really like kimchi. And kefir (make my own).

Lobster is nice, delicate flavour, not terribly fishy. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat it though. Same with scallops. I’ve also had crocodile which was lovely - firm white meat, closest flavour is monkfish.

I don’t think I could eat oysters, snails or jellied eels although I’ve had smoked eel and it was good.

Not so much what I’d try, but I’d love to know what I actually ate once in Hong Kong. It was advertised as chicken.....no way was it chicken. It was very pale and rubbery

Oh, doh, hadn't twigged that century egg = hundred year old egg!!! Thank you!
Have not eaten it, did have the opportunity, there was one ordered at our dinner table in HK but it smelled & I couldn't try. Still don't want to.

Have tried Poutine, didn't really enjoy them. It was from a shopping centre takeaway outlet, maybe there are better versions. But chips and gravy are not terribly nice anyway for me and it was that with the addition of not very cheesy cheese. Wouldn't bother again.

I’ve never tried caviar. I sort of think I might have the same reaction as Tom Hanks in Big, but I’d give it a go.

Oysters are another. I’m completely intrigued as to why something that you swallow whole (don’t you gag? isn’t there a compulsion to chew a bit?) and that has such a horrible texture can be so enjoyable. But again I’d try.

I could never ever bring myself to eat something like tripe. I avoid offal altogether, it just looks so graphic.

hermano, I don't think we have a recipe, particularly. We just put it all together til it tastes good.

Rhubarb kim chi though? That sounds properly bogging, I don't think they even have rhubarb in Korea and I've never heard of any fruit kim chi. Maybe Asian pear could be just about imaginable, but I just asked my husband and he made a puking face so maybe not.

If it went mouldy, maybe it was too warm? We normally only make kim chi at the start of winter and Koreans store it outside, most people have a small veranda/balcony thing. You can just keep it in the fridge too, it will still ferment. And we usually double bag it.

Maybe try the maangchi website? She normally has decent recipes. And definitely try to get the Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru/gochukaru), sometimes I see recipes where they are using normal chilli and it just sounds so wrong.

PS Hermano, is your name a reference to Arrested Development by any chance, that's what I think of every time I see that word.

It is Hisaishi! I'll visit the Korean shop and get the proper chillies, and look at that website. Thanks

Scallops here too. If I ever eat anywhere fancy enough to have them on their menu, I'll definitely give them a go!

Scallops are easy to cook, fry quickly or wrap in bacon and cook on a griddle pan. They usually come ready prepared too, and often for sale by number, so you could buy just three to try.

Oysters should be chewed rather than swallowed whole. Chewing releases the full flavour. Also the liquor should be consumed.

Ostrich egg is delicious. A bit meatier than chicken, not as rich as duck. Crocodile meat is nice, close to lean pork, we thought. Kudu is delicious; tender and not too gamey. I'd buy it regularly if it was available here. Springbok is good too.

Insects. Fried crickets, chocolate coated ants, that sort of thing. DM lived in various countries including China when she was young and had loads of stories of being fed random stuff. She said ants were quite nice.

I've tried most of the stuff already mentioned so I suppose I'm the opposite of a fussy eater

DM could never get me to eat broad beans though.

Waitrose for fudgy cheese you say.... 🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️

Oysters. I'm dying to try them, but I once read on a menu that you can have a bad reaction the first time you eat them, and I don't fancy taking the risk.

Lobster thermidor is gorgeous. Very, very rich, though.

@Hermano

At least I know I'm not missing anything delicious by not having tried peacock.

I've also tried crocodile - I agree with your description. It was OK but I wouldn't rush to have it again.