To ask what strange foods you have eaten?

[hellokittymania]

In the Philippines I have eaten ice cream with chili, pork intestines and fried fat intestines and a few other things . Bicol Express was good but I still don't know what was in it. I draw the line though at trying goats eyes Ballut. I don't like eggs anyway unless they are made of chocolate

I have also had dog and sneak in Vietnam and fill worms and crickets in Thailand.

Except for the ice cream and the Bicol express, I don't think I would want to try the other things again

Live ants (Noma experience - quite nice)
Reindeer moss (also Noma)
Calfs foot jelly (yuck)
My mum used to make tongue which I remember was delicious.
Sea urchin (not nice)
Sting ray (delicious!)

I used to eat lambs heart a lot as a child - delicious but can't bring myself to now - not really that exotic though

I had a kangaroo burger once - hated it a weird fatty undertone and it repeated on me for ages and every time I burped I wretched

Have read this thread with interest. Many of the more weird and wonderful food items mentioned are available in here Japan. Many of them are considered 珍味 ('chinmi' - delicacies, generally region-specific and relatively hard to find). There's a good list here for anyone who speaks Japanese, or wants to appall themselves by running it through google translate, which predictably does a suitably messy/bizarre job of translating it: ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/日本の珍味一覧

The reason I'm posting though is this:

Went on a date two days ago, in Tokyo, to a vaaair nice restaurant. The guy ordered for me (I asked him to, before people get overly concerned ;)). The first dish to arrive was a beautiful platter of slices of raw chicken breast, raw chicken thighs, and raw chicken hearts.

All actually very tasty, although the heart was a bit chewy.

I guess I've eaten things over here that would be considered more appalling in the uk - raw horse, for instance. Still. It's a first for a date (and a first date at that).

I guess there are so many reasons that things that seem totally inedible back in the UK are eaten in other countries - proximity/availability (Japan has very easy access to so many different kinds of sea creature, and comparatively little livestock...because mountains), poverty, and sometimes (often, I reckon), because the thing might look or sound vile, but tastes divine.

But....I'm not denying the fact that there was a definite 'eurgh' factor the first time I ate cod sperm...or that I deliberately sought out a restaurant in Africa famed for offering diners crocodile, zebra, impala and the like (I was younger and stupider). And of course I'm posting on here to tell others about weird foods, but am well aware of the fact that in doing so I'm exoticizing another culture in way that also makes me feel slightly uncomfortable. But, not uncomfortable enough not to do it...damn.

P.S. to the previous poster who said they'd eaten squid intestines over here, I was about to correct you to say that the dish (shiokara) is just squid and digestive juices, not guts....but it turns out I'm wrong . Still tasty though ;)

just squid and digestive juices, not guts....but it turns out I'm wrong shock. Still tasty though ;)
That was me. I would've quite liked it if I was wrong (not envy). 'Squid guts' was the direct quote from my host

The thought of eating raw chicken really turns my stomach more so than many of the other delicacies on here

I ate some very perculiar things while visiting my dh's family in Thailand They live in a very rural area and pretty much eat whatever animal they happen to come across and kill that day.
I experienced barbecued owl courtesy of my MIL she shot it out of a tree with an air rifle and proceeded to butcher and BBQ it....was actually quite pleasant!!
Also tried snake (tastes like chicken), turtle (kind of fishy chicken), toad (tasted like pork but had the texture of chicken), soup made with turtle and various small sea creatures (tasted like a gobful of sea water). The list is endless!!
Seems perculiar to me, but is perfectly normal for my in-laws!! And it's very disrespectful in Thailand to refuse food or drink offered when you are a guest in someone's house...so I played the dutiful daughter in law and tried all of it

Mutton bird considered a delicacy and treat by some. Apparently I'd site and demand it when I was a child and saw my father eating it, would not touch it these days As it's so greasy

Jugged hare. Yuk.

I had bear at a Russian restaurant in Helsinki. It was very earthy.

I like jugged hare and mutton!

Ostrich
Reindeer
Several other types of deer
Horse
Hare
Snails (very many times)
Frogs legs
Tongue
Tripe
Brains
Ris de veau
Tete de veau
Crocodile
Swordfishŷ
Squid
Ray
Whelks
Various caviars
Sea urchin
Ray liver

Don't know where that Y came from!

had 'pig balls' one time as a starter - what made me laugh was there were three on the plate! Melt in the mouth delicate pork flavour, would definitely try them again

PenelopeFlintstone hahaha! To be honest, so would I! Now that I know exactly what it contains, and how it's made thanks google I might choose something else instead...

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed It's strange isn't it how raw chicken seems so taboo?! Back home (UK) I was always so careful with chicken because of salmonella. Japanese friends have told me that salmonella doesn't really exist over here not going to google it..have learnt my lesson

Also, to the previous poster who was upset about eating dog. I love dogs. Slightly obsessed, and would give anything to have one (as a pet, not sliced up as sashimi on my plate).

My dad recently told me in a very offhand manner that he'd eaten dog, and I was a bit But the idea that some animals are 'pet animals' and some animals are 'eating animals' is a funny one.

A few years ago I had a long-term boyfriend who made me think about all this. He was very politically-engaged and questioned everything, which was partly what attracted me to him. So, he only ate animals that were, to the best of modern science's knowledge, 'stupid'. Animals with limited intelligence, he felt, suffered less emotional and psychological trauma during the whole horrible process of rearing and killing for consumption. 'Stupid' animals probably do too, he said, but to a much lesser extent, so if we're going to kill anything, why not kill them?

Plus, he felt that the decisions some countries/cultures make regarding which animals are 'eating animals' and which are not are totally arbitrary.

Why do we in the UK eat cows, sheep, pigs, chickens...but NOT animals like dogs etc? Scientific research has proven that pigs are extremely intelligent and loving (more so than dogs, he thought, although he was a big dog-lover, too). So, he stopped eating pork. And would definitely not eat squid either (so no squid gutty-loveliness for him, then). Cows - fine; chicken - fine; dogs - technically fine, but he liked them a lot, and, more to the point, didn't need to eat them in order to eat meat.

Of course, I then said to him 'but how do you KNOW how intelligent each animal is, really?' And he said that he had researched it a lot, and maybe the scientific research was wrong, but that it was a hell of a lot better than my 'eat whatever is on the shelves in Tesco' system.

To this day, I think he has a point. But I've come to accept that perhaps I'm not as principled as he was/probably still is. So, I basically do what I was told to do as a child and eat what I'm given, chicken hearts and all ;)

Raw horse in Japan.

Duck's tongue - I gagged thinking about this for weeks after.