Odd, Strange, Or Exotic Things You Have Eaten Plus Tobacco...

[aquadoc]

The most interesting experience : I ate Fugu in Kuwait. It was a ritual that ended up sort of being an out of body experience. Probably all psychosomatic but my body was partially numb, partially buzzing for days. In any case, we were never far from a hookah and some overly sweet tasting tobacco. Same in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Mountain oysters and cigars in South Georgia. Trickery was involved. Most tender pork I have ever had.
Haggis and not much else I can remember near Stornoway, Scotland. Ugh. I do remember breaking a loaner pipe. And a mug. At the same time.
Kawari which is a hooves soup that I ate in Sudan. And who knows what else is in it... A hookah was nearby and smoking.
Could list many odd things from the ocean... And odd fruits... The south Pacific cultures pound everything into a paste...

 

[Chasing Embers]

Starrey gazey pie in Edinburgh when I was a teenager with Gold Block in a Grabow Omega that I took with me.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I actually liked Haggis and Black Pudding.

 

[kiel]

The saying goes, "When in Rome..." I have spent the last 8 years in China, and there is always something to eat, but they are normally just parts of the animal that the West (at least where I grew up) don't eat. I have eaten all sorts of feet for duck to goat, pig brains in chongqing hotpot and goat brains up north in the desert near Inner Mongolia. All the other organs from various animals, the most popular in Chongqing being duck/goose intestines. I may oy may not have been tricked into eating nontraditional animal meats like dog, cat, mice, etc. Who knows where some of the street bbq guys get their meat...
In Asia everything is "boner" medicine which ranges from male animal parts and kidneys to snakes, turtles, and herbs that don't have a convincing selling point. I have heard some wicked stories of all the luxury food stuff they eat in Guangzhou, but luckily will never be able to afford those meals.
My Mongolian friend gifted me some horse meat which was canned like tuna. My buddy from Laos searched far and wide so he could treat my wife and I to bee grubs still in the hive. I was also offered to be taken to the mountains in China to eat bear meat dubbed "black dog meat" for legal purposes, but declined because the penalty for eating endangered species is pretty steep.
As far as smoking goes, China holds their tobacco industry very high. Pipe tobacco isn't something they produce here so it is either Chinese cigarettes or imported pipe tobaccos. I did get to try some Thai RYO cigarettes last week which are much better than their store bought smokes. It is just local tobacco rolled in bamboo.
All in all, living here has been quite the experience. My wife and I will be moving back to America at the end of this month.
I like this topic @aquadoc, and I am jealous of your experiences abroad.

 

[bonanzadriver]

Man, this brings back memories... Not all good. :x
Most of this was back in the 80's while in the Navy.
Survival training foods... (SERE training) Scorpion, snakes, etc... Couldn't choke down the creamy beetle though.
Monkey on a stick and monkey brains while in the Philipines. Baluts had to be the worse for me, couldn't get past the smell.
Growin up in southeast Oklahoma, my friends and family couldn't believe I'd eat sushi let alone the items mentioned above.

 

[sablebrush52]

I haven't eaten anything particularly exotic, but the scariest thing I ever ate was a moon cake that was shipped to us from Hong Kong when I was working for Imagi. It was pretty clear that it hadn't been refrigerated when it got to the studio in Sherman Oaks. We had a live video feed from the Hong Kong Office's conference room to ours.
I walked into the conference room for a special Chinese New Years meeting and found myself looking at a stack of these rather "fragrant" cakes on the table with the giant TV screen filled with the Hong Kong staff, all holding their moon cakes and smiling at us. Everyone in the room was looking at me, one of those "I'm not gonna eat it, you eat it" moments. So in the spirit of maintaining good international relations I picked up the damned rotten thing, smiled at the folks in Hong Kong and downed it before I could taste it as they ate theirs. I did manage to keep it down, but I was out of action for the rest of the day.

 

[kiel]

@sablebrush Your experience made me laugh. I think you would have had a much easier time eating it if it was from Northern China. The north doesn't get too crazy with their food. A northern moon cake normally consists of some kind of fruit and/or nuts. Southern China changes things up by using pork and/or egg yolks.

 

[didache]

I have eaten some weird things in Asia and the Middle East, as well as Europe and North America. The most bizarre and stomach churning thing of all though, by a long long way was .... Wonderbread! I shudder at the very memory 8O

 

[akfilm]

I've had some strange things in my travels such as caribou brain soup and boiled marrow dipped in seal, I've eaten four different species of whales and three different bears (polar bear and sea lion soup is....interesting). But the prize has to go to stink flipper, this particular batch was fermented walrus flipper that was then canned...a dish so powerful it's killed before. Nasty powerful stuff.

And I always lunt in the evening...so there's the smoking with it...

 

[aquadoc]

My lunting is usually late at night. Which brings to mind... Bear meat is one of the nastiest, rancid meats ever passed a man's lips. Cat on the other hand is tasty. Leeches, not so much. Armadillo on the half shell, tasty. And if you have traveled in the Caribbean or worked in Central or South America, you know that goat can be fantastic or awful.. I have never had whale or seal but they seem fatty. Would definitely try under right circumstances. And there are things in Asia, no thanks.

 

[aquadoc]

What the hell is a moon cake? Obviously, not a moonpie.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Bear meat- Not rancid, the steak bits I ate! It tastes just like Bald Eagle, quite decent.
Rocky Mountain oysters, dog burger, sweetbread, are about as far out as I've been in the last decade of so. Not exotic by many standards. Though I may have ingested odd things when drunk decades ago.
And I've never eaten tobacco!

 

[aquadoc]

Jp, the bear I have had the displeasure of eating may have been prepared in such a way as to highlight the rancid nature. In any case, it was God awful. You have obviously never chewed tobacco if you have never eaten it. Many a quid has been swallowed when a teacher asked what is that in your mouth! It mostly comes up as fast as it goes down. Sweetebreads, head cheese ... I have eaten but disliked.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Doc- Quite right- never had a chaw - is that the right expression? - I did put a touch of it in my gumline once but did not like it. Bear meat is a lot gamier than say steer meat, but seasoned and cooked right is quite palatable.
Now, I am thinking of Maine lobster. That's exotic for where I live now, the Monterey Peninsula in N. CA.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I grew up eating just about any animal that lives in this part of the world. I'm not sure which one would be weird. Brains and eggs was a staple for breakfast at my granddads house. That used to freak my friends out. But, I had a hard time understanding why. In college, as a cultural awareness thing, they used to have the lunchroom workers serve souldfood. I must have been the only white student who felt at home with pig feet and brains on my plate. I can't think of a weirdest one though. I probably wouldn't eat cat. But, my best friend now lives in Korea, and he said he would ride his bike across the country just to go to one of the only places still serving dog. I would probably like that. But cat? Aaaand, maybe... nah, can't think of anything I wouldn't eat. Pickled eggs maybe? Just because I'm not crazy about the taste. Ohhh, Easter eggs, vinegary eggs just doesn't appeal to me, blech.

 

[warren]

You want good bear meat? Bears are best, to me, if they are "berry bears" and not "fish bears." Maybe a bear living on honey. Winnie the Pooh anyone?
I've eaten Eskimo cuisine, Nam highland cuisine and assorted other. Fried insects, and etc. I am a big fan of "when in ________, do as ______ do. At least once or until the "quick step" sets in." The oddest I've ever eaten is pulled pork slathered in a sweet, tomato based sauce. Pulled pork requires/deserves/screams for a vinegar based sauce!

 

[cobguy]

Termites sauteed in a little cooking oil wasn't too bad.
Chocolate covered ants and grasshoppers were decent.
Scorpions on a stick over an open fire was OK.
Snake and gator tastes similar to me.
Worms and grubs, in general, are better swallowed whole ... squish.
Small game stew (squirrel, possum, etc.) is gamey and weird. :P

 

[deathmetal]

I have spent the last 8 years in China, and there is always something to eat, but they are normally just parts of the animal that the West (at least where I grew up) don't eat.

We just blend all of that stuff into hot dogs.

 

[cossackjack]

Nothing too exotic:

Manitou stew (opossum stew) in Grenada

Raw termites in Costa Rica - tasted nutty

Rocky Mountain Oysters - delicious

Rattlesnake

Grubs

Crickets

Lichen broth

Pine needle tea

Almost any edible wild plant (USA)

 

[aquadoc]

Cosmic I grew up eating soul food but chitterlings taste like they smell no matter how long you soak in salt water or how fastidious you are in cleaning them. Chewed on a few pig feet in my time but that red dye is a turn off. Pickled eggs, no thanks. No thanks to scrambled brains too but I have eaten brains in head cheese. Not my favorite.
Warren Amen to vinegar based sauce for my pulled pork... With a lot of pepper, please. And I bet a berry bear is better fare. Definitely a do as the Romans do....
CobGuy Insects can be good but those giant grubs that are mostly like sucking in a a big pus bucket, no thanks. I imagine scorpion is akin to leeches and not worth the effort. Similarly, rattlesnake or any snake for that matter is not worth the effort. I actually like squirrel and rabbit stew.
CossackJack Never had pine needle tea but juniper tea, yes. I imagine fir tea would be good too. What is lichen tea good for? Lichens are one of my favorite groups for pollution studies as indicators.