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

[mso489]

aquadoc, daring to eat Fugu, especially outside Japan. Even in Japan, there is a death toll every year from this. For those who aren't familiar, this is a certain species of blowfish that has toxic innards that can poison the edible part of the fish if it isn't prepared just so, and even when it is, as aqua' describes, it can give quite a buzz, which is a low level version of the lethal level of toxin. Dose is all. Fugu aside, you don't want to mess with food poisoning much. It is a thoroughly horrible experience, and it can shut down organs fast with the wrong spoiled toxic food.

 

[aquadoc]

I was in Kuwait as a guest of the government. I expressed an interest in Fugu during a discussion of sashimi as we were deciding our choices for dinner. The fugu was a gift to me, it was presented on a large block of some kind of wood, very thinly cut prepared by a master hired by the Kuwaiti upper crust. He had me randomly pick 3 pieces for him to eat before I ate. It was an experience and one I would do again. But I could in no way afford to pay for Fugu with a good conscious. There were no prices on the handwritten menu or any menu anywhere we dined.

 

[mso489]

aquadoc, what an experience. Was the Fugu master Japanese or trained in Japan? Japanese sushi chefs are, or used to be, trained with a rigor beyond belief. Intriguing that he would eat samples, be your food taster. I suppose that is insurance. Still risky, and that's part of the appeal, it seems.

 

[aquadoc]

He was Japanese or, if not, had Japanese blood. I assume he was trained in Japan but I do not know... I think that the fact he offered for me to randomly choose samples for him was a testament to his confidence in his skills. Maybe simple machismo. I dunno. I knew I had always wanted to try it...my wife finding out afterward was not pleased.

 

[tschiraldi]

Jungle School - Panama: Toucan, Howler Monkey (Yuck!), Jaguar, Ocelot, Python, Poison Dart Frogs, Sand Shark, various insects and spiders. I also drank used motor oil out of a Saab in order to win an "Iron Stomach" contest at a party in high school. Not sure any of that compares to MREs!
Tim

 

[sablebrush52]

Southern China changes things up by using pork and/or egg yolks.

It was ancient egg yolk. Very ancient egg yolk...

 

[condorlover1]

Rabbit. Hen of the Woods.

 

[deathmetal]

I am interested in cannibalism. We have too many people, and most of them look delicious.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I am interested in cannibalism. We have too many people, and most of them look delicious

I think people would be akin to the bears..some would taste better than others due to diet.

 

[jpmcwjr]

A Modest Proposal, methinks! Who'll be the swiftest to i.d. that?

 

[akfilm]

I agree with warren.

Black bear is my favorite meat, I think 70% of the Red meat I eat is bear. I get about 2-3 bears a year to stock the freezer.

 

[cranseiron]

Balut in the Philippines (partially developed chicken eggs); dog in the Philippines; horse in Iceland; a dried fish entre that tasted putridly rotten in Jakarta; fried pig ears with blackstrap molasses in Lafayette, LA.

 

[agnosticpipe]

White Castle slider in Detroit 1965. Cost me $.12 ea.

 

[aquadoc]

It would be a simple "Hell no" to Balut. Sounds disgusting. Horse and dog, I have had. Even white castle.... But no to partially developed chickens.

 

[cranseiron]

Yeah, they can be at various stages of development and sometimes you'll see a little beak and feet forming. They're not hard at this point, but kind of soft-crunchy, like the canned salmon vertebrae. Balut is only eaten by Americans on a dare-- well, alcohol might have something to do with it, too. The Filipino men think it makes one verile and strong. Yeah, whatever... :crazy:

 

[jvnshr]

The most interesting experience : I ate Fugu in Kuwait. It was a ritual that ended up sort of being an out of body experience.

I tried Fugu in Korea and only after finishing it my Korean friend told me that she had ordered Fugu. Nothing happened luckily. Let's see what I've tried so far; sannakji (alive octopus) in Korea, bear meat, camel meat, kebab of lamb tongue, boiled beef tongue, khash (boiled feet and head of cow), grilled chicken legs, etc.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Once fried to light, crispy, melt in your mouth, crunchy, savory, yum; chitlins are very good, like light pork crcklins. But, they are a lot of work. But... I wouldn't drive out of my way to eat any, ha ha.

This American Life did an expose on how the calamari served at Olive Gardens was really pig colons. So, if anyone has enjoyed their cheap calamari, then chitlins are just slightly less terrifying. IMO
Oh, and on snakes not being much meat... This is why you get those short, fat rattlesnakes. They can be up to 6-8" in diameter, and makes for delicious barbecue. If you eat a water-based snake, they do taste like alligator to me also, but I think that is because they live off of fish. Rattlesnakes are way better, probably because they live off of small rodents and such.
If anyone would like to try some Fugu, I just watched a few YouTube videos, and I'm positive that I can do that. Just Ebay up some and sharpen up the knife... How hard could it be? ::

 

[aquadoc]

Cosmic, I think I will pass on the Fugu offer but it is a mighty generous offer. As for the pig rectum calamari, that rumor turned out to be a lot of hot air and probably more smelly than what was passing through the pigs supposedly serving as calamari source. And, lastly, the big fat short rattlesnakes are becoming scarce. So I leave them be... But some fried alligator tail would be good about now.

 

[cossackjack]

aquadoc:

Pine needle tea is a survival source of Vitamin C.
Lichen is a survival (starvation) food, but must be soaked & rinsed several times before cooking to remove acids, debris/rock grit-sand, small insects, etc.
Pine inner bark (cambium) is also a survival (starvation) food. Ponderosa cambium is sweetest in the Spring & Fall, when the sap is "running".
Plenty of survival food in the Colorado Rockies if you know where & when to find it, though not as much as many other areas of the USA.

 

[dulgunz]

In 96 I was in Panama for Jungle Survival Training. During the classroom instruction of the course, we are taught the various plants and animals that you can eat and pull nutrients from. I am color blind, mostly greens, browns and reds. So this poses and big problem for me because most of the plants there are toxic. So after day 3 of the 5 day "survival" part, I was starving! (I was not going to eat something that might be brown/edible and actually be red/green/bad) I finally came across a water snake, which to me, looked like a swimming Big Mac! I pounced on that sucker faster than a fat kid getting hit in dodgeball. I did have my trusty K-Bar knife and managed to cut the skin off of it. I had to eat the meat raw due to no fire making equipment. I do not think that it would matter due to it raining for the past 8 days. While choking down the snake with water that you could chew on (after being filtered through my sock), I had to smoke a whole pack of Marlboro Reds to get the taste out of my mouth!