I've tried Beondegi (번데기) in Korea. A silkworm larvae side dish that's fried. It smelled like urine, and tasted like what I imagine urine would taste like. I noped out after a few.
Weird Food
- Thread starter ykw5264
- Start date
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Whale and dolphin meat probably seems weird or at least unusual to some, but it is common food here.
Some may also think it weird to eat all the stuff that's left on an animal after the fancy cuts are gone. Like the head, heart, liver, testicles and so on, but for sheep at least, those are all considered delicacies here.
So what's considered weird is in the eye of the beholder
but I think the weirdest thing I've eaten is vegan meat balls. I know that it's totally common, but it's fucking weird. To make meat balls out of plants. I'd never try to turn a whale or a chicken into a turnip or something. It's just weird.
Some may also think it weird to eat all the stuff that's left on an animal after the fancy cuts are gone. Like the head, heart, liver, testicles and so on, but for sheep at least, those are all considered delicacies here.
So what's considered weird is in the eye of the beholder
Tried most listed here. Don't really mind eating something unusual. Dogs and cats are about two things I won't eat for just hell of it. Oh, no monkey brains either. I mean, I don't have to eat those things, there are plenty of food to go around even when my father was down on his luck. Every unusual thing I ate was just out of curiosity.
Hardly wildly exotic, but when I was camping with my cousin and his buddy in the Everglades, a couple of old timers shared some fried turtle with us and it was very tasty. I had snails in Paris, and they were good too.
When on Midway Island with the Navy, a group of us enlisted guys rented the base's deep sea fishing boat for a day away from the coral reef, complete with a salty old bosun's mate chief who outranked us all. We hauled in some nice tuna and one kid caught a 60 pound wahoo.
The warrant officer who ran our work group took the fish home to his Japanese wife, and she fixed us all a lovely array of sashimi, thin sliced raw fish, with condiments like wasabi horseradish sauce and other side sauces, and rice.
I've long since enjoyed sushi and sashimi, but when you've eaten it prepared with the freshest of fish that you caught, it is an elevated experience. Nothing the least bit fishy in the taste, and it gives you a great surge of energy. Perfect.
Note: You do have to fish well off a coral reef, since the reef fish can be toxic from living in the coral.
The warrant officer who ran our work group took the fish home to his Japanese wife, and she fixed us all a lovely array of sashimi, thin sliced raw fish, with condiments like wasabi horseradish sauce and other side sauces, and rice.
I've long since enjoyed sushi and sashimi, but when you've eaten it prepared with the freshest of fish that you caught, it is an elevated experience. Nothing the least bit fishy in the taste, and it gives you a great surge of energy. Perfect.
Note: You do have to fish well off a coral reef, since the reef fish can be toxic from living in the coral.
As you probably know, fresh fish doesn't taste or smell fishy ... for sushi or shashimi it should be 24-48 hrs out of water no longer. Fresh fish smells like clean water. You'll know when it goes bad from 50 feet away! I used to work in a fish market in summers; Best job ever ! Smoked trout for breakfast, cooked shrimp, tuna, or lobster or seafood salad for lunch (not every day though - store has to make a profit!). Those fish on ice displays are broken down every night and remade every morning before the store opens for business. I can make seafood salad too --- unfortunately I only know the recipe for 20 lbs !!
We used to make it with a vinaigrette and lemon rather than mayo. I would have loved to have been at that dinner you describe above. The restaurant next door used to order fish from us and we used to prepare the stuffed fish on their plates so it could go directly into the oven. No one knew but staff.
At restaurants: buffalo, alligator tail; duck a l'orange and duck with brown sauce; rocky mountain oysters; Cornish game hens, quail, oysters, escargot, caviar (red and black), shad roe, mahi mahi: dolfin the fish not flipper, swordfish, monkfish, trout, salmon, cod, snapper, halibut, baby blues, calamari (breaded and not), octopus, eel, muscles, crab, alaskan king crab. Of course, I had these things when they were cheap --- not at current market price !
At friends homes: rabbit, goat, mutton, lamb.
At game dinners: goose, duck, venison (many recipes); black bear, pheasant. I think I have had Elk but don't remember.
The black bear was tastiest ... it looked like baked kidneys (grey) but it tasted like sweet filet mignon (to me)
I have also had chocolate covered ants and worms but not locust or cicadas.
I would have duck, rabbit, black bear again, especially black bear.
I have bison steaks in the freezer now ... may have to thaw them this week.
I didn't add the usual stuff you can get in most grocery stores.
P.S. --- to gross you out maybe ... codfish has worms in it that are removed before it goes in display; bear can have worms too. Some big sword fish have cancer spots that are cut out before those steaks go on display. Its completely natural but cleaned before the customer sees it.
At friends homes: rabbit, goat, mutton, lamb.
At game dinners: goose, duck, venison (many recipes); black bear, pheasant. I think I have had Elk but don't remember.
The black bear was tastiest ... it looked like baked kidneys (grey) but it tasted like sweet filet mignon (to me)
I have also had chocolate covered ants and worms but not locust or cicadas.
I would have duck, rabbit, black bear again, especially black bear.
I have bison steaks in the freezer now ... may have to thaw them this week.
I didn't add the usual stuff you can get in most grocery stores.
P.S. --- to gross you out maybe ... codfish has worms in it that are removed before it goes in display; bear can have worms too. Some big sword fish have cancer spots that are cut out before those steaks go on display. Its completely natural but cleaned before the customer sees it.
Last edited:
Rocky Mountain Oysters — yum!
Manicou — Caribbean opossum, nicely stewed
Lambi — chonch breaded & deep fried, tastes like calamari
Durian — smells like sweat socks fermented in a garbage dump, but tastes like very ripe cantaloupe & peaches.
“Pollo cabrón” — ordered for me by my wife in Cozumel instead of Pollo al carbon. Not yum!
Manicou — Caribbean opossum, nicely stewed
Lambi — chonch breaded & deep fried, tastes like calamari
Durian — smells like sweat socks fermented in a garbage dump, but tastes like very ripe cantaloupe & peaches.
“Pollo cabrón” — ordered for me by my wife in Cozumel instead of Pollo al carbon. Not yum!
Last edited:
A lot of the things on these lists looks like everyday or occasional foods and I hadn't thought to add them.
Apology not required. It's a personal choice.
Not really weird but we are eating morels like there's no tomorrow up here in Eastern Washington. They are easy picking in the woods this year.
Yeah, last time when I was kid, when all these wild animals soup are easily get, I tried, snake, lizard, tortoise, rabbit, squirrel, frogs (? - if it's considered weird). After that, grew up bigger, tried shark, kangaroo, crocodile.... I think that's all I tried. Never dogs and cats.
Durian??? ? I like Durian
Its been said of the Chinese/Asians that they will eat anything that runs, crawls, flies or swims
I suspect much of that was dictated by poverty, famine and sheer necessity. I can't imagine anyone eating worms or bugs out of pure curiosity.
Growing up with a Dad who was an avid hunter, I had many "strange" things forced upon me. It has resulted in a somewhat adventurous palate.
But I will draw the line on quite a few things. And definitely no "Puddy Tat"
I suspect much of that was dictated by poverty, famine and sheer necessity. I can't imagine anyone eating worms or bugs out of pure curiosity.
Growing up with a Dad who was an avid hunter, I had many "strange" things forced upon me. It has resulted in a somewhat adventurous palate.
But I will draw the line on quite a few things. And definitely no "Puddy Tat"
I think the weirdest thing I've ever eaten was soup with frogs' legs. One of the tastiest meats I have tasted is the barbecued or wood-fired lamb, and the young goat, in Spain we call it choto, which seasoned with fried garlic, is spectacularly tasty. In Morocco they prepare it very rich, with rice, they use many spices.
Grew up near Pittsburgh, Pa. My Mom and Dad would head to the woods every spring for dandelion. Not the kind that grows in your yard. Great salad!! Haven’t had for years.
One of my favorite dishes i can get locally is pork bladder with pickled peppers. Amazing stuff. From Little Schezuan by the way.