What strange things have you eaten?

[wolram]

I was offered an Ostrich meal but i could not bring my self to order it, yet when abroad i ate several things with no idea what they were

 

[fresh_42]

I can tell what I didn't eat. Once on a bowling evening someone from the neighboring track offered some grasshoppers he brought from Thailand. A few of us tasted it. Not me.
Once being in France I ordered something I did not know what it was. I thought you can't do much wrong in France. It turned out to be kidneys which I normally don't eat. Nevertheless, they tasted fine.
And by the way, what I've always wanted to ask someone who might know: Why is breakfast in English hotels called 'continental'? Firstly, it's not. It's a mixture of English and American breakfast, maybe with some french touch. Secondly, breakfast differs a lot on 'the continent' depending on where you are. So where the hack did this expression come from?

 

[Sophia]

I tasted canned crickets. They were OK, a bit like chips (crisps).
I also tasted cooked pork (or beef? I don't know) tongue and beef stomach, but that's really not so exotic.
And I had an octopus in Croatia.
I think I would try anything, maybe except for snake, because I'm afraid of them even if it was cooked :) And of course I would refuse protected species for ethical reasons.

 

[Borek]

I think I would try anything

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surströmming

(not that I ever tried)

 

[Sophia]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surströmming

(not that I ever tried)

Oh, I think I once watched video of someone eating that. They puked immediately, it was disgusting! D
Ok, I wouldn't eat that :)

 

[fresh_42]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surströmming

(not that I ever tried)

This can be topped: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hákarl

 

[StatGuy2000]

The strangest thing I've eaten was deep-fried alligator meat, as an appetizer at a seafood restaurant years ago (btw, it tastes exactly like fried chicken).

I've also eaten a type of stew containing venison in Quebec a few years ago, which was actually quite good, but I'm not sure if any of you would consider venison (i.e. deer meat) to be strange. Any hunters on this forum?

 

[wolram]

I do not know the origins of a continental breakfast but.A hotel breakfast that may include sliced bread with butter/jam/honey, cheese, meat, croissants, pastries, rolls, fruit juice and various hot beverages. It is served commonly in the continental Europe, North America, and elsewhere, as opposed to the English breakfast served commonly in the UK. See also American breakfast.

An English breakfast may include, sausages, bacon, eggs, tomato, beans, fried potatoes, fried bread, black pudding, toast with jam or marmalade, deviled kidneys, kippers.

 

[StatGuy2000]

And I had an octopus in Croatia.

Perhaps it's my own bias, but I don't consider octopus to be particularly strange. But then again I am half-Japanese, and fried octopus is a delicacy in Japan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki

 

[Psinter]

Living cockroach, but I don't remember the taste.

*Place Nutrition Facts of living cockroach here*

 

[wolram]

Perhaps it's my own bias, but I don't consider octopus to be particularly strange. But then again I am half-Japanese, and fried octopus is a delicacy in Japan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki

It is chewing the tentacles, they will not go down they stick in my mouth

 

[wolram]

lhttp://www.examiner.com/article/nutritional-content-of-the-american-cockroach-periplaneta-americana-l

Yummy cockroach sarnie

 

[Sophia]

The strangest thing I've eaten was deep-fried alligator meat, as an appetizer at a seafood restaurant years ago (btw, it tastes exactly like fried chicken).

I've also eaten a type of stew containing venison in Quebec a few years ago, which was actually quite good, but I'm not sure if any of you would consider venison (i.e. deer meat) to be strange. Any hunters on this forum?

I ate venison sausage and it was delicious!

 

[Borek]

While I ate octopus on several occasions in Croatia I still haven't tried a particular variant - hobotnica pod pekom (or hobotnica ispod peke, not sure which is a correct Croatian name of the dish - hobotnica means octopus, peka is kind of metal cover using while roasting, "ispod" or "pod" means more or less "under", so the name refers to the way the dish is prepared; could be both names are correct, just there is a grammatical difference between uses).

 

[Sophia]

Perhaps it's my own bias, but I don't consider octopus to be particularly strange. But then again I am half-Japanese, and fried octopus is a delicacy in Japan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki

yep, I know it is very common in cousines near the sea. I'm writing from my pork and sausage-eating point of view :)

 

[wolram]

I have eaten black pudding, congealed blood plus fat and other stuff, how horrible is that?

 

[Borek]

Oh, and things like kidneys and beef tongue I cook at least once a year - I happen to like them. They are definitely part of a Polish cuisine, although they were probably more popular between the poor working class (yes, fact that I remember them from my childhood says a thing about my paternal Grandmother's family).

 

[Sophia]

I have eaten black pudding, congealed blood plus fat and other stuff, how horrible is that?

omg yuck :/ But it's probably a very good source of iron :D How does it taste?

 

[Borek]

I have eaten black pudding, congealed blood plus fat and other stuff, how horrible is that?

Not terrible at all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaszanka

 

[Sophia]

Not terrible at all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaszanka

oh that's krvavnička :) but I've never eaten that :)

 

[Borek]

omg yuck :/ But it's probably a very good source of iron :D How does it taste?

Oh come on, hardly surprising in these parts of Europe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czernina

 

[Sophia]

Oh come on, hardly surprising in these parts of Europe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czernina

I know people eat it here but it's disgusting to me :D same as hurka (majority of fat). Wouldn't eat it. Only spicy sausage and relatively lean bacon for me, please! :D And various recipes using schnitzel, of course :)

 

[Sophia]

And tlačenka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlačenka but it must be homemade so that we know what's in it

 

[fresh_42]

I have eaten black pudding, congealed blood plus fat and other stuff, how horrible is that?

I'm not quite sure what it is since the British use the word pudding different from us. (Here it is something sweet.)
But your description fits to a sausage which is completely usual here: http://shop.landmetzgerei-dorer.de/media/images/popup/blutwurst.jpg

 

[nsaspook]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(food)

 

[fresh_42]

how horrible is that?

http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/media/images/75904000/jpg/_75904921_154311347.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/08/25/article-2401662-1B73C5CB000005DC-486_468x286.jpg

 

[Sophia]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(food)

what?

but OK, it's just a prejudice. If we can eat adult duck, it is the same as eating the embryo

 

[Sophia]

Interesting. Just looking at "Slovak cusine" on Wiki. Of course it is mixed with Slovenian meals. Doesn't surprise me any more :)

 

[wolram]

Not terrible at all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaszanka

I love a bit of blood pudding, it has a taste all of its own.

 

[wolram]

what?

but OK, it's just a prejudice. If we can eat adult duck, it is the same as eating the embryo

I looked at the picture and gagged.

 

[fresh_42]

Interesting. Just looking at "Slovak cusine" on Wiki. Of course it is mixed with Slovenian meals. Doesn't surprise me any more :)

You mean instead of being mixed with Czech, Austrian, Silesian and the old ones perhaps with even Hungarian recipes?

Edit: I bet they won't mix beer!

 

[Sophia]

You mean instead of being mixed with Czech, Austrian, Silesian and the old ones perhaps with even Hungarian recipes?

Edit: I bet they won't mix beer!

There are Czech and Hungarian recipes as well

and sour cherry soup that I have never heard of :-)

 

[fresh_42]

There are Czech and Hungarian recipes as well

and sour cherry soup that I have never heard of :-)

I know of a sauerkraut soup from this region. Tastes good. (Why is the English word for it the German one? Actually it's eaten from France to Kamchatka!)
That's one of the beautiful things about Europe: every 100 km you can have different dishes. And as long as you don't get north of Paris or east of Moscow you merely can do something wrong.

(For complaints: I live in Waterloo, Iowa.)

 

[Sophia]

I know of a sauerkraut soup from this region. Tastes good. (Why is the English word for it the German one? Actually it's eaten from France to Kamchatka!)
That's one of the beautiful things about Europe: every 100 km you can have different dishes. And as long as you don't get north of Paris or east of Moscow you merely can't do something wrong.

(For complaints: I live in Waterloo, Iowa.)

I don't know why I thought you were German?

 

[fresh_42]

I don't know why I thought you were German?

That's my alter ego. Recently I had been forced to get an American zip code. Waterloo was the first that came up.