What is the most exotic thing you have ever eaten?

[pjcalla]

Well, yesterday, a liberal bookface "friend" posted some article about a restaurant in AZ serving Lion burgers. She made an idiotic comment about AZ and the immigration law. Naturally, I responded, but it got me thinking about making a thread on here.

So, what is the most exotic/rare thing you've ever eaten, where did you eat it, what did it taste like, and would you eat it again? I know we have some world travelers on here, I think this will be interesting. If this has been done before, must have missed it. Anyway, I'll go first.

What: Flipper
Where: Grand Cayman Island
Taste: Looked like a big fat pork chop, same texture, not too fishy
Again: Yes.

So what have you eaten, INGO?

 

[CoyoteCreekGuns]

I'm not sure that they are really considered exotic anymore but here is a small list:

- Cow Brains (weird texture and no I would not eat them again)
- Rocky Mountain Oysters, i.e. cow testicles (cooked like chicken fried steak and yes I would eat them again)
- Emu Steak (very rare as there is no fat on them and Yes I would eat it again)
- Shark Steak (good and yes)
- Poi (not really exotic unless you've never been to Hawaii and no way never again)

As for more exotic, I'm heading to Cambodia next month, so I'm sure I'll run into all kinds of things to try..

 

[shooter521]

- Rocky Mountain Oysters, i.e. cow testicles

Cows do not have testicles. Bulls, OTOH...

In college, my entomology class ate mealworms. They were unremarkable, but I probably wouldn't do it again. As an adult, I've eaten ostrich, bison, alligator, shark and rattlesnake. I'd have any one of them again, in a heartbeat.

 

[CountryBoy19]

- Poi (not really exotic unless you've never been to Hawaii and no way never again)

You must not have tried fresh Poi. Fresh Poi is bland, but slightly sweet. Eaten with other foods to balance the bland taste it's actually quite delicious.

ETA, Oh yeah, almost forgot to add my contribution.

Uh... I'm not very adventurous, I did try raw fish once... it was uh.. sort of nasty (I have no idea what kind of fish it was, it was just on a buffet line).

 

[pjcalla]

You must not have tried fresh Poi. Fresh Poi is bland, but slightly sweet. Eaten with other foods to balance the bland taste it's actually quite delicious.

ETA, Oh yeah, almost forgot to add my contribution.

Uh... I'm not very adventurous, I did try raw fish once... it was uh.. sort of nasty (I have no idea what kind of fish it was, it was just on a buffet line).

I've had Poi. It was okay, I'd probably eat it again (if I go back to HI).

On my honeymoon, we went to a sushi place, and I had the "Bento Box." It was basically the sushi chef's choice of like 18 pieces. It wasn't rolled in rice like you see here, it was just hunks of raw fish, octopus, etc. Needless to say, we had 3 or 4 bottles of wine to wash it down. I generally like sushi, but this was just too much.

 

[IndyMonkey]

You guys need to go to good sushi places.

 

[BtownBlaster]

I had tongue tacos for the first time yesterday. That may qualify as the most unusual thing for me, at least that I can think of at the moment.

 

[pjcalla]

You guys need to go to good sushi places.

Actually, it was a really high-end place in Barbados. I think it was some of the more "fishy" fish that got me. BTW, where do you go for sushi in the Indy area?

 

[shooter521]

tongue tacos

Things I read on INGO that sounded dirty but weren't, volume XXXIV...

 

[spasmo]

I had tongue tacos for the first time yesterday. That may qualify as the most unusual thing for me, at least that I can think of at the moment.

Please elaborate...

 

[EvilleDoug]

While in a bar in Spain three friends and I sat down to have a Spanish Beer and there was a fish tank on the bar with live shrimp in it. We asked what it was for and the bar tender pulled a shrimp out, dipped it into some sauce of some kind, held it by the head and ate. So, we did too. Live shrimp and cold beer.

While in Key West, I caught and ate the following sea dwelling creatures:

stingray
nurse shark
sand shark
Red Snapper
Lane Snapper
Lobster
Shrimp

Many of these aren't exotic, unless of course you're from small town Indiana and never even seen them before.

And finally, While overseas I ate a dog sammich.

 

[public servant]

Things I read on INGO that sounded dirty but weren't, volume XXXIV...

Yeah...a google image search for "tongue taco" did not produce nearly the images I expected...even with the safe search off.

 

[melensdad]

Alligator
Emu and Ostrich
Snake
Eel (raw)
Eel (cooked)
Squid (raw)

Things that I've eaten that I do NOT consider exotic:
Snails
Shark
Squid (cooked)
Rays and Skates (various varieties)
Calf (cow) Brain, also called 'sweatbreads' (you will see these on menus of nice eateries)
Rocky Mtn Oyster
Buffalo
Tongue
Heart (various animals)
Boar (wild European)
Bear
Various members of the deer family (deer, antelope, elk, etc)
Goat
Turtle
Charnina (ducks blood soup)
Hurka, Kizka (and many others) blood sausage (most nations have their own name/variation)


And probably a whole lot more that I can't think of off the top of my head...

 

[public servant]

And finally, While overseas I ate a dog sammich.

When in Rome...

 

[public servant]

Calf (cow) Brain, also called 'sweatbreads' (you will see these on menus of nice eateries)

I thought sweetbreads were the pancreas?

 

[melensdad]

I thought sweetbreads were the pancreas?

Well I've seen it both ways, brains of a calf or some of the organ meat.

 

[public servant]

Well I've seen it both ways, brains of a calf or some of the organ meat.

Interesting. Thanks.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Alligator

Ah yes... I almost forgot... I had some gator tail at a place that is ironically called "Gator's" while I was in Norfolk for work. It was actually pretty good. It was slightly chewy, but taste like popcorn chicken other than that.

 

[steve666]

I've eaten ostrich, bison, alligator, shark, monkey, nuoc mam (fermented fish sauce), kimchee (fermented, spiced cabbage), grubs (survival training), deep fried grasshoppers, chocolate covered ants... Basically I'll eat anything that doesn't eat me first and a few things that will!!! I would eat the alligator, bison (good) or kimchee (great) again, not real enthusiastic about revisiting any of the rest.

 

[Mr. Habib]

Gator
Squid
Ostrich
Bison
Head Cheese