Unusual foods.

[LabelKing]

I am partial towards the taste of rather unusual foods such as snake meat, bullfrogs, and yes, even dogs although dogs are more of a "treat" since they are somewhat difficult to come across--and possibly illegal outside of Asia. I have no qualms about eating various animals so as long it tastes good.

I'vve even heard people say duck meat is unusual although it has never struck me as unusual. I haven't had peacock though and innards never really interested me though my mother likes pork kidneys and tripe. Duck tongue can be quite good if done well, however.

Sometimes I feel marginalized like Mr.Pollock at a casual eatery.

 

[Nantucket Red]

I no longer eat meat, but I still eat fish and seafood. Back when I still ate poultry, I found pheasant quite good. Even recently I've made the rare exception, such as the time one of my favorite Tokyo restaurants served me sheep's tongue as an amuse bouche. It was exquisite. I was once tricked into eating whale blubber at a Japanese restaurant, and that is certainly nothing special. As a surfer, I enjoy eating uni, or sea urchin sushi, not only to exact revenge for all the spines I've endured in my feet, but also because it has a unique taste and texture. Kani miso, or crab brains, is another type of sushi I order quite frequently.

 

[Kasper]

Scrapple might be unusual for some people. I myself find goat to be strange especially the dish I once had with some sort of curry sauce.

 

[lawyerdad]

An acquaintance spent a year teaching in China. He had a deal with his students - he would eat anything they brought him, so long as it was a "real" food, i.e., something regularly eaten by somewhere. He said it was a very interesting experience. He had the most difficulty with the wide variety of uncomfortably gelatinous food items that he was confronted with.

 

[Dormouse]

Originally Posted by Kasper

Scrapple might be unusual for some people. I myself find goat to be strange especially the dish I once had with some sort of curry sauce.

Goat meat is somewhat stringy. I don't care much for it. I've also tried cow tongues at a Japanese restaurant.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

An acquaintance spent a year teaching in China. He had a deal with his students - he would eat anything they brought him, so long as it was a "real" food, i.e., something regularly eaten by somewhere. He said it was a very interesting experience. He had the most difficulty with the wide variety of uncomfortably gelatinous food items that he was confronted with.
Yes, some Chinese cuisines are fond of various meats in gelatins, similar to what the French also have. Maybe the deal was that it was regularly eaten by the French.

Although I don't believe horse-meat is regularly eaten by Chinese. There was a brief fashionable period in China for people to eat monkey brain soup since it was expensive and difficult to make. I don't think they ever watched Indiana Jones though.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Dormouse

Goat meat is somewhat stringy. I don't care much for it. I've also tried cow tongues at a Japanese restaurant.
Ox-tongue--and its variation ox-tail--are staples of Western cuisine.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

In Japan I've eaten whale, horse meat, and a whole bunch of stuff that I had no idea what it was.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I'vve even heard people say duck meat is unusual although it has never struck me as unusual. I haven't had peacock though and innards never really interested me though my mother likes pork kidneys and tripe. Duck tongue can be quite good if done well, however.
I can't see why some people would think duck is unusual. I eat this almost every time I go to a Chinese restaurant.

Originally Posted by Nantucket Red

Kani miso, or crab brains, is another type of sushi I order quite frequently.
Are these raw? Is the flavor strong or does it not taste like much?

Originally Posted by LabelKing

There was a brief fashionable period in China for people to eat monkey brain soup since it was expensive and difficult to make. I don't think they ever watched Indiana Jones though.
This is very Chinese. Look at the esteem in which sharkfin soup is held - one has to have it at a banquet (or on any special occasion) or else one's guests are insulted.

Chinese will eat just about anything, as Prince Philip recognized:

"If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it." (at a 1986 World Wildlife Fund meeting)

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman

This is very Chinese. Look at the esteem in which sharkfin soup is held - one has to have it at a banquet (or on any special occasion) or else one's guests are insulted.

Chinese will eat just about anything, as Prince Philip recognized:

"If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it." (at a 1986 World Wildlife Fund meeting)

Sharksfin, while inherently quite expensive and difficult to stew, does have redeemable qualities in its taste, although it does have to be cooked with abalone, mushrooms, and a chicken stock.

Ironically, there is a canned coconut juice that is deemed "Official State Banquet Drink" on the label.

The Cantonese have the distinction of eating a lot of things and other Chinese regions will patronize them for it. For example, the Shanghai people will say that's why they(Cantonese) are so stunted in growth.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

Sharksfin, while inherently quite expensive and difficult to stew, does have redeemable qualities in its taste, although it does have to be cooked with abalone, mushrooms, and a chicken stock.

Ironically, there is a canned coconut juice that is deemed "Official State Banquet Drink" on the label.

The Cantonese have the distinction of eating a lot of things and other Chinese regions will patronize them for it. For example, the Shanghai people will say that's why they(Cantonese) are so stunted in growth.

I've always been somewhat underwhelmed by this soup. Some places give you more sharkfin than others.

I've heard that Yao Ming has become a spokesman for a movement to stop serving sharkfin, as the supply of sharks is being depleted. (Of course, the rarer and more expensive it becomes, the more Chinese will want it. Vicious cycle indeed.)

The "regionalism" of the Chinese is rather interesting. I can say from personal experience that Cantonese are very proud of their cuisine and they do not think highly of Shanghaiese food!

 

[Patrick Bateman]

LK, could you comment on the taste of dog meat? I've always wanted to try this, but have not yet had the opportunity. I've never liked this particular animal - in addition to being at once emotionally servile and utterly incapable of functioning independently, they're always barking, drooling, shedding hair, and being filthy on the sidewalks (yet another hazard for the well-shod in NYC). Many high-end stores permit dogs to be brought in by their customers (in most cases these are women who are barely more intelligent than their handbag, much less their pet). Eating dog would be my way of getting revenge on these beasts, and their human enablers. We always hear, in America, about a surfeit of unwanted dogs in kennels, who go unadopted, have to be put down, etc. Seems to me like a steady supply of meat going to waste.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman

LK, could you comment on the taste of dog meat? I've always wanted to try this, but have not yet had the opportunity. I've never liked this particular animal - in addition to being at once emotionally servile and utterly incapable of functioning independently, they're always barking, drooling, shedding hair, and being filthy on the sidewalks (yet another hazard for the well-shod in NYC). Many high-end stores permit dogs to be brought in by their customers (in most cases these are women who are barely more intelligent than their handbag, much less their pet). Eating dog would be my way of getting revenge on these beasts, and their human enablers. We always hear, in America, about a surfeit of unwanted dogs in kennels, who go unadopted, have to be put down, etc. Seems to me like a steady supply of meat going to waste.
Certainly P.B.; the taste is actually rather civilized, not stringy like goat or possessive of that rather strange aftertaste like lamb. It's somewhat a cross between an hardy pork and a regular rabbit, with a very slight sour undertaste. The texture is most similar to pork probably. The meat is stewed in a sauce since it's a winter meat and thus, appropriate for a heavier sort of palatte. Dogs, I have always thought, have been coddled too much, especially by these people you mention--vague facsimiles of the Paris Hilton or obscure socialite mode who are exceptionally prissy and vapid when it comes to large diamonds, the "It" bag, and their small dogs.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman

I've always been somewhat underwhelmed by this soup. Some places give you more sharkfin than others. I've heard that Yao Ming has become a spokesman for a movement to stop serving sharkfin, as the supply of sharks is being depleted. (Of course, the rarer and more expensive it becomes, the more Chinese will want it. Vicious cycle indeed.) The "regionalism" of the Chinese is rather interesting. I can say from personal experience that Cantonese are very proud of their cuisine and they do not think highly of Shanghaiese food!
It's similar to the idea of Bears' Paws which is a very sought-after culinary delicacy, which even maybe 50 years ago was rare, and now is like a bit of an Holy Grail for the gourmet. Cantonese cuisine is generally accepted by the various regions of China as a fine cuisine but then they like to nit-pick and quibble over superiority. The Cantonese find the Shanghainese cuisine old-fashioned and sauce-heavy, lots of stewed things.

 

[Kent Wang]

I prefer unusual foods as well. It certainly is irrational, but if said item was not so exotic I would not enjoy it as much.

Many, including myself, have the same attitude with music and art.

 

[DocHolliday]

The Victorians had a fondness for non-drawn game birds, meaning they were cooked with the intestines inside. Then the intestines were eaten on toast. Even the birds' brains could be sucked from their skulls.

I'm not that adventurous.