Weird Food - Care to share?
 

I am starting this thread so that we can share some insights of the various food cultures of the people from different places. Just read it for fun and if it offends you, let it be. There's nothing we can stop what people do for centuries before us. In a way it's good to know what's happening out there.

Ok, here goes;

One of my pals was a guest of honour at a dinner in the Philippines and they served up this big plate of stuffed meat. It's bloody gross to most of ya - a puppy stuffed with rice! Please don't get put off here, it's a culture's way of interpreting fine cuisine.

He told me he had a hard time putting the rice in and he's a chink too. Apparently, the pup was purged clean (empty tummy and hungry) and then fed a good quality cooked rice but it was in turned cooked. I think it was roasted. Maybe Chong can tell us more.
Bon apetit! :ha:

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

I'll contribute a grilled kebab of giant palm-beetle grubs on a bed of fresh cress. This is an absolute delicacy among the Shuara.

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

I would imagine that dog meat is like any other meat, but the psychological stigma attached to eating what we view as domesticated pets, makes it difficult to swallow.
If we were blindfolded and were not told, the reaction would be much different as everyone can imagine. Fido'nt tell 'em, you will!
And what if we truly liked the taste - oh my! "Bone appetit"

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Oh, right. I forgot - we eat rodents here! Slow-roasted Cuy (pronounced COO-ee, it's Guinea Pig) is fantastic, but it kind of freaks me out that it's served head on, with it's little death's head grin. Roast swamp rat is also quite yummy.

We've already discussed the larger rodential options (Guanta agouti meal? Come to Ecuador!)

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Wait until I get to the street market in China. I am sure there will be some truly tempting tidbits there! I have seen a few on the Food Channel, like roasted scorpion, crickets, sea slugs, cat, grasshoppers, starfish on a stick, etc.
Here's a nice video Chinese Food & Cats - Video

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Live Termite Queen
I have tried this and it taste just like custard or durian without the pungency. Why do we eat it? It is a very heaty food and supposed to be good for people with asthma. What we do is we dig up the termite mound and then take out the royal chamber and keep it till we want to eat the queen. The faster eaten the better cos the workers cannot get to feed her once out of the nest. The chamber is then broken and the queen gets her head torn off and in it goes into the mouth. Sometimes we find dark brown color queens and those are supposed to be better. I tried it a couple of times out of curiosity. I once ate a couple at a go and boy, my body heated up like in a fever.
There are people who keep the queens in Chinese wine. It is supposed to be an aphrodisiac too.

I love dogs and I haven't tried it cos I didn't go looking. But if it's on the table, I will have a go. The people here believe that once you have eaten dog meat, the dogs seem to know it and don't get friendly.

I find it really interesting how different cultures can interpret the word fine cuisine.

Beth, the palm grub is an aboslute delicacy in Borneo and there's festival for them. Here, the people don't go for it.

Cuy is a much valued pet here and not cheap to eat but the women eat it with herbs as post birth food. It is highly nutritional for them. The other rodent eaten here is the Moon Rat. But it's fully protected and not many gets around.

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

I really like frog's legs.....
and they do not tast like chicken

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Cuy is a much valued pet everywhere except Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia (ie the former Incan Empire). Here it's a tasty meal, and we have a festival for it in the highland city of Mocha, where the best Cuy are raised. I'd venture to say it's where the best Cuy are cooked, as well.

Oh, we also have a soup called Jaguarlocro (Kichua name, meaning literally "blood soup"), which is a thick potato and sheep's blood potage with avocado. It's much tastier than it sounds, and incredibly hearty. It's what one traditionally eats before attempting to summit a volcano. Traditionally it should be made with the blood of an Alpaca, but very few places still do this. Sheep are cheaper.

Dog, in my experience, is very greasy meat. Not quite so greasy as bear, but getting there.

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

I thought it was only me with the food disorder! I don't think I can top scorpions and dog but, I like the fried front portion of Botan Ebi , and monkfish liver is a seasonal favorite here. Raw quail eggs are ok, I guess uni is my favorite. Frogs legs are ok if prepared well. The scariest thing I think I've eaten was a pre made frozen Chinese hot pot, extra spicy hot with some things I couldn't and didn't care to identify. I'll think of more by the time I get home.

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Are the Cuys for eating different in size to the pet store variety?

The only blood consumed here is curdled chicken blood. When chicken is slaughtered, the blood is mixed with a slight salt solution. It is then cut into cubes like tofu and is usually used in soups. Traditionally it was a food for the barbers as the clotted blood is supposed to be able to take out the tiny bits of hair which gets inhaled while at work.

I have tasted bear's paws considered a food for the emperor, it tasted like ox tail!

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Tog, they are the very same Cuy that are purchased in pet-stores outside of the Incan Empire. Maybe ours are a bit bigger, but then again, we feed them well. It's customary, if you're living in a traditional highlands house (ie an adobe construction with dirt floors) to keep two or three Cuy in the kitchen to keep it clean. You just throw your compost to them, and they snaffle up everything right down to breadcrumbs. Sweep once a day for the kakitos, and you're good. They're better than vaccuums.

Next time I'm at the free market, I'll grab a pic of the live Cuy for sale. A full-grown 5-pound Cuy costs about $7 at current prices. They're right next to the bunnies and the ducklings in the live-animals section of the market; the guy who sells them sometimes also has turkeys.

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Bepah, up till now not many people are aware that M'sia has the biggest edible frog species in the world. The Giant Rock Frog, Rana smithii syn macrodon grows to 5 kg (that's 11lbs) and has been eaten into near extinction. Nowadays, we get only the 200-300gm ones and they are great anyway you cook them. I had a 1+kg specimen as a pet and it is a very calm animal. You should see it gulp down rats and medium sized chicks.Awesome!

5 lbs! And you call it a bit bigger.... Our pet shop ones are only 1+lb and cost like $7.
I like the noise they make...queee...queeee...:ha:

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

My wife is Lebanese. First time I ate with the family they had this awesome spread. There was this plate of what looked like raw hamburger. Well all the kids were begging for it. I figured it was something sweet like a desert so I ask for some. My wife took a big scoop and plopped in my plate and said "You like raw meat?" So there I was choking down raw lamb acting like I liked it. It’s called Kibbe and I eat it all the time now. Take some Syrian bread put the Kibbe in it and put an onion on top. Of course I get the grape leaves, cabbage rolls, and all that Lebanese food. When I met her I weighed 150 lbs. lol

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

My cousin has a 3lb one that she calls a Skinny Pig, and it makes that noise at night. It creeped me right out - I'm used to eating them, not hearing them talk to themselves....

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Raw beef tartar is commonly served at deer hunting camp in Northern Wisconsin. I have had it many times. Oxtail is also excellent.
Bob, hot pot typically is a dish originally made by the poorer farming people of China using whatever they could find. Chicken feet, pig feet, all of the left-over parts. It is in high demand in Chongqing and the Sichuan province. Quite spicy, too.
There is also a Mongolian hotpot, but I have not yet tried it.

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Ooh.. I'd like to try guinea pig (other name I've heard is cavy, around here.)

I agree with Bob; sushi is wonderful. The fried shrimp head part of Ama-ebi is one of my favorites. Uni is OK; it's really really bad if it's not fresh, though, and it's hard to get fresh seafood here. Whole pickled plums (ume-boshi) are a joy. Natto (fermented soybeans) is something of an acquired taste, but I really like it; it's savory-salty-slippery-sticky and generally fun to eat. The smell is somewhat offputting to anyone who hasn't had it before.

I'm also a fan of roasted, stuffed heart; grouse hearts and gizzards are a popular hunting-camp treat.
Beef tartare is a treat I've only had once... would try again. Yum.

The Irish pub downtown also serves steak and kidney pie, and black (blood) and white (bone meal) pudding (sausages). They are fantastic.

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Raw beef (ground round) spread on rye bread w/ black pepper & sliced onion - YUM. Very popular here esp Christmas & New year.
I love frog legs. I made them grilled or breaded & deep fried. I heard there's something wrong with eating them & don't see them in stores anymore. I thought they tasted like chicken! :)
I'll never eat grubs - esp live. Aren't those the short fat maggot looking things that squirm a lot? EEEUUUW
Anyone hear of 'blood sausage'? My family made that.
I love sushi & all seafood. I boil octopus & eat in oil & vinegar dressing...YUM.

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Patty, are you in an area where they eat lutefisk(sp). It's one of the few things I probably wouldn't try.Octopus is one of my favorites as well, called "taco" at the sushi bars . Put up your recipe! A guy from work brings me blood sausage from his Portuguese father. Come to think of it for Easter yesterday I made for my mother traditional Irish breakfast that includes "black pudding" another blood sausage....Good stuff!

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Sheesh, I am just sitting back and imagining eating the stuff you people talk about. I am a Beef Tatare fan but there's no blood sausage or haggis here for me to try...shucks...

Bob, have you eaten a live octopus? Should try it, real fun with the suckers all over your mouth!

Patty, the palm grubs are the size of the thumb. Mostly roasted but also great raw. It taste like fragrantly sweetish custard. Put a blindfold on and do it.
The frog legs are ok to eat but not the abdomen area as frogs are nasty carriers of parasites. You should try it steamed with Chinese Rice Wine. It's fabulous.

Re: Weird Food - Care to share?
 

Tog...You must've been reading my mind! I was watching Bizarre Eats marathon yesterday and one episode was Malay cuisine and I laughed and thought......what does Tog see around town in a day!?! My entry in this is plain simple and to the point.......................Durian. 'Nuff said.

Shaggy