What's the strangest thing you have eaten while travelling?

[tuapekastar]

2 McDonalds. No recipe available for any of the meals on offer though. Although as I was reminded recently their coffee is not at all bad.

I did think of posting re McDonalds, but then assumed the thread title referred to food, hence ruling McDonalds out.

 

[Fantic125]

In Korea I've tried raw fish which is 'cooked' in fermented yoghurt for 3 months. Apparently it's a delicacy..:shock:

In Guangzhou I've eaten roasted water beetles - you just peel and eat the rear half (bit like eating a prawn) but it has a much more ... uh, 'unique' taste and texture....

In Taipei at a Japanese resaurant we were served up a dish of Tiger prawns, which we promptly peeled and ate, leaving the heads on the plate. The heads came back to the table a couple of dishes later neatly presented, having been deep-fried in tempura batter.
They were actually quite crunchy and delicious!

 

[simongr]

Drunken pigeon in Shanghai
I think they also something that was a very big specialty in Shanghai "moonlight prawns" - they were awful And I missed half of dinner on a conference call

 

[wingspan]

Well, I still haven't eaten durian, but I did try durian ice-cream last year at a Malaysian restaurant in Melbourne. I won't be in a hurry to eat the real thing

If it helps, durian icecream is more durian than durian. So you have the strong durian taste without the subtle notes behind it. So do try to have durian soon and I almost guarantee you'll like it more than the icecream. Maybe.

 

[Cocitus23]

For me, the prize definitely goes to that Icelandic delicacy, hakarl, which is a particular shark meat which has been putrefied for over 4 months. It is worth quoting from the Wikipedia entry:

The shark itself is poisonous when fresh due to a high content of uric acid and trimethylamine oxide, but may be consumed after being processed (see below). It has a particular ammonia smell, similar to many cleaning products. It is often served in cubes on toothpicks. Those new to it will usually gag involuntarily on the first attempt to eat it due to the high ammonia content.[citation needed] First-timers are sometimes advised to pinch their nose while taking the first bite as the smell is much stronger than the taste, which is similar to very pungent Jewish deli-style cured whitefish or herring.[citation needed] It is often eaten with a shot of the local spirit, a type of akvavit, called brennivín. Eating hákarl is often associated with hardiness and strength.
Chef Anthony Bourdain, who has travelled extensively throughout the world sampling local cuisine for his Travel Channel show No Reservations, has described shark þorramatur as "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing" he has ever eaten.[citation needed]
Chef Gordon Ramsay challenged journalist James May to sample three "delicacies" (Laotian snake whiskey, bull cough, and hákarl) on The F Word; Ramsay then vomited after eating hákarl, although May kept his down. May's only reaction was "You disappoint me, Ramsay."

As for me, I inhaled from the proffered cube on a toothpick, damn near passed out, and quickly took the merest nibble to say that I had tried it. All to the hilarity of my Reykjavik hosts.

Changing tack for a minute, from delicacies to language, I see on this thread that some contributors have struggled with the plural of cough. Not surprising, really, as one at a time is all most of us generally think about. In any case, the word is Latin, 3rd declension masculine, so the plural is penes. Lest I be accused of being unfairly sexist in passing on this extremely useless erudition, may I also advise you that its opposite number, cough, is 1st declension feminine, and so the correct plural form is coughe. By the way, to the Romans the word referred to the sheath in which their sword was placed.

Keep smiling,

Cocitus23

 

[BVT]

I am surprised that no one has yet mentioned anything NP inspired.

 

[thompg]

I had whale meat in Japan on the insistence of my Japanese friend (who said he used to be given it at school). I won't have it again, as while it tasted OK it certainly wasn't special enough tasting to justify killing the whale in the first place in my opinion.

The same friend organised for his family and me to go to a fugu restaurant and have the poisonous blowfish. It was very nice, but quite like other sushi that I've had in Japan (a sort of translucent white flesh).

I was very disappointed in Hong Kong when I saw a blackboard outside a restaurant advertising mice meat, to find a plate of passable mince meat - I really just wanted to be able to say I'd eaten mice meat (and I guess I can say it ).

I'm pretty sure I had dog when I was in Korea, as my friend there ordered something at the restaurant and was then very cagey about what it actually was. Didn't particularly bother me (or wow me (or should that be bow-wow me)) - after all I find it more disturbing to eat a cute little lamb than an animal with sharp teeth that's just as likely to bite me (the cuteness factor doesn't stop me from eating lamb either though).

 

[Alanslegal]

I'm not that adventurous but Stinky ToFu in Hong Kong left a garbage-like taste in my mouth. Sashimi style Sea Cucumber that looks like over-sized ****s [phalli] although very soft is tough to swallow. Sashimi Lobster ... where the lobster is still moving!

 

[Oneworldplus2]

For me, the prize definitely goes to that Icelandic delicacy, hakarl, which is a particular shark meat which has been putrefied for over 4 months. It is worth quoting from the Wikipedia entry:

The shark itself is poisonous when fresh due to a high content of uric acid and trimethylamine oxide, but may be consumed after being processed (see below). It has a particular ammonia smell, similar to many cleaning products. It is often served in cubes on toothpicks. Those new to it will usually gag involuntarily on the first attempt to eat it due to the high ammonia content.[citation needed] First-timers are sometimes advised to pinch their nose while taking the first bite as the smell is much stronger than the taste, which is similar to very pungent Jewish deli-style cured whitefish or herring.[citation needed] It is often eaten with a shot of the local spirit, a type of akvavit, called brennivín. Eating hákarl is often associated with hardiness and strength.
Chef Anthony Bourdain, who has travelled extensively throughout the world sampling local cuisine for his Travel Channel show No Reservations, has described shark þorramatur as "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing" he has ever eaten.[citation needed]
Chef Gordon Ramsay challenged journalist James May to sample three "delicacies" (Laotian snake whiskey, bull cough, and hákarl) on The F Word; Ramsay then vomited after eating hákarl, although May kept his down. May's only reaction was "You disappoint me, Ramsay."

As for me, I inhaled from the proffered cube on a toothpick, damn near passed out, and quickly took the merest nibble to say that I had tried it. All to the hilarity of my Reykjavik hosts.

Changing tack for a minute, from delicacies to language, I see on this thread that some contributors have struggled with the plural of cough. Not surprising, really, as one at a time is all most of us generally think about. In any case, the word is Latin, 3rd declension masculine, so the plural is penes. Lest I be accused of being unfairly sexist in passing on this extremely useless erudition, may I also advise you that its opposite number, cough, is 1st declension feminine, and so the correct plural form is coughe. By the way, to the Romans the word referred to the sheath in which their sword was placed.

Keep smiling,

Cocitus23

That's GOLD! I lol'd big time. l'm going for a hunt and if l can find it, l'm posting it.

== edit == (There is some *adult* language in that clip)
[video=youtube;vTOfhQ_SZEg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTOfhQ_SZEg[/video]

 

[JohnK]

I have heard of trying things for the sake of trying things but some of the things mentioned in this thread are just so gross/disgusting....

 

[Stephen65]

I had tortoise in its shell in Peru. Goat and camel in the Middle East.

 

[simonpenny408]

If you don't try, you don't know. For example...

1) Horse steaks - delicious - better than beef
2) Dog (Korean syle - summer cooling dish) - not at all bad
3) Dog (Chinese - winter heating dish) - lovely
4) Scorpions (Beijing) - would actively order them
5) Assorted cough soups - all good except if you have to tackle the baby arm thing with chopsticks
6) Mixed bags or spicy crispy beetles and grasshoppers in Thailand - excellent with beer
7) Civet cat - better than dog (note I am a cat owner)
8) Fruit bat - bit bony but tasty meat - potential export business if they were not (stupidly) protected
9) Iguana curry - a feast for the mouth - spit out the bones
10) Durian - fine if you treat it like a washed rind cheese rather than a fruit
11) Stinky tofu - the work of the devil

 

[samh004]

That's GOLD! I lol'd big time. l'm going for a hunt and if l can find it, l'm posting it.

== edit == (There is some *adult* language in that clip)

Thank you for that!

I was expecting the hakarl to be a bit less solid than it was, looks interesting

 

[straitman]

Several things stick out for me.

Durian which is nice (sort of) once you get past the smell,
Chicken feet which IMHO are a complete waste of time and
Jellyfish which was way too cold to enjoy.

 

[coolumbla]

i suspect i dont know what i ate as after my chinese interpreter in the succession of private dining rooms i was in as an "honoured guest " and visiting professor dutifully said "tofu infused with beef blood" i asked her to stop telling me was eating
(it was the tofu that did me in!)

My mother would have been proud!
I finished everything on my plate regardless of what it looked like !

when the family were in singapore we were starving and following the principle of "eat where teh locals are eating" we ordered something off the menu to discover it was an offal restaurant serving soups
Pictures do not always look like what you get! LOL

Shane

 

[rotator101]

Everything at our fancy several-course banquet served in some "new" Chinese town inland from Macau ... back in late '80s. When our guide asked us how it was, we all said "yum" but I swear the green vegetables (which she never identified) were the scraggly things growing by the road. Had a hard time eating the rice after seeing the chickens pecking amongst the rice kernels drying out on a stone platform.

Once in Hong Kong, ordered scallops at a French-style restaurant. It came with the muscle that attaches it to the shell. I was told it was edible; the taste overwhelmed the actual scallop meat (and it was not a good taste).

 

[Happy Trails]

Armadillo, rattlesnake, cow’s intestines & udder – all in Argentina.

The worst was a whale meat casserole in Norway – disgusting.

 

[Fantic125]

Just remembered a couple of others I've tried;

Hundred year old duck egg, where it's preserved for a few months in some sort of mixture that ends up making it solidify. That wasn't too bad.

A possum curry, which was very tasty.

Cooked jellyfish tentacles, which were fairly bland...

 

[drron]

Gee some of the foods mentioned are staples-Durian,kimchi.Both i regularly consume.Even whale which i had in Norway-they have been eating for centuries.It is allowed for aboriginal populations in North america,Greenland and St.vincents and grenadines to catch and eat whale so why not the norwegians?
Of course it is all in the mouth(+nose) of the beholder-an american on our last cruise when asked what was the most unusual food he had eaten was definite it was vegemite.
Some of the more unusual things i have eaten-chocolate coated grasshoppers(Hakone).
Mouse at a chinese celebration Shenzen 1980-only told afterwards.
Fried beetles-Laos.
Then there are those foods I just dont see why they are popular-haggis,black pudding,grits.
Then the just unusual-also at shenzen,carp cooked with the head and tail wrapped in wet towels so when served the head and tail were still moving.
Probably a whole lot more.

 

[Cocitus23]

drron, I'm glad you mentioned Vegemite. Indeed, one man's meat is another man's poison.
When I moved to Montreal in the 1970's, my 3 sons would invite classmates home to sample the taste sensation of Vegemite. They would slather the stuff on bread and invite the assembled horrified onlookers to partake. Invariably it was refused, and as my sons stepped up to the plate to show how it was done there would be horrified shrieks of "Oh my God, he's really going to eat it!"
I had forgotten about all this until I read an article in today's "Eureka Street". Following are some extracts of the article, an American's views of Australia. Admittedly, the writer, Brian Doyle, is a humourist.

What do Australians eat?
Yeast paste. You wouldn't believe how foul and horrifying this food is. It tastes like someone ground up a penguin and then left it in the rain for a month before adding rubber and dirt to it. It is incomprehensible to me how anyone could ever in this lifetime eat such a terrifying food. It's not even the color of any food known to man. It was invented by evil trolls who pretended to be a man named Cyril. No one else knows this story. Don't tell anyone. Forget we had this conversation.

Why did you get so upset about the yeast paste?
It's a criminal conspiracy. The first time it touches your tongue you want to die, or move to Canada. It's like the revenge of all the foods that are not delicious. It's the sort of food they find traces of in the tombs of pharaohs, and you wonder after a while why all the dead kings have traces of Vegemite in their crypts, why is that? It makes you wonder.

And your least favorite thing?
I don't want to talk about Vegemite anymore. It's dangerous to even think about it. Your head starts to swell and you become a Collingwood fan. That's the dark side. Let's not go there.

Brian Doyle is the editor of Portland Magazine at the University of Portland, and the author most recently of Thirsty for the Joy: Australian & American Voices
*************************************************************************
Gee, if it turns me into a Collingwood fan, that's it for me. I'm off Vegemite for good.
Cocitus23