Was there any food dish you wanted to try badly just because of the way it sounded?

Étouffée. I was always intrigued with what it must be like, and when I finally made it to New Orleans, I had some and loved it.

Poo poo plater and
Long rib roast. Brantasouras ribs from Flintstones.

Ethiopian food. I enjoyed the food itself except but the bread that you eat it with was like eating a gray sponge.

When my son was about 12 we were in a restaurant that offered something, I can’t recall what, but it had a Mole sauce. He asked what it was and we told him it was chocolate based. After he heard that there was nothing else on the menu that he was interested in. We tried to dissuade him, told him it was not what he thought it was but he was adamant. When the meal came he dove into it expecting something like a Hershey bar. We could tell from the way his face screwed up on the first swallow that he did not like it at all. To his credit, he got about half of it eaten then scraped it off and ate whatever was under it.

@janbb Ikr. Literally spongelike.

Poutine, the Canadian dish. When I finally had it, I found it to be nothing special. A bit disgusting, actually, because of all the fat and grease.

There was a burger I read about online that was being made by a restaurant in Brisbane. It sounded delicious and got a great write-up and was supposed to be the thing everyone was raving about. I can’t remember what it was now. However, the next time I was in the city I made a point of going off my usual track to go there for lunch – it was closed for lunch on that day!

Now I can’t remember what it was or where I found the story.

I never recalled even hearing the word Risotto, until an ex mentioned making it for me. Risotto is the shyt.

My husband makes great risotto @Blackberry. Come over and try some.

Christmas pudding, which I first learned about as a young boy in Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” book and movies, was something I always wanted to try. When I ate it as an adult, it didn’t taste anything like what I expected, but I liked it anyway.

Menudo (or, in Spanish, Menudito), whose protein source is pork tripe. When properly prepared by a Mexican chef well versed in the dish, it can be quite satisfying and delicious. From a can (as I found out much to my shock recently) it smelled and tasted horrible, and was little more than tripe & beans in under seasoned water.

When I was a kid I was at a Japanese restaurant and saw Octopus on the menu. I just had to try it. It was basically rubber, and I couldn’t really even chew it. Needless to say it was about 15–20 years later until I ever ate it again.

@rojo, you’ve reminded me that as a kid I had a similarly unsatisfying experience with mole sauce. I grew up loving Mexican food, but the first time I took a bite of a mole-covered enchilada (at my dad’s encouragement) I spit it out and didn’t try it again for decades. I now order it from time to time, thinking I’ll like it, but I never really do.

Not because of the way it sounded, but because of the way it looks. Just look at that shiny, gold-brown roasted skin. Just looking at it makes my mouths water.

Note to self: Never look at @ragingloli ‘s links.

Rice Krispies, I like the way they sound…snap, crackle & pop.

In German, “pancake” is “Pfannkuchen”. There is another word – “Eierkuchen”, which translates into “eggcake” but is used to describe the same thing.

Up until I was about ten, I longed to try these “Eierkuchen” everyone was raving about. I was quite disappointed when I found out they were simply pancakes by another name.

The black bean burger at Smash Burger. It tasted like dried up canned black beans with no seasoning. I’ve eaten a lot of vegetarian burgers in my day, and liked most of them, but the one from Smash Burger will never be ordered by me again.