What is the most exotic or unusual thing you have ever eaten?

I spent 16 days in China 25 years ago.
While there I ate Rat, Bird Nest Soup (which is made from bird shit), slug, water fungus, and monkey hide.
While in Alameda, at a chinese food restaurant, I ate dog (it was supposed to be chicken).

Two things come to mind…alligator tail ( which was quite good) & antelope (which was NOT good)

@filmfann Bird Nest Soup sounds horrible…

@filmfann Ewwwww…........

@filmfann and @J0E Errmmm… Bird’s Nest Soup is made from the saliva of swifts… A far far faaarr cry from shit…. (although I would still rate it quite high on the ew scale)

I also ate dog meat, but I didn’t really like it. Too heaty… And if I remember correctly, alligator soup and meat wasn’t too bad. I also had turtle soup. I gagged slightly thinking about it, but actually the texture was just like normal boiled meat.

Maybe you people will find some of the foods I eat “exotic” but I’ve eaten (and enjoyed) pig’s intestines, sea cucumber and jellyfish before.

Perhaps the most unusual food I had was when I was holidaying in Vietnam. I had duck’s egg. Innocent-sounding enough? Not when the duck is half-formed already. If I remember correctly I think I saw a feather or two. I couldn’t stomach eating the whole thing.

Lambs head.

@ChazMaz Head? You ate an entire lambs head?

It is called Capozzelli in Italian.

Everything except for the skull gets consumed.

All is ok, something I had to eat as a child. Could never eat the eyes.

I have eaten all manner of things, snake, crocodile, horse, but the most unusual for me was sea urchins They are quite revolting to look at, but like oysters, have a very pleasant “ocean” flavour.

@ChazMaz That reminds me of when Bear Grylls ate that camel eye…nasty.

@DarkScribe I’m envious, horse is about the only herbivore I haven’t eaten, aside from zebra. Haven’t eaten that, either. I hear it tastes like ass.

Short list of unusual foods (depending on your tastes) Turtle, Beaver Tail, no, the animal, get your mind out of the gutter alligator tail, snake, bear, raccoon, all manner of water fowl, pretty much every game animal and type of fish in North America. Freshwater eel was good, but very rich, and sturgeon is interesting,too.

Things I want to try: Horse, ground hog, possum, rattlesnake, peccary, and maybe the ultimate taboo meat, human.

I like to try new or weird looking fruit. I think the most exotic ones I have tried so far have been the Cherimoya, Lychee, and the Kiwano

@IBERnineD Have you ever had Starfruit? It certainly looks exotic.

Rambutans, durians, lychee, mangosteens, sapodilla.. I tried lots of fruit when I was in Thailand. (Rambutans look weird, and durians smell.)
When I was in Dubai I tried kibbeh, which is basically raw lamb meat with spices mixed in ground really, really, really fine.

@J0E oh man I LOVE starfish!

So far I think @filmfann has us all beat for exotic. Then again, what I consider normal some seem to think exotic. I have eaten alligator, rattlesnake, bison, deer, ostrich, conch, all sorts of raw fish, but the most exotic to me (and the one I couldn’t get down) was raw octopus. Kind of like chewing shoe leather. If you’ve had gator tail, rattlesnake is pretty much the same, except it’s in tiny pieces. Ostrich wasn’t very good. Bison I eat on a regular basis, I use it in place of beef all the time. I have had starfruit, they look exotic, and have a nice sweet/tart thing going on. I like them, but I don’t see them as exotic.

@IBERnineD star fish or star fruit?

@evelyns_pet_zebra I’m envious, horse is about the only herbivore I haven’t eaten, aside from zebra.

I wouldn’t have eaten it had I known – it was when I was a child in Europe where the rationing instituted in WW2 was not long revoked. Local butchers sold meat from all kinds of animals. My mother bought steaks and only later (weeks later) discovered that we had been eating horse. It was pretty much like beef.

@DarkScribe Horse is still eaten fairly commonly in Italy. Goat too.

I’ve certainly eaten my share of crow.

Lately, Durian. I boiled the seeds later, too, which reminded me of tiny potatoes.

While I was having a hard time describing the flavor, someone I know summed it up like this: “Tastes like a moldy sock with a rotten onion in it that’s been at the end of a dark alley for a year, with a hint of vanilla.”

@J0E haha WHOOPS! I’m tired, starfruit. although don’t get me wrong I do enjoy starfish as well, to look at, not to eat

While living in Sweden I had Surströmming which is fermented herring. Revolting stuff. But the snaps that goes with it helps a lot.

Until the day after.

@gussnarp Horse is still eaten fairly commonly in Italy. Goat too.

That is where we were. I was not aware that it was still common but in recent visits I haven’t cooked or checked butchers. I haven’t seen it on menus. I do like goat meat – one of my favourites.

They talk about birds nest soup on an episode of Planet Earth.

Kangaroo is good too.

I had alligator at a Cajun festival once and it was really good. I haven’t had much whackier than that.

I’m pretty picky… I think calamari is as exotic as I’ve gotten.

The calamari appetizer at P. F. Chang’s. I think it was fried.

Calamari? Exotic?

Come over to my house there is usually 20+ pounds in the freezer.

It is so yummy stuffed and cooked in a hot marina sauce (gravy).

Beaver (not the tail, but the rest of the critter), eel, sea urchin, turtle, kangaroo, emu, ostrich, octopus, antelpoe, elk, venison, alligator, frog, goat, lamb, sitka, jellyfish, intestines, duck, goose, dove, other assorted game birds and mammals. None of that is really interesting, though I do usually get questions/comments about the beaver. Tasty stuff.

A Russian friend fed me some fermented/pickled/puked-on herring, which had to be chased with vodka to avoid wretching. I can’t remember what it was called and really don’t care other than to know to avoid it next time.

I tried all of the fruits allie mentioned as well as some others like Dragon Fruit , passion fruit , and kiwano
i love nothing more than finding a new fruit to try.

Not to many exotic vegies i can think of, but i did have Romanesco broccoli which is pretty much broccoli and cauliflower mixed together. i just like it cause it grows in the golden spiral. Yay math nerdiness :P

Strangest meat i had was probably cows tongue or a deers heart.

Ive eaten quite a few bugs too. Grasshoppers, bees, ants, crickets, and locusts.

I will try anything once. The way i look at it, is if it tasted absolutely horrible, no one would eat it. Thats clearly not the case, so there has to be something there. Maybe i’ll like it, maybe not, but i wont know until i try.

@DarkScribe i could never do urchin. I think its the texture. Not down with pasty things.

The waxed paper that was on the bottom of the sandwich that I had gotten from a vending machine. Noticed it when I was on the second half of the sandwich – it pretty good! And I got an extra dose of fiber that day….

@uberbatman ”i just like it cause it grows in the golden spiral. Yay math nerdiness :P” <4

My grandfather used to make an Italian version of “sofrito” which had cows heart, lungs (which you can’t BUY, his friend the butcher would put them aside for him) tripe and so on, it was cooked until it was downright silky in tomato sauce, with garlic and hot peppers (oh, yum, how I miss it) peasant food really but I think that’s some of the best

I’ve eaten (and enjoyed) ostrich, buffalo, eel, alligator, conch, most game meats, jelly fish, frog, shark fin soup

I’ve tried sea urchin, it’s definately a textural thing, that I can’t get over (to me, kind of like swallowing a hocker) and yet I enjoy raw oysters, go figure!

@DarkScribe So I wonder, was horse actually popular in Italy before the war, has it just remained popular since the war, or is it in fact regional, and only popular now in certain parts of Italy?

The most exotic thing coming to mind right now is alligator. I’ve also had ostrich, bison, frog’s legs, and escargot, but I don’t think those are quite as exotic.

Horse is also popular in France and Japan. I’ve seen “horse mane fat sashimi” – certainly not looking forward to that dish.

@gussnarp So I wonder, was horse actually popular in Italy before the war, has it just remained popular since the war, or is it in fact regional, and only popular now in certain parts of Italy?

Not at all sure how popular it was, but I do know that in many places it was sold as a second grade meat alongside beef. I imagine that it would usually be when a horse need to be put down, I doubt whether they were raised for meat. Many people of my grandparent’s generation have commented on the availability of horse meat when they were young.

Fried pig’s liver. Since then I’ve become a vegetarian.

Pickled pigs ears are yummy!

Nothing. I’ve eaten nothing weird. If the idea of a food item grosses me out, I’m probably not going to try it. Doesn’t mean I won’t in the future, but at this point, I can’t think of anything weird I’ve eaten.

@DominicX That’s weird.

@ru2bz46 Kind of, especially seeing as how I’ve been to 16 countries other than the U.S. But I’ve always had something within the realm of “normal”. I know I’ve had some fruits and vegetables before that I wasn’t sure what it was, so I guess I could count that, but it wasn’t like “wacky” or weird or anything.

@DominicX Okay, of all the food you have eaten what is the most unusual?

I’ve had cow brains and cow intestine. Does venison count? I’ve only eaten the meat of herbivores, and even then, only when they had split hooves. I don’t know, but the thought of eating a carnivorous animal revolts me.

I once had a twinkie. Now THAT was an experience. Didn’t taste like it came from this planet…

@ChazMaz Oh man, you just reminded me of pickled hard boiled eggs…yummy yum yum.

@DominicX I’m with you. Nothing unusual at all.

@DominicX @augustlan Do you at least have a weird food combination? For example some people like ketchup on their eggs or mac n’ cheese.

@J0E Oh! Yes, I do. I eat Grape Nuts with butter. The idea of this grosses everyone out, but I love it. I just soften the butter a bit, mix in the Grape Nuts very well, and it’s yummy. Kind of like really crunchy whole wheat bread and butter, you know? I know I have other things like this, but I can’t think of any right now.

@augustlan Wow, that is definitely unusual…yuck.

@J0E

Not really. I like rice with pretty much every soup there is; I never eat soup by itself, always with rice. I like lemon pepper on pasta and tomato sauce. Ummm….er…I guess that’s it.

Don’t laugh at me. :(

@DominicX I’m not much better, my “exotic” food was a deep fried hamburger, not much compared to bird shit soup.

I remembered another one… it’s even worse. I eat what you could loosely call a ‘cheese salad’. Shredded cheese, raisins, sunflower seeds, ranch dressing and croutons. My body seems to crave some weird food combos, just not weird food!

@J0E I’m intrigued by the deep fried burger… was it good?

@augustlan The deep fried hamburger was probably the best thing I have ever eaten, all the flavor was kept inside and it was so juicy. If you ever see it on a menu, order it without hesitation.

I eat ketchup on my eggs, and sometimes I like to put ketchup on ramen. Sometimes I like ketchup with mashed potatoes too… or breakfast sausage with Jack Daniels barbecue sauce…

@augustlan The warmed buttered Grape Nuts are def on my list to try!

@J0E I’ll be doing the deep-fried hamburger as well.

I’ve made bacon-wrapped meat loaf – yum! Also, prunes, stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon. I forgot to try honey-dipped, bacon-wrapped figs this year while the figs were still on the trees…maybe next year (I guess I could try figs from the store, but why botther).

Half Japanese ex GF, Chiemi ***

@ru2bz46 – How about bacon wrapped in bacon?

@ChazMaz Now you’re just being silly…however… ;-)

Everybody probably thinks I wrap everything in bacon now – not true. I’ve covered bacon with chocolate, though. It’s entirely different when the bacon is on the inside!

when i say i like grapes and peanutbutter, people look at me like =OOOOOO WHATTT.
but it’s not weird at all really.
i mean, where do they think their grape jam is coming from, anyway? a smuckers tree that just spouts those easy squeeze bottles?

@tiffyandthewall It doesn’t?

@MissAnthrope said: The most exotic thing coming to mind right now is alligator. I’ve also had ostrich, bison, frog’s legs, and escargot, but I don’t think those are quite as exotic., which is pretty much the same thing I was going to say. My cousins used to serve fried rabbit on occasion, and I have tasted that too.

fish eye soup. they taste like peanuts that look back at ya.

I’ve never had anything weird, not even remotely weird. Being a vegetarian since age 15 has limited my opportunities, and after reading some of the above answers I’m pretty thankful for it.

C’mon @FutureMemory, just take a taste and live a little… ;-)

Rattlesnake a couple of times, in the So. California desert.
Jerk Pork in the Caribbiean.

Is it bad that many of the things that people here call exotic are foods which I encounter on a regular basis?

@Saturated_Brain naw, it just means that you enjoy life. The world is our buffet, and there is no time like the present to dig in. Remember, a hearty belch is compliments to the cook.

Peanut butter and bologna/baloney sandwiches.

@christine215 did you like jellyfish? I had it at a sushi bar a couple years back, i remember it being very bland. i liked the texture, there was just no flavor at all.
this is probably because a jellies body is >90% water

@FutureMemory thats not so, look at me and allies answers above, their are plenty of exotic fruits/vegies to try :)

I had jellyfish salad a few times before. Once it was at a Vietnamese place, prepared with some coleslaw-like shredded raw veggies, cilantro, a sort of viniagrette dressing and some rice crackers. It was really good and had a slightly chewy/crunchy texture. I had it again at a Chinese place and the sauce was kind of heavy… soy sauce and sesame oil. (I feel kind of cannibalistic talking about eating this, on this site :o).

I also really like head-on shrimp. The head has a juicy/ succulent texture which makes it the best part of the shrimp. You just suck out the contents of the head; you don’t have to eat the eyeballs.

I had blood sausage/ coagualated blood in a soup once. I’m not a huge fan. My grandma said that my great grandparents ate it in WW1 italy when they were desperately poor… I understand that, but likewise I wouldn’t eat this unless I had to.

I’ve had tripe a bunch of times. I don’t really mind it in other stuff when it’s just a little bit, but I had a dish recently that was like all tripe, and it’s tough for me to get around it mentally, the thought of eating intestines. It’s kind of chewy and flavorless, and weirdly spiky. textured on one side.

@Saturated_Brain No, it just means you’re Asian. ;)

@Haleth tripe is actually stomach.

MMM MMM mr cow, i wanna put yo stomach in mah stomach

@evelyns_pet_zebra Only in the middle east. Belch mostly anywhere else and they’ll probably kick you out of the restaurant. And there goes your meal!
@DominicX You Americans and your limited palates. One day I’m going to bring some Asian cuisine to the Fluther meetup for you uneducated peasants. =)

@Haleth Did somebody mention tripe? Mmm-mmm…

@uberbatman I don’t think jellyfish has much of a flavor of its own, it’s a great texture though, and takes on the flavors of the preparation

@christine215 Jellyfish is nature’s tofu. ;-)

Pigeon in Portugal. It was quite expensive and we were still hungry when we left the restaurant. No more pigeons for me.

I ate squab here once : http://joespekingduckhouse.com/
it was a special on the menu, not much to it, is there @mattbrowne

@uberbatman huh, thanks! I’ve been walking around with a totally wrong idea in my head this whole time. Stomach… that’s still kind of gross, but not worse than any other internal organ, I guess.