So I was browsing through OTC and noticed we don't have any threads dedicated to food. I figured this was a shame since food is an important aspect of life and culture that helps people connect with each other. Plus, we kind of need it to live. So I figured, why not start a thread to let people here talk about food related topics?
I'll start things off by asking this: what is the most "disgusting" food you ever ate and enjoyed despite its reputation?
Personally, I've eaten things like organs including chicken testicles, stinky fermented tofu, and most recently durians. And I've enjoyed all of them. Especially the durian. Maybe I'm just one of the people who isn't bothered too much by the smell, but it really is just as good as its fans claim. The taste really is remniscient of almonds too. Now I want to try eating it in a cake or icecream.
I think I'll disagree with the chicken comparison, but I agree that it's a milder taste than game rabbit. Not that I like either.
I really don't like the taste of rabbit. ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
Oh, bother.
It's not exactly one of my favorite meats either.
Speaking of unconventional meats, anyone here ever eat frog? There's actually a place near where I live in Taiwan that serves it along with other seafood dishes. It's really tasty.
Edited by M84 on Aug 26th 2018 at 11:04:05 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
I have had goat. Goat is good. Especially in a good stew pot. Speaking of which I have a big honking bowl of stew with my name on it for supper tonight. :3
Who watches the watchmen?
Oh, bother.
I've had stingray once. Very fresh stingray. As in, "they hacked it to death right in front of me while it was wriggling and a bit of its blood got on me" fresh.
Tasty, too.
One thing I haven't tried yet are insect foodstuffs. Though I have been curious about fried locusts.
Don't think I've ever had goat meat. Just goat cheese.
Edited by M84 on Aug 27th 2018 at 1:44:54 AM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Ants alive are tart. Crickets are ok as long as they are seasoned. Worms are weird and are better cooked if you can. Locust is kind of tasty dipped in chocolate.
Who watches the watchmen?
Frogs are something that I have never really thought about eating but would probably try out of curiosity if I saw it on a menu. I have always wanted to try goat.
The only 'non-standard' meats that I have ever tried are ostrich (very nice) and horse (when I was in Russia for a holiday as a teenager. I can't remember much a bout it other than the fact that I really liked it).
I do like Wild Boar sausages, especially with some sweet potato mash and fried onions.
Oh, bother.
Here at least we don't eat just any old frog. We eat the Chinese Edible Frog. Yes, that's its actual name. Its Chinese name 田雞 translates to "field chicken".
They are rather small compared to the frogs you find in the Western parts of the world. The place I mentioned fries and batters the legs akin to chicken wings (they are called field chicken after all) with a slice of lemon.
Edited by M84 on Aug 27th 2018 at 2:53:41 AM
Disgusted, but not surprised
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
That does sound nice.
Looking at the Wikipedia page on frog legs
there are a surprising number of countries that have them in their cuisine.
For future live ant eaters, you should only suck out the ants' bellies. The rest of the insect should be discarded. Also, eat one at a time. Ants are tenacious and vicious motherfuckers, having throngs of struggling ants biting your tongue and your esophagus' insides would quickly turn the experience from "tart" to "oh my God, let them out!".
Edited by Millership on Aug 28th 2018 at 1:26:03 AM
Spiral out, keep going.
Oh, bother.
Makes sense. Only a masochist would enjoy eating the hurty pointy bits.
I wasn't even aware people would eat them alive intentionally. When I think "ant eating" I think "honeypot ants on toast".
Edited by M84 on Aug 28th 2018 at 3:26:34 AM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Also, avoid bullet ants and the like. Those things have stings on their bellies, and they hurt.
Spiral out, keep going.
Oh, bother.
I imagine so. They aren't called Bullet Ants for nothing.
Disgusted, but not surprised
It's mostly just for the taste, though. I'm not aware if live ants even have any amount of nutritional value.
Edited by Millership on Aug 27th 2018 at 2:26:05 PM
Spiral out, keep going.
Oh, bother.
They do, but you gotta eat a lot of them. Insects in general are high protein and low fat foodstuffs.
My father tried horse once. He didn't recommend it, though I wonder if that had more to do with the recipe and quality of the meat than anything else. I'm always willing to try anything once.
Edited by M84 on Aug 27th 2018 at 4:25:48 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
MINE!
I had goat once with my family but none of us finished it because it tasted "as the animal reeks" so pretty much like a sweaty goat hide. I guess my grandma might've just prepared it wrong, is there a certain way to prepare goat meat?
I never had frog but it is high on my "to try"-list, but I have no idea what to expect it to taste like.
I never had pure horse meat, but had many Frikandel in the Netherlands (I live 5 minutes away from the boarder) and they often contain some horsemeat. I did have zebra meat once though at a mongol barbecue which was okay but I am not sure if they taste different from one another.
Oh, bother.
Did she make it into a stew?
Frog has a texture that feels like a mix between tender chicken and flaky white fish. It's got a nice mild flavor with a slight fishy aftertaste.
Disgusted, but not surprised
That depends on where he ate it. Central and North Asia are about the only regions that I know of who breed horses for their meat on a nation-wide scale (and even then it's mostly us, the Mongols, and the Uyghur. Maybe some nations on the North of China), so there's probability that the cook (and the butcher) didn't know some of the nuances.
Of course I imagine he wasn't an European cavalryman - they treated horses as the meal of second-to-last resort. And if you treat food like that, it never tastes well.
Edited by Millership on Aug 27th 2018 at 2:47:59 PM
Spiral out, keep going.
Oh, bother.
He ate it in France, so maybe that's why.
Disgusted, but not surprised
MINE!
She just roasted it in a pan. My sister brought it along from her job (she works in a butcher's shop) and no one knew what to do with it.
Frog sounds like it could be my kind of taste, I like fishy flavor, I eat fish at least once a week, usually at Friday because that's the day when dutch snack wagons are in the towns (I live in a very catholic region and thus Friday is fish day) Had some baked fish and a matjees last week.
Oh, bother.
Yeah, if you don't know what to do with a new ingredient, the first dish probably isn't going to turn out so well.
Herrings, eh? I don't think I've ever eaten them before. Anything like smelt or anchovies?
Edited by M84 on Aug 27th 2018 at 5:47:34 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Oh, bother.
NVM
Edited by M84 on Aug 27th 2018 at 5:49:32 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
My dad has cooked some goat recipes before but always replaced the goat with lamb or mutton so I have always figured it tasted similar. Is this correct?
Oh, bother.
Not for nothing does the Chinese name for goat share a word with sheep.
绵羊: sheep
山羊: goat
Disgusted, but not surprised
Cool thanks. It also combines two of my interests, food and etymology.
Domesticated rabbits taste mild like chicken. The wild ones are more of a mixed bag. Depends on what they were eating and how much.
Disgusted, but not surprised