What weird foods do you eat? (revisited)

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SUMMARY

This discussion centers around unconventional food preferences, highlighting boiled peanuts as a common favorite among participants. Various methods for preparing boiled peanuts are shared, including a recipe using 1/4 cup of kosher salt per quart of water in a crock pot. Other unusual foods mentioned include eel sushi, pickled lamb tongues, and various game meats such as alligator and ostrich. The conversation emphasizes cultural differences in food perception, noting that what is considered "weird" in one region may be a staple in another.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of food preparation techniques, specifically for boiled peanuts.
  • Familiarity with cultural food variations and their significance.
  • Knowledge of common ingredients used in unconventional recipes, such as kosher salt and Zatarain's seasoning.
  • Awareness of food safety practices, especially when trying exotic meats like fugu and alligator.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the health benefits and preparation methods for boiled peanuts.
  • Explore recipes for Cajun boiled peanuts using Zatarain's seasoning.
  • Investigate the culinary uses and safety precautions for consuming fugu (puffer fish).
  • Learn about the cultural significance of various exotic meats in different cuisines.
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Food enthusiasts, adventurous eaters, and culinary professionals interested in exploring unconventional food combinations and cultural food practices.

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In reading https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=67979,#7", I was drawn to MIH's entry, about boiled peanuts
Math Is Hard said:
My fave: cottage cheese and A1 steak sauce on a baked potato.

Kerrie said:
pork rinds are pretty tasty to me, of course having grown up in the south accounts for that.

I used to wash those down with RC Cola or Sundrop. Ever eat boiled peanuts? We used to buy a huge sack of them from a roadside stand on long trips. I try to make them sometimes but I never get the salt just right.
I like boiled peanuts too (pronounced balled)!
Just made a pot of them yesterday.. Mmmmmm good eatin' :approve:
I put my raw peanuts in salt water(1/4c Kosher salt per quart water), brought them to a boil in a crock pot set to high and just let it go until the peanuts got to the right texture (soft but not mushy). It takes awhile to get enough salt flavor into the peanuts. If your boiled peanuts have reached the right texture but not salty enough; just shut off the heat and let it sit. The longer the peanuts sit in the salty water, the saltier they will become. If your peanuts are too salty, just dilute the brine with water. As long as you've shut off the heat, they shouldn't get any softer, but the salt will diffuse out of the peanuts into the diluted solution.

I haven't tried this yet, but did find some temping variations on the traditional recipe. Cajun boiled peanuts, add some "Zatarain's crawfish, crab and shrimp boil" seasoning to the salt water and simmer. Yummmmm :-p
 
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Boiled peanuts ain't weird!

In India, they are almost a staple snack. I grew up on b-p, and they're yummy!

Wiki says: "In India, Ghana, Nigeria, the Philippines, Indonesia and Salvador, Bahia, boiled peanuts are eaten as street food."
 
Gokul43201 said:
Boiled peanuts ain't weird!
My wife just boiled up a pack that she bought at the Chinese grocery.
 
I don't eat anything terribly weird. I like eel. That's about it.
 
TheStatutoryApe said:
I don't eat anything terribly weird. I like eel. That's about it.

I like eel too! One of my favorite forms of sushi - warm eel with eel sauce, and sesame seeds.

I had squid-on-a-stick in Japan. There was a festival, and a street vendor was boiling them outdoors, and putting them on sticks. Nice flavor, but a bit gummy.
 
signerror said:
I like eel too! One of my favorite forms of sushi - warm eel with eel sauce, and sesame seeds.

I had squid-on-a-stick in Japan. There was a festival, and a street vendor was boiling them outdoors, and putting them on sticks. Nice flavor, but a bit gummy.

Squid is so so. I've had some good octopus but not any squid that was worth mentioning. There is a little thai place next to my grandparents that makes a garlic squid I was meaning to try. When my friend bought it though it was a giant heaping portion and I seriously doubted I would eat so much.
Oh and there's calamari! I forgot about that.
 
Raw oysters...yum.
 
lisab said:
Raw oysters...yum.
That's not weird! That's good stuff.

I like Penrose brand pickled lamb tongues - either right out of the jar, or sliced up in a sandwich made on rye bread with horseradish and spicy mustard. I started taking the sandwiches to work after a couple of female co-workers complained that the whole lamb-tongues were "gross".
 
Fried bologna and peanut butter sandwiches are pretty good too :smile:.
 
  • #10
At one time or another I have surrounded the following:
Ostrich
Caribou
Alligator
Puffer fish (fugu)
Sea Cucumber
Buffalo
Horse

On my todo list
Armadillo
Camel

These aren't really weird, just unusual in my neighborhood. For weird, there's peanut butter, pickles and mayonaise. It's not a door, so you can try it before you knock it.
 
  • #11
Chocolate ants and guinea pigs. And Jimmy, I ate Armadillo once. Guinea Pig is better.
 
  • #12
Since the topic of weird foods has been raised...
I'm getting really sick of seeing Activia ads on TV. Bad enough that yogurt would gag a maggot; now they're bragging that it makes you **** too.
There are also the Cheese Whiz commercials. 'Adds personality.'??! Since when is 'personality' defined as an overwhelming urge to vomit?
 
  • #13
jimmysnyder said:
At one time or another I have surrounded the following:
Ostrich
Caribou
Alligator
Puffer fish (fugu)
Sea Cucumber
Buffalo
Horse

On my todo list
Armadillo
Camel

These aren't really weird, just unusual in my neighborhood. For weird, there's peanut butter, pickles and mayonaise. It's not a door, so you can try it before you knock it.


Nice list, Jimmy. For me:

Ostrich - no, but I would try it
Caribou - yes, tastes like Elk to me
Alligator - don't think so, but I would try it
Puffer fish - no, no way I would eat that, I love being alive
Sea cucumber - once, tastes like burning rubber, absolutely horrible
Buffalo - once or twice a week, it's wonderful
Horse - not to my knowledge :eek:

Armadillo and Camel - no, but I'd try them.

Just to add to the list - I've had rattlesnake. Tastes like salmon, a bit fishier though. Not very good, IMO.

And of course the usual game - duck, goose, deer.
 
  • #14
Sea cumbers are just flat out weird.
 
  • #15
Had alligator once.

I like toasted bread with some mayonnaise and some sliced meat as a snack.

I like ketchup on rice.

Where I live cow foot is delicious. Not everyone eats it but I love it.

Some eat cow tongue here.

I've tried tripe also, so so.

And something called mannish water. Tis everything on a goat into one soup. Not bad

Oh and lest I forget, delicious turtle!
 
  • #16
When I was a youngster I used to like striking matches and then eating the ends of them.I was a strange kid,I didn't use any seasoning.
I'm sure I was eating a cocktail of nasties so don't try it.
 
  • #17
I've had dried mopani worms (big fat grubs). Also, salted and dried fish.

My favourite snack that I like to eat on a regular basis (when i can get my hands on it) is biltong, a dried and salted meat (can be beef or game, even ostrich) traditional in South Africa.

I love ostrich, it's really high in protein and low in fat and has a mild game taste.

We eat french fries with mayo here (it took me a while to get used to)

I used to snack on a stick of celery dipped into the jar of peanut butter.

We eat chocolate spread on bread for breakfast here too, also pretty weird for me, but I like it!
 
  • #18
Hi there,

It's pretty amazing that what seems weird in some part of the world, is completely normal in others.

Around here, one of the weirdest food I came across is veal's head. You have to get over the name at first, and just dive into the soupy mixture. It taste very good, and gives a lot of a lot.

Cheers
 
  • #19
I don’t think this is as weird as yours, but I like for snack salted roasted almonds... some people I know just love roasted grasshopper, they say it’s really yummy
 
  • #20
jimmy has me beat.

I love blood sausage with calve's tongue, a nice pink tongue in the middle of the thick black blood. YUM!

I've had alligator, squirrel, dove (bony little things, don't know why people waste time eating them unless they have no other options)

I've eaten tripe, didn't like it.

I eat hearts and kidney's, liver, gizzards, love them.

Snails and frog legs are delicious. Baby octopus, cooked right, is yummy. It was a specialty at a small Italian restaurant I used to go to.

I've eaten eel sushi and did not like it. I ate some weird fermented stuff when I was in Japan that I had to spit out. I can usually tolerate anything, but whatever it was was too horrible to swallow.
 
  • #21
Evo said:
Baby octopus, cooked right, is yummy. It was a specialty at a small Italian restaurant I used to go to.
I had teriyaki baby octopus at my step grandmothers. It was pretty good.

Evo said:
I've eaten eel sushi and did not like it. I ate some weird fermented stuff when I was in Japan that I had to spit out. I can usually tolerate anything, but whatever it was was too horrible to swallow.
My step father says that apparently many japanese people do not even care for eel much. It has a strong oily fishy taste.
He also eats natto which is fermented soybeans. They are slimmy and gross looking. I've never had the stomach to even try it. Maybe this is what you tried? I am sure there are probably many other fermented foods in japanese cuisine.
 
  • #22
I've eaten haggis, which I like, but I'm unable to keep down. It mainly consists of sheep liver, heart and lung all mixed with suet and oats with various other spices all boiled in the sheep's stomach.
 
  • #23
Hot Dogs
Ramen Noodles
McDonalds
Burger King
Popeyes
KFC
 
  • #24
Cyrus said:
Hot Dogs
Ramen Noodles
McDonalds
Burger King
Popeyes
KFC

In-and-Out burger "animal style"?
 
  • #25
Kurdt said:
I've eaten haggis, which I like, but I'm unable to keep down. It mainly consists of sheep liver, heart and lung all mixed with suet and oats with various other spices all boiled in the sheep's stomach.
Ehehehe. You've got to watch Alton Brown haggis, "or you'll get the back of me hand!". The funniest episode he's ever done!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuixJaAia84
 
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  • #26
Urchin gonads(uni).

http://www.sushifaq.com/sushi-items/itemimages/uni1.jpg

The pinnacle of sushidom in my opinion.
 
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  • #27
As a kid I loved peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.

Also, baker's chocolate. How many people had mom slip them baker's chocolate without a warning?

I love tripe and chorizo

Have tried Emu, Buffalo, turtle.

On my first day on-site in Peru, I was served dessert after lunch. While the portions for lunch were pretty small pieces of some very tough meat [only the factory managers and guests got meat, and I don't think it was beef], the dessert was a respectably-sized piece of white cake with white icing, I thought - that is exactly what it looked like. But when I took a bite, I had a mouth full of cold mashed potatoes. Needless to say, I ate at the hotel after that.
 
  • #28
I agree that ostrich is very tasty. Uni is really yummy too, but you have to go to the right place, or it can be nasty if it isn't really, really, really fresh. Then again, I love any and all kinds of sushi.

I can't think of anything too weird that I've eaten though. Maybe other people would consider something I've eaten weird, but I've so far avoided things like bugs and parts of animals that can taste back. I do eat the green part out of lobster, which is very sweet, but haven't even had a lobster in ages...but that's probably something other people would consider weird.
 
  • #29
jimmysnyder said:
At one time or another I have surrounded the following:
...
Puffer fish (fugu)
...
uurrgh. Wouldn't go near fugu, after watching how they prepare it on TV.

Tried alligator though, nothing special. Also sea urchins freshly scooped out of the sea by some Frenchmen when I was on a holiday once when I was a kid (was disgusting).
 
  • #30
Cyrus said:
Hot Dogs
Ramen Noodles
McDonalds
Burger King
Popeyes
KFC

:smile:

...know I've mentioned it before, but a *particularly* horrific KFC "meal" inspired my daughter to turn vegan for a year...:eek:...she's since recovered.

Oh and if you ever want to know what it's like to eat about six weeks' worth of salt in one sitting, you need to try Popeye's Red Beans and Rice.
 

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