Foreign food that scares me...

chainsaw · 02-23-2005, 03:34 PM

For my husband's birthday, he wanted to take a group of our friends out to Chinatown to "experiment" with foods we'd never usually try. If you're interested, here's some photos (in "Eric's 28th Birthday). It was an adventure. But thankfully, there were no casualties.

Anyone else have any unusual foreign food stories?

OnyxCougar · 02-23-2005, 03:54 PM

Tip from OC:

Know the language BEFORE you order food in a foreign country.

BrianR · 02-24-2005, 08:57 AM

Another note, Feel free to make random marks on a bill that is presented in Chinese and does not come with a translation into English.

If there are any people who were at the Joy Tsin Lau GTG way back when you should remember me doing just this in retaliation for the unreadable bill.

Brian

breakingnews · 02-24-2005, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianR

Another note, Feel free to make random marks on a bill that is presented in Chinese and does not come with a translation into English.

If there are any people who were at the Joy Tsin Lau GTG way back when you should remember me doing just this in retaliation for the unreadable bill.

Brian

Hey, be grateful: At dim sum at Ocean Harbour, more than once our waiters have missed a couple items because the bill was illegible in between the blobs of soy sauce and duck grease.

And yes, they are really writing out a character when they make those five marks indicating how many dishes you've had.

I haven't had too many bad experiences (I love food), but in western China I have a) watched a cat get cooked, and b) eaten turtle, snake and whole frogs in the same meal at some decrepit restaurant near the southwestern city of Kunming.

jaguar · 02-24-2005, 09:17 AM

Steak tartare and a couple of other raw red meat dishes took a little getting used to, love it now though. Lots of strange things in Vietnam but I doubt I could identify any. Snake was odd.

Beestie · 02-24-2005, 09:24 AM

I love steak tartare. I also had ostrich carpaccio in Toronto once (yummy!)

However, even *I* won't try whale anus sushi. It was offered once in a Hawai'ian sushi bar and I'll try anything once. Except that.

Dagney · 02-24-2005, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beestie

However, even *I* won't try whale anus sushi. It was offered once in a Hawai'ian sushi bar and I'll try anything once. Except that.

Brings new meaning to the usage of the phrase "this tastes like ass!" wouldn't you say?

chainsaw · 02-24-2005, 09:47 AM

My husband was sad that we couldn't order the birds nest soup that night. Yes, birds nest soup. They take a swallow's nest and boil it with some veggies and herbs. Their saliva, which is used to hold the twigs together, is supposed to be very tasty and high in some kind of vitamin. Only problems, it was $85! for 4 people and you had to order it the day before. I guess they have to go find a nest? They also had shark fin soup. I was curious, but my friend said it wasn't all that good. It too was $85. Geesh.

Trilby · 02-24-2005, 10:08 AM

I cannot freakin' believe people pay to eat the saliva of birds. What. Is. Going. On? Grossest thing I have ever eaten was a buffalo steak burger but only because I didn't know what it was. Toughest thing I"ve ever chewed thru. Yuck. Though it wasn't foreign food. I avoid things like that. Scared.

jaguar · 02-24-2005, 10:49 AM

birds nest soup is yummy!

Why anyone would pick the anus of a whale to make sushi out of makes my head ache.

Trilby · 02-24-2005, 10:59 AM

Well, you just ate bird's nest soup, so it can't be a huge leap to eat whale anus.

glatt · 02-24-2005, 11:54 AM

I ate tongue soup in Germany. I was expecting chunks of tongue in a thick soup with vegetables and stuff. What I got was a bowl of thin clear broth with a big whole tongue sitting in it staring at me. The part that grossed me out was that as I cut off pieces, and put them in my mouth, I could feel the taste buds of the cow rubbing against my own taste buds. Kind of felt like I was licking a cow's tongue. And I was, basically. I had eaten tongue before, sliced, on a sandwich, and it was good that way, but I wouldn't recommend the tongue soup in the student cafeteria at Albert Ludwigs University. I finished it though.

wolf · 02-24-2005, 12:35 PM

There are a lot of scary foreign foods out there. Tongue, chicken feet, blood pudding ... but I think some of the most insidious are those in which the frightening ingredient is disguised in some way ... ground, sliced, or gussied up to the point where you can't tell that it's from an unpopular part of the animal.

We have plenty of domestic frightening foods too ... some of which I even really enjoy.

Like Scrapple. yummmmmmmmmm.

However I do shun many of the other Pennsylvania Dutch Delicacies, including headcheese and souse.

melidasaur · 02-24-2005, 12:43 PM

I went to Sweden two summers ago and for one of our dinners, we were served a plate of cold fish products - pickled herring, smoked salmon, other cold, slimey fish bits. I liked the smoked salmon, but that was about it. It was a weird assortment of cold fish. I don't like cold fish.

I tend to think that all Chinese food is dirty, so I try to avoid it at all costs. I know that is a stupid thing to think, but I can't help it.

glatt · 02-24-2005, 12:57 PM

Headcheese. Yuck. When you are a kid, you have to eat what the parents feed you. I haven't had headcheese in over 25 years.

02-23-2005, 03:34 PM	#1
chainsaw Wingnahningning... Er somethin' Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: 90802 Posts: 368	Foreign food that scares me... For my husband's birthday, he wanted to take a group of our friends out to Chinatown to "experiment" with foods we'd never usually try. If you're interested, here's some photos (in "Eric's 28th Birthday). It was an adventure. But thankfully, there were no casualties. Anyone else have any unusual foreign food stories? __________________ I have no life, so I watch movies.

02-23-2005, 03:54 PM	#2
OnyxCougar Junior Master Dwellar Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Kingdom of Atlantia Posts: 2,979	Tip from OC: Know the language BEFORE you order food in a foreign country. __________________ Impotentes defendere libertatem non possunt. "Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

02-24-2005, 08:57 AM	#3
BrianR Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,338	Another note, Feel free to make random marks on a bill that is presented in Chinese and does not come with a translation into English. If there are any people who were at the Joy Tsin Lau GTG way back when you should remember me doing just this in retaliation for the unreadable bill. Brian __________________ Never be afraid to tell the world who you are. -- Anonymous

02-24-2005, 09:17 AM	#5
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	Steak tartare and a couple of other raw red meat dishes took a little getting used to, love it now though. Lots of strange things in Vietnam but I doubt I could identify any. Snake was odd. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

02-24-2005, 09:24 AM	#6
Beestie -◊\|≡·∙■·∙≡\|◊- Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Parts unknown. Posts: 4,081	I love steak tartare. I also had ostrich carpaccio in Toronto once (yummy!) However, even I won't try whale anus sushi. It was offered once in a Hawai'ian sushi bar and I'll try anything once. Except that. __________________ ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

02-24-2005, 09:47 AM	#8
chainsaw Wingnahningning... Er somethin' Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: 90802 Posts: 368	My husband was sad that we couldn't order the birds nest soup that night. Yes, birds nest soup. They take a swallow's nest and boil it with some veggies and herbs. Their saliva, which is used to hold the twigs together, is supposed to be very tasty and high in some kind of vitamin. Only problems, it was $85! for 4 people and you had to order it the day before. I guess they have to go find a nest? They also had shark fin soup. I was curious, but my friend said it wasn't all that good. It too was $85. Geesh. __________________ I have no life, so I watch movies.

02-24-2005, 10:08 AM	#9
Trilby Slattern of the Swail Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 15,654	I cannot freakin' believe people pay to eat the saliva of birds. What. Is. Going. On? Grossest thing I have ever eaten was a buffalo steak burger but only because I didn't know what it was. Toughest thing I"ve ever chewed thru. Yuck. Though it wasn't foreign food. I avoid things like that. Scared. __________________ In Barrie's play and novel, the roles of fairies are brief: they are allies to the Lost Boys, the source of fairy dust and ...They are portrayed as dangerous, whimsical and extremely clever but quite hedonistic. "Shall I give you a kiss?" Peter asked and, jerking an acorn button off his coat, solemnly presented it to her. —James Barrie Wimminfolk they be tricksy. - ZenGum

02-24-2005, 10:49 AM	#10
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	birds nest soup is yummy! Why anyone would pick the anus of a whale to make sushi out of makes my head ache. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

02-24-2005, 10:59 AM	#11
Trilby Slattern of the Swail Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 15,654	Well, you just ate bird's nest soup, so it can't be a huge leap to eat whale anus. __________________ In Barrie's play and novel, the roles of fairies are brief: they are allies to the Lost Boys, the source of fairy dust and ...They are portrayed as dangerous, whimsical and extremely clever but quite hedonistic. "Shall I give you a kiss?" Peter asked and, jerking an acorn button off his coat, solemnly presented it to her. —James Barrie Wimminfolk they be tricksy. - ZenGum

02-24-2005, 11:54 AM	#12
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I ate tongue soup in Germany. I was expecting chunks of tongue in a thick soup with vegetables and stuff. What I got was a bowl of thin clear broth with a big whole tongue sitting in it staring at me. The part that grossed me out was that as I cut off pieces, and put them in my mouth, I could feel the taste buds of the cow rubbing against my own taste buds. Kind of felt like I was licking a cow's tongue. And I was, basically. I had eaten tongue before, sliced, on a sandwich, and it was good that way, but I wouldn't recommend the tongue soup in the student cafeteria at Albert Ludwigs University. I finished it though.

02-24-2005, 12:35 PM	#13
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	There are a lot of scary foreign foods out there. Tongue, chicken feet, blood pudding ... but I think some of the most insidious are those in which the frightening ingredient is disguised in some way ... ground, sliced, or gussied up to the point where you can't tell that it's from an unpopular part of the animal. We have plenty of domestic frightening foods too ... some of which I even really enjoy. Like Scrapple. yummmmmmmmmm. However I do shun many of the other Pennsylvania Dutch Delicacies, including headcheese and souse. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

02-24-2005, 12:43 PM	#14
melidasaur Traded your soul for pogs. Join Date: May 2004 Location: Champaign, IL Posts: 646	I went to Sweden two summers ago and for one of our dinners, we were served a plate of cold fish products - pickled herring, smoked salmon, other cold, slimey fish bits. I liked the smoked salmon, but that was about it. It was a weird assortment of cold fish. I don't like cold fish. I tend to think that all Chinese food is dirty, so I try to avoid it at all costs. I know that is a stupid thing to think, but I can't help it. __________________ I love England, what can I say?

02-24-2005, 12:57 PM	#15
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Headcheese. Yuck. When you are a kid, you have to eat what the parents feed you. I haven't had headcheese in over 25 years.

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