Hey, skin is delicious.
My sister gave me the Larousse Gastronomique and there are all kinds of recipes calling for unusual-to-modern-Americans ingredients. "Cut an oxtail into uniform pieces and put them into a casserole with 2 raw quartered pig's feet and a raw pigs ear."
Oh, re: skin—don't by your gribenes from a mohel. Too chewy.
Also also, "crispy ear" sounds pretty straightforward. It's an ear, and it's crispy. Were you asking about what particular animal it came from? Finally, are you saying you feeling more forward because of your sexy skirt or what? You had gas maybe?
On a recent trip to Spain, I realized that the Spaniards are up there for eating "gross stuff."
Following a quasi ritualistic killing of a pig (the Matanza) we ate, among other things, pig's heart, feet, ear, head, and of course, pig's blood pancackes. You know I'm not a big pork guy (not a big meat guy either) and I was just thinking . . . all this stuff tastes the same to me.
Chorizo of course is good, and then there was this dish where they compressed and cured the fat+skin of the pig. Gross. Pure grossness.
I bet heart is pretty tough and hard to cook right.
In Taiwan I had tendon and udder. Or maybe uterus. "Something a female pig has that a male pig doesn't have". The guy knew English pretty well, he just was being euphemistic I think. It was a prosperous family's New Years celebration and probably had ritual significance (fertility etc.)
None of the weird foods Chinese eat are poverty foods. (Potatoes and sweet potatoes are poverty foods). You pay a premium for chicken feet and dog meat.
Besides flavor, Chinese appreciate the textures of foods. And odd foods seem to be eaten for the experience, as a kind of macho adventure.
Oxtail is cow's tail, ben. Don't ask me why they call it oxtail, but it's fairly common in grocery stores down here.
But then, down here, pickled pigs feet are in the checkout isle next to the Wrigley's and Snickers.
I don't think I can come close to Ogged in my gastronical adverterousness. Myy "exotics" are pretty bland. Sweet shrimp, squid eye (accidental), and haggis. I didn't even have the bladder or stomach with the haggis (I did feel cheated about that, however).
Uh, I know what oxtail is. I've eaten and cooked it. I was thinking of the feet and ears. I also know how to spell "gastronomical" and "my".
I think the most unusual-type things I've eaten are raw squid and octopus, and tongue.
On a trip to Peru I had guinea pig and cow's udder, both grilled. I forget how we figured out that one of the items was guinea pig. The waiter signified "cow's udder" by mooing like a cow and miming breasts.
Udder, as it turns out, is extremely chewey, and quite bland, neither of which is that surprising.
There's a traditional Turkish dessert made from shredded chicken breast. It's a dessert, mind, but it really is made from not much more than chicken, milk, and sugar. A good version is like a very gelatinous pudding. A bad version is distinguished by the chicken's still being identifiable as such.
Until you've had dog soup, you're just a wuss.
BTW, on your update, just go to Joe's Shanghai, whose clientele is an interesting blend of actual Chinese and white people.
Chinese banquets can be a lot like Fear Factor, but without any chance of winning cash. I love me some Chinese food, but the problem with the banquets is that they're trying to impress. That usually involves lots of things exotic either in terms of materials involved or methods of preparation. And like John Emerson said, they're into "interesting" textures (say, like, what chewing rubber bands feels like).
Generally I've found that with regards to Chinese food, the more expensive the meal, the less I like it. There are not too many gross things they do with vegetables, so if you are or can convince them that you're a vegetarian, you'll have an easier time. Of course then you might miss out on some of the really delicious stuff too, as there are some diamonds in the rough of Chinese banquet food. Plus if you're banqueting with people who you have eaten with on less formal occasions, they may remember that you were shoveling down that gong bao chicken at that little place in the alley next to the railroad tracks.
But the biggest problem is that if you're the sole or one of the few big noses at the table, then everyone else will be watching you to see how you'll react, so it's hard to slip bits of gristle or lung or udder into your napkin without being caught. Plus it's considered obligatory for the host to keep piling food on everyone's plates, and to be polite it's nice to make a big show of how much you're eating and how much you enjoy it.
More generally, it's also considered polite to refuse food that's offered to you several times before you finally give in and eat it. This makes it very difficult to actually refuse food, since they think you're just being polite but that you really want it. And if you're new to this scheme and don't realize that they think you're bluffing, your blood pressure can rise precipitously as you wonder "why don't they get the f&*%in' message? I said NO!" while trying to maintain a polite demeanor.
Which is a very long way of saying that the weird food isn't really the problem, the pressure to eat it, lots of it, and pretend to enjoy it is the problem.
But okay, here are some of the least appetizing things I've actually eaten in China:
snake bile
ox penis soup -- I kept thinking "maybe they just mistranslated "tail" into "penis", but no such luck. Also, it may have swelled up some in the soup, but still, ox penises, which in the soup were sliced into thick rounds (in case you're thinking of trying this recipe at home) are ginormous. We're talking about some serious diameter here.
slices of cooked fish served in a heap on top of the skeleton of the fish they came from, the head and tail of which were still twitching.
ants fried onto toast -- basically like French toast, but after dipping the breadslice in the batter it's then dipped into a pile of ants and then deepfried; it didn't taste bad, but it was nothing special either, and seemed pointless.
raw shrimp -- unpleasantly liquidy, crunchy, and gelatinous all at once
raw crab -- similar
sea cucumber -- a group of friends and I got served this repeatedly over the course of a memorable Spring Festival stay in a family's home. We called it sea slug. Kind of like eating jellified smoked rubber.
This whole comment thread makes me want to puke. I'm more convinced than ever (my recent travels have helped out here, too) that I am meant to be vegetarian.
I give you ben w-lfs-n ladies and gentlemen:
I also know how to spell "gastronomical" and "my".
Oh, re: skin—don't by your gribenes from a mohel.
Finally, are you saying you feeling more forward . . .
Has ogged been f&*%ing with your comments again, ben?
I know how to spell "gastronomical" and "my", not "buy" and "you're".
If you think you already have, then you've got another thing coming.
Mitch's comment #20 begs the question: should that be "think"?
I'm not sure what you mean. Isn't it possible to make a joke without being accused of trolling? Or is that something only frequent commenters can do?
Obviously we've been reading the same posts, so there's
no reason to start those discussions up again (if that's what you think I was trying to do).
Oh, and just to prevent things from getting out of hand, see here and here, if you haven't already.
Channelling your inner Aussie, ben?
Oh, the topic.
- deep-fried crickets and grasshoppers in Thailand. Not too bad, but you would only eat them in order to say you ate them.
- bull's pizzle in Vietnamese restaurants anywhere. A bit rubbery.
- pig's testicles in Crete. I don't remember what they were like at all.
- coto mangkasara' in Makassar. It's a sour hot soup made with chunks of buffalo heart and other various bits of tubing, served with compressed rice cakes which taste quite a lot like soap. Although part of the bad association I have with it is that I ate one which had me spending the next week in the toilet, which I shared with a spider the size of a dinner plate.
There's a similar soup called konro with big bits of buffalo rib in it, which is quite tasty.
Tripe, skin, etc? They don't even register.
Oh, I tried to have that lamb's intestines-and-whatnot soup they serve on Easter in Crete, but, of course, the restaurants were packed, so I went hungry.
You went hungry, but the real question is, did you leave hungry.
I know the soup you're talking about, but I can't remember the name and the fiancee is siestaing right now so I can't ask her.
On the topic of Chinese people being willing to eat anything, I remember once as a kid joking about cooking our family dog (a large Siberian Husky). My mom (who is Taiwanese) commented that she didn't know any recipes for dogs of that size.
I'm still not sure if she was being serious.
Oh, and re: 24 and 25, that was probably an overreaction, but as someone who usually either seems to kill threads or at least end up posting the final comment before a thread dies, I was quite suprised to find someone thinking I was trolling.
Or maybe I was still thinking about these comments.
I was going to bitch at ben for his patronizing response to my obviously genuine and friendly attempts at aiding him, which resulted from what I now see as an innocent misunderstanding on my part caused by his sloppy writing, but instead I'll respond, "you ate the oxtail?" I didn't know people did that. Down here, AFAIK, it's used stricly to flavor stocks and soups.
It's a relife to know you weren't merely gnawing cartilage.
I am now reminded of this anectdote, which seems apropos (not that that's a prerequisite or anything). My friend is of Polish stock, her grandparents came over from the Old Country when her mom was a little girl. Her grandfather is a rather traditional sort and so is a big fan of various organ meats, but whenever her mom sees him eating said delicacies, she exclaims "We're in AMERica now, you don't have to EAT that crap anymore!"
Wow, that's some menu, people. The best I can do is pork brains, which I had scrambled in eggs. Wasn't really gross, though; just like salty sausage. I've tried chitlins and while they didn't taste bad, I couldn't really get past the smell. And I love fried chicken gizzards, which I think just goes to show that everything's good deep-fried.
Check out this recipe, eg. Not much meat per, but not much less than is on a ham hock, say.
Re: Ears- some fungi are referred to as ear- I believe it's Mu Er fungus, or tree ear, which are flat black rubbery things. But that's nowhere near as exciting as discussing animal parts.
I used to have a list of the different kinds of animals I've eaten, but it didn't go into which parts. I suppose snails might be a candidate for weird food.
My friend is of Polish stock
Is that made from oxtail?
HA!!
Sorry. Almost forgot, Mitch, thanks for your help in totally destroying the evil w-lfs-n, but, once knowing what you have eaten, I would never kiss you. Just sayin'.
Apos, I hope you got that recipe for deep-fried mac & cheese bars I left at your site.
Man, I haven't been totally destroyed.
We're in AMERica now, you don't have to EAT that crap anymore!
My sentiments exactly. I have a traumatic childhood memory of opening a pot to see a cow's head staring back at me. I can't be convinced that any part of that tastes better than a nice filet.
- pig's testicles in Crete. I don't remember what they were like at all.
How much ouzo did you HAVE?
the toilet, which I shared with a spider the size of a dinner plate.
Before you rented the room, did they tell you it was a "shared bath"? If not, you should have demanded a discount. But anyway that's cool, I had no idea spiders could be housetrained. Plus, she's just the right size once dinner time comes around.
but, once knowing what you have eaten, I would never kiss you. Just sayin'.
I'm shattered. I mean hell, if I had known this would be the result, I never would have bothered politely forcing all that crap down my gullet.
I have an awesome memory of walking through Athens' big meat market (almost literally wall-to-wall lambs hanging in halves), watching a woman directing a butcher who, with a mighty whack of his knife, cut open a lamb's head and revealing the branes [sic] inside, for the woman's later delectation.
It's not the ouzo on Crete, it's the raki.
Oh, and Mitch, Iranians also have those rules of ritual politeness, about, among other things, refusing food a few times before accepting. It's called tarof and it confuses the hell out of Americans (it's one of the things for which I really pity my girlfriends--past and future).
branes [sic]
Getting all pomo on us, ben? Are you sure that shouldn't be "(sic)"?
And this word "awesome", are you sure you know what it means? Anyway I'm just glad the brains were for her later delectation.
You're right about the raki, ben. I've never been to Crete and was just generalizing from the rest of Greece, which would probably be offensive to a Cretan. Which would probably be dangerous. Apparently they're all gun nuts there and outlandishly proud of everything Cretan. It's the Texas of Greece.
Also, the Easter lamb guts soup is magiritsa.
I like the spelling "branes" (and "brane" for the singular!). But if I let it go unremarked upon I'm sure one of you wiseacres would have done me the favor of remarking on it, damn your eyes.
re 48: in the north you can also get a kind of ouzo-like substance called tsipouro which has the great flavor of ouzo (well, I like the flavor of ouzo, but what tsipouro I had was certainly more raw-tasting) combined with all the headache-inducing properties of backyard-still raki.
Out of curiosity, how do you politely refuse food in China and Iran? Is it as simple as saying "no," a few more times, or is there no way to refuse food (besides claiming vegetarianism) without offending the host?
I love ouzo. The taste, sure, but also the fact that poured over ice (or with a little water added to it) it goes all milky/cloudy. Cool. I've had something very similar from Lebanon, but I can't remember what they called it.
As for "branes", can anyone corrected by you in the future just plead "but I like that spelling/grammatical construction/etc."?
how do you politely refuse food in China and Iran?
You don't. It's almost impossible not to give offense. With desert and fruit and such, you can get away with saying yes, taking some, and not really eating it, but main dishes, you gotta eat.
The clouding-up thing is apparently a property of many kinds or at least a certain class of liqueurs--I know Ricard does it as well.
As for your question, the answer is "no", unless the circumstances are correct.
In China, it's basically a matter of patiently refusing enough times. Sometimes it's easier to say okay and then not eat it or only eat a little. Once you've been clued in to what the deal is, it's not that hard to deal with, and it can be an amusing little ritual. It's just early on when you can't figure out why they keep asking you over and over and f*$&ing over that is causes stress.
Another confusing thing in China is that if you clean your plate or bowl (like mama brought me up to do), that's a sign that you want more. So the trick is to leave some food on your plate, which signals that you're full.
Also, unless you specifically request otherwise, rice comes at the end of the meal after you've eaten everything else, and you just eat it plain. Newly arrived honkeys always ask "where's the rice?" once the dishes start arriving (almost all dining is done "family style", i.e. with lots of smaller dishes shared by the whole table, not with everyone having their own entree).
Actually the "family style" helps somewhat in avoiding being force-fed things you don't like, as everyone basically serves themselves. Eager hosts will put food on your plate / in your bowl for you, but since there's so much activity going on with everyone reaching for food the whole meal (and talking and smoking), you can usually get away with just one showy taste of a particular dish and then leaving the rest on your plate till the end, where it can signify that you're full. It also helps to eat very very slowly so that your plate stays pretty full so the host doesn't feel compelled to refill it with more sea slugs. There's always the rice at the end to fill up on if nothing else was to your taste.
Judas, though, ate his rice with soup every morning.
The clouding has something to do with the anise oil that flavors ouzo and pastis and related drinks being more soluble in alcohol than in water. Adding water reduces the alcohol content and so the anise oil comes out of solution and forms tiny crystals that stay suspended in the ouzo and make it look cloudy. I think. Also, I think the Lebanese stuff was called arak.
Soupy rice is a popular breakfast item in China, too.
Yeah, it's arak. The Agha in Christ Recrucified is always drinking it.
But "branes" means something else altogether.
Soupy rice is a popular breakfast item in China, too.
That was one of my favorites growing up, along with duck's feet.
I used to really like pig's feet, too, but at a certain point it just started to seem, well, gross. Still tasted the same, though.
I could never get into the duck feet. Too much webbing. Although I'm not a big fan of chicken feet either.
One aspect of Chinese food that I and others have noticed is that there really is a big emphasis on textures and the tactile pleasures of eating compared to other cuisines I'm familiar with. For instance, one of the big attractions of chicken feet seems to be that all the little bones give you maximal opportunities for picking and sucking. The same with chicken wings. The practice in the States of taking the bones out of everything, even chicken wings, is pretty incomprehensible to most Chinese I met (they also say things with the bones left in taste better, and I agree).
"One aspect of Chinese food that I and others have noticed is that there really is a big emphasis on textures and the tactile pleasures of eating"
So that's why they like ox penis soup?
Around these parts the local gross traditional food is lutefisk.
Now, you might say Cod is a perfectly wholesome food, not gross at all. And you'd be right. But lutefisk is raw cod that is soaked for days in lye until it has the texture of gelatin. It also has the odor of rotten fish even after being baked.
The taste is actually very bland - mostly you taste the melted butter poured over it. The texture and odor are what do you in.
And lest anyone think a vegetarian dish spares you from grossness I will offer both Marmite, and also a 'cold soup' I had at a party once which was intentionally cold, had white broth like New England clam chowder, and had cold kernels of corn in it.
Philistines!
And lest anyone think a vegetarian dish spares you from grossness I will offer both Marmite, and also a 'cold soup' I had at a party once which was intentionally cold, had white broth like New England clam chowder, and had cold kernels of corn in it.
What the hell is wrong with Marmite? Or vegamite, for that matter?
Sounds like they were doing a corn-chowder version of vichysoisse. But you CAN do cold soup, damnit. Cucumber and yogurt, mayhap.
Crispy ear == fried pig ear. Not really any different than making cracklings from chicken skin.
I bet heart is pretty tough and hard to cook right.
Not really, not if you stew it. There's a perfectly wonderful Hungarian heart and kidney stew. And I know a perfectly spiffy Viennese tongue in white vino with green beans dish.
(Potatoes and sweet potatoes are poverty foods).
Yes, and the best food is peasant food. Haute cuisine is frequently a very rococo form of masturbation. (Cooking, not baking. Baking is different thing entirely from cooking.)
And odd foods seem to be eaten for the experience, as a kind of macho adventure.
Yes. Chinese haute cuisine. Although the high population puts a premium on using everything. I can't say much for *eating* pigs feet for instance but I can see how they would be useful, since hooves, when boiled, are basically solid gelatin. Which thickens soups (no other way to thicken soups - you need gelatin from somewhere, like tendons, or you have to use a thick milk product like cream or yogurt, or you have to basically puree some kind of veggies like potato - try to make a thick soup from onion sometime) and also jello. Heh heh. Jello == industrialized version of rendered pig's feet.
Apparently they're all gun nuts there and outlandishly proud of everything Cretan. It's the Texas of Greece. Also, the Easter lamb guts soup is magiritsa.
Thank you. Now I know what part of Greece to run away to. (But how do I get my truck over there?)
Something one hears a lot is, "That Chinese restaurant must be pretty good, I always see a lot of Chinese people in there." That seems exactly wrong to me. Chinese people will eat anything.
Yeah, so? There's a place here called Tong's which is about as low-rent as you can get in terms of cheesy 70's psuedo-chinese decor. Nonetheless the food is good, since it is the real thing. The only serious problem I ever had was with with a an orange pork thing I got once, which was charcoaled orange-strips in some kind of sugarbomb sauce. It wasn't bad, it was just too strong. Made my teeth hurt. Just gotta make sure to ask for chopsticks and extra spicy.
Anyways, I avoid eyes (too squishy for me), and bugs. Raw bugs are no good, so I'll pass on the cooked ones.
Snake and squirrel and buffalo and deer and lizard and gator oh, my! (Lizard not so good, mockingbird too greasy.) I will, like, eat anything. I like collard greens, dammit.
ash
['Now I'm all hungry.']
I have eaten:
pig's blood (yum)
blood pudding (yum)
chocolate-covered bees (yum)
haggis (eh)
marmite (vile, Tripp is right)
skin of all kinds (awesome if crispy; disgusting if soft)
calves' brains (in ravioli, very very good indeed)
oxtail soup (delicious)
roast suckling pig (incredibly delicious; i dream about the little pig with the apple in its mouth)
horse (not bad)
There is very little I wouldn't at least try. Dog and/or cat, I wouldn't try. I have killed, skinned, and cooked rabbit, though.
ash, collard greens are good. The fact that you like them does not prove you'll eat "anything." I can't believe you've eaten mockingbird, though. Yuck.
I imagine chocolate-covered bees as being like chocolate-covered raisins, except they taste like HONEY inside! Bitch, please do not disabuse me of my pleasing illusion that bees taste like honey.
pig's blood (yum) blood pudding (yum) skin of all kinds (awesome if crispy; disgusting if soft) oxtail soup (delicious) roast suckling pig (incredibly delicious; i dream about the little pig with the apple in its mouth)
Aye.
chocolate-covered bees (yum) calves' brains (in ravioli, very very good indeed)
Never had 'em.
haggis (eh)
Eh to that too.
marmite (vile, Tripp is right)
Bah. Beer and beer by-products are good!
horse (not bad)
It's pretty good. But people get UPSET. Which is strange. I guess it's cause milk comes from the freezer case.
There is very little I wouldn't at least try. Dog and/or cat, I wouldn't try.
I wouldn't, unless I was really hungry and then I guess I'm gonna have to eat my little buddy. I'd have to be really really damn hungry.
I have killed, skinned, and cooked rabbit, though.
Yes. Not as good as goat tho.
ash
['Goats are very useful.']
Having had goat (kid, actually) only once, I have to say: rabbit's better.
how can I resist!
deep fried scorpions on pastel colored rice crackers - China of course. What did it taste like? - crunchy, deep fried, belgian endive is the closest I can get to comparison - and at the same meal - the most delicious local spring 'vegetable' of steamed tree branch buds - cut on the diagonal - amazing delicate flavor of green. at a meal the day before - well - we have all had them, no? chicken feet - bad texture and PUHLEASE remove the claws - they would be a lot more palatable (did i spell that correctly?) without the claws
steamed octopus suckers at a sushi bar in tokyo - they look like thick contact lenses with built in cataracts. forget the soy sauce - these crunchy goodies are dipped quickly - on edge - in sea salt.
braised heart with prune and sage stuffing - you haven't lived until you try it - denmark
chocolate covered ants - I can only say - out if a can - on a dare from dad - not worth the bravado
Actually, surprisingly, I've never had goat. Those green-flavored tree branch buds sound like heaven. I would give a lot to try that.
Pseudonymous kid once cried when I accidentally ordered baby octupus for him instead of regular octopus at a sushi bar.
hi I think they should have chosen bull testacles!!!!!!!!!!!!
I missed this excellent thread.
I just wanted to say EWWWW! to almost everything here. I am plain boring American and I like my meat not to look like it came from an animal or any gooey parts.
I do like sushi, though. Just not eyeballs and entrails and things.
This thread is proof that my honey-filled bee hypothesis is at least a year old.