From galang%lessa.UUCP@mathcs.emory.edu Thu Jul 28 07:18:23 1994 Return-Path: galang%lessa.UUCP@mathcs.emory.edu X-Mailer: Z-Mail (3.1.0 22feb94 MediaMail) To: adam at xent dot com Subject: weirdfood Cc: leigh@harpo.grdl.noaa.gov, mineccipc@smithkline.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Mime-Version: 1.0 I thought you might get a kick out of this file. It has some interesting viewpoints. All below included ------------------ List of Weird and Disgusting Foods Last updated: July 15, 1994 Thanks to all for submissions. All are invited. This list began as a discussion in rec.food.cooking, 16 Jun 1994. I HAVE A THEORY that many (all?) cultures invent a food that is wierd or disgusting to non-initiates as a sort of a "marker." The kids start out hating it, but at some point they cross over and perpetuate it (perpetrate it) on the next generation. Then they nudge each other when foreigners gasp. Many cultures pride themselves on their alcoholic drinks, as in "white lightning," mai-tai, tequila, pulque, chong, vodka, schnapps, and so on. You are accepted if you can match their prowess. Sometimes one group disparages another for their eating habits, as in the word "Eskimo" (eater of raw meat) resented by the people whose name for themselves is "Inuit." I believe the food laws of Middle Eastern cultures have more to do with distinguishing your group from the neighboring groups than with health concerns or sacred scriptures, which adapted to the cultural norms. Foods don't make it onto this list just because they are generally unpopular. President Bush hated broccoli. So what? Foods on this list have some status as a cultural marker. Sometimes it's a tough call. For example, "donuts" (doughnuts, originally "oly cakes") are distinctly American, and I've met many French people who despise them. Chacun a son gout (They gave my son gout) as they say. Do they qualify as "weird-disgusting" or not? Peanut butter was invented in America, widely reviled in Europe. What do you think? I think it stands as a bit of Americana. Cary Grant once ordered a peanut butter sandwich in New York's 21 club. Thomas Hamilton comments that USers are actually unusual in eating so *few* parts of an animal, so the fact that, say, the French eat brains isn't really a cultural marker. The marker is that USers don't. From: tth@astro.caltech.edu (Thomas Hamilton) Don't bother to respond "But lots of people like X"... that's exactly the point. That's why "X" is ON the list, not off it. See also the entry below for FRUITCAKE. Here's my list so far. What can you add? (It's arranged roughly geographically, going east from longitude 0) England: warm beer, blood pudding, jellied eels, Spotted Dick, liver and lights, kidney pie, brawn Scotland: haggis, Irn Bru Sweden: head cheese Norway: lutefisk Denmark: yule brod (ale brod) France: escargot, tripe, frog's legs, bleu cheese, roquefort, steak tartare, brains, truffles, camel's feet, boudin Spain: criadillas, morcillas European Jews: schmaltz, gefilte fish, kishke Germany: limburger, bierkase, blutwurst Italy: Cynar and Campari liqueurs, carpaccio, cibreo, song birds, gorgonzola Greece: retsina Sicily: ricci di mare Sardinia (?): maggot-cheese Mediterranean: Sheep's head. The whole thing, cooked and skinned. Includes the eyeballs. Cheese (what a concept!) octopus, cicada, octopus and squid in ink Russia: borscht, kvass, caviar Africa: blood fresh from living livestock, grasshoppers, okra, fufu, gari Central Asia: kumiss (fermented mare's milk), yogurt, sheep fat China: bird's nest soup, sea cucumber, jellyfish, rat, snake, drunken shrimp, jelled blood, bear paws, cho do fu, tiger testicles, owl soup, thousand-year eggs, sa kuo yu toe, fish flotation bladder, bao bing (shaved ice), pork uterus, camel (and cow) tendons, oyster sauce Tibet yak milk (rancid), tea with yak butter Southern India: blazing curry Burma: a MAE oo, ngapi-jaw Hong Kong?: monkey brains Southeast Asia: durian, fermented fish-paste, dog meat, snakes, ngapi-jaw, bull penis, sour candies Thailand: kapi, grasshoppers Indonesia: blachan, dog-meat restaurants Philippines: baalut Australia/NZ: Vegemite, Marmite, kangaroo, witchety grub Papua-New Guinea: sago worms Korea: kim chee Japan: fugu, natto, sashimi, shiokara, tofu, miso, uni, mountain potato, seaweed, takosu, takoyaki, tempeh Hawaii: poi Arctic Alaska: blubber U.S. in general: Spam, chewing gum, iceberg lettuce, bread, beer U.S. Northwest: geoduck clams U.S. West: prairie oysters, fried pork rinds, blood-rare steak, rattlesnake U.S. Midwest: White Castle Sliders, Jell-O Salad, fruitcake, American Cheese Food Product, such as Velveeta, in Fried Cheese Balls U.S. South: grits, crawfish, hog maws and snouts, etc dropped fowl, chicken feet, chitterlings, iced tea U.S. East: souse. pork loaf U.S. Northeast: scrapple, cod liver oil, pumpkin pie, raw oysters, lobster, fiddlehead ferns Mexico: tequila worms, menudo, habanero & jalapeno peppers, mole, chichirrones (CHITTERLINGS), ceviche Brazil: gari Agentina: morcillas Iceland: hakarl The following glossary of explanations is alphabetically arranged. A MAE OO (Burma) see CHITTERLINGS. From: Michael Khaw AMERICAN CHEESE (U.S. Midwest) often labeled FOOD PRODUCT as if that were going to reassure you. BAALUT (Philippines) How about that great delicacy of the Philippines.....Baalut....You take a fertilized duck or chicken egg, bury it in the ground for a few weeks and then enjoy. Also known as "the treat with feet" or "the egg with legs". Best enjoyed after many, many, many beers. From rtf@us.ksr.com. (Dick Francis) BEER (U.S.) The ultimate degradation of one of the oldest prepared foods in human history (see BREAD). The U.S. brewing industry uses the term "lawnmower beer" for the largest segment of its market, with obvious disdain for any texture or flavor properties. BIERKASE (Germany) strong-smelling cheese made with beer yeast (?) BIRD'S NEST SOUP (China) Made from the nest of a particular kind of cave/cliff swallow. The swallow secretes a substance from a gland similar to a salivary gland to spin the nest. khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) BLACHAN (Indonesia) see NGAPI-JAW BLOOD, FRESH (Africa) some tribes subsist largely on milk and the fresh blood drawn from the neck veins of livestock. BLOOD, JELLED (China) Duck or pig blood; looks like jello, but opaque and salty. BLOOD PUDDING (England) BLOOD SAUSAGE (Germany and many others) If you want to put your SO or flat mate off their meal, try putting some blood pudding/sausage/polser in with some baked beans. Skin the sausage first. The sausage should gradually disolve as the fat melts leaving you with a dark brown crusty glop, with lumps in it. It tastes great on buttered toast. I usually add a drop of milk, and a little cheese at the end of cooking (15mins or so). -- Alan Deacon (User Services) Email: a.deacon@ucl.ac.uk BLUBBER (Arctic Alaska) raw fat from sea mammals BLUTWURST (Germany) blood sausage BORSCHT (Russia) soup, especially the one made from beets, often served cold, with sour cream floating on it. Why is that weird? BOUDIN (France) Blood sausage BRAINS (France and many others) in many recipes BRAWN (England) see Head Cheese BREAD (U.S.) Is there any other country where such basic foods are so fundamentally repulsive? Have a Velveeta on White with a Bud Lite! BULL PENIS (Asia) CAMEL'S FEET (France) It's not really fair to include this as French, but my favorite recipe from the Larousse Gastronomique is _Pieds_de_chameau_ _a_la_vinaigrette_ (camel's feet). It begins "Soak the feet of a young camel..." You'll find it just before the recipe for camel's hump. CAMEL TENDONS (China) These are much better than those cow tendons, I was assured by a chauvinistic northern Chinese friend. From: tth@astro.caltech.edu (Thomas Hamilton) CAMPARI (Italy) bitter liqueur CEVICHE (Mexico et al.) raw fish marinated in citrus juice overnight. "Cebiche is the traditional dish of the Mexican coastal towns, where it takes many different guises, the ingredients being as varied as the people that prepare it. Red snapper is the most popular fish used, but cod and haddock can be used instead. " From tday@netcom.com (Tony Day) CHEESE (Mediterranean) An ancient invention, but weird to many other cultures. ... Some comedian did a _disgusting_ routine about cheese... "Cheese is made out of the milk of mammals, right? Goat cheese, sheep's milk cheese. How about dog cheese? Human cheese?" >gack< From: Andrew Lewis Tepper CHEWING GUM (U.S.) Originally made from chicle, the sap of a Central American tree. Now made with PVA (polyvinyl acetate) plastic, sugar (or artificial sweetener), flavors and colors. Some Europeans characterize Americans as dim-witted ruminants because of this habit, which nonetheless spreads worldwide. Should this even be in rec.food or should it, like betel- chewing, be discussed elsewhere? CHICKEN FEET (U.S. South and many others) in soup, pickled whole CHITTERLINGS ("Chitlins") (Southern U.S.) Classic ethnic dish, served with hot pepper sauce. Can be either fried or boiled. True story: I thought it would be funny to get an extremely picky friend to eat these. We went to a soul food restaurant where I had specifically requested them ahead of time. I wouldn't tell him what they were. A _very_ old black man was sitting at the counter, enjoying a plate of chitterlings himself. Conversation went like this: Old man: Youns boys like chitlins' huh? My friend: Never had them. They smell kind of strange. Old man: Thems good food. Ain't _nothin_ wrong with hog intestine. My friend: (Turns green). From: Andrew Lewis Tepper ... Amazing what Mexican street vendors will make into ice cream. They even had some fried pork rind ice cream, one of the few flavors I declined to sample. >From andersod@pc007.nafb.trw.com (darren anderson) CHO DO FU (China) see TOFU CIBREO (Italy) Cock's combs (the wattly stuff on a male chicken's head, not the plant): reputedly a classic Tuscan dish. I looked for it in Florence (not real hard), but didn't find it. I think it's "cibreo" in Italian. From: khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) CICADA (Mediterranean) This is an OLD story, but irresistable... The French entomologist Henri Fabre reports eating roasted cicada larvae, caught as they were surfacing to morph. Apparently Aristotle said that this was a delicacy. Although it did not taste too bad, Fabre concluded that Aristotle, with his fantastic record on experimental science, was probably tricked by some rural farmer's opinion. >From shimpei@leland.Stanford.EDU (Shimpei Yamashita) COD LIVER OIL (U.S. Northeast) more medicine than food, but eaten for its huge vitamin A content. Polar bears absorb so much vitamin A that their livers contain deadly concentrations, and indigenous people know better than to eat the liver. It killed explorers. CRIADILLAS (Spain) prairie oysters; the testicles of bull. (If I remember correctly, the Spanish say "Como tu comes, tu eres" -- "You are what you eat." From: Risa.Horowitz@Corp.Sun.COM (Risa D. Horowitz) CYNAR (Italy) bitter liqueur made from artichokes. Have you ever left artichokes steaming so long that they go dry and burn the pan, then you soak it desperately to clean it, creating a vile-smelling brown liquid? Tastes, smells, and looks just like that. CURRY (Southern Indian origin) DOG MEAT (Southeast Asia) DRIED FISH (China) Various kinds of dried, salted fish are popular in East Asia. One particular Chinese dish is made with ground pork and dried fish, steamed. Delicious, but one of my Caucasian friends says it smells like dirty socks and won't go near it. khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) DROPPED FOWL (U.S. Kentucky) Hang up a fowl by the neck to age until it's ripe enough that the weight of the carcass makes it fall off the head. (I've only read about this.) khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) DRUNKEN SHRIMP (China) Live shrimp swimming in a bowl of rice wine. You capture them with your chopsticks and bite the head off. I think you're also supposed to eat the head. DURIAN (Southeast Asia) Why is this the longest section in the document? Because I love the whole idea of durians. More than anything else, they gave me the idea, the motivation, and the strength to undertake this project. -- Ray Bruman A fruit as big as a football, covered with tough spiky skin. The pulp is pale yellow, with shape and consistency of raw brains. Smell has been compared to rotting flesh, old gym socks, or sewage. Yet the taste has been called so exquisite that a European explorer of the 1700's claimed it was worth the journey to experience it; "the King of fruits." Many believe it aphrodisiac and hold durian-eating parties. Most hotels, etc forbid it on the premises. In U.S. cities with an Asian neighborhood, you can find it as fresh/frozen fruit, or at least find cookies, candies, and flavor extracts, if you're curious. In Malaysia, a friend of mine witnessed someone on a bus grab another person's durian and throw it out the window, after another passenger threw up. ... In Malaysia they don't even allow you to carry one in a rental car. Special stickers on the car, kinda like no smoking ones, tell you you will be fined for having one in the car! >From gudrun@winston.engr.sgi.com (Gudrun Achtenhagen)-- ... Durians - there are many many varieties. Some more pungent, others more fragrant and others thoroughly insipid. BTW it is eaten fresh as a fruit, with coconut rice (lemak) and also fermented as a side dish. >From patchong@leonis.nus.sg (Chong Angela) ... The way I made myself to start eating durian was that I forced myself to eat the whole good clove durian. You will feel disgusting to eat it at the beginning. But once you have tried the whole good clove, you will fond of it. >From klo@sol.UVic.CA (Keith Lo) ... Reading the past few articles just reminded me of the way I reacted to certain _strong_ smelling cheese when I was visiting my friends in Europe... the same way that some of you reacted to the smell of durian. :) >From khyeo@acs.ucalgary.ca (Karen Khim Hwa Yeo) ... Of all the durians you should try is the "sampa durian" or wild durian. These are usually found growing in the wild and not in some plantation. When I was serving with the army, the training areas are littered with many sampa durian trees. These durians are smaller, more pungent and sweeter. Durians cannot be plucked. You have to wait for them to fall of the tree. When they fall, don't be under them :-) The platoon usually hunt for fallen durians when they go to training areas. First you smell their presence and try to locate them. Finally you see them, pick them up and pry them open. There may be some maggots and worms already eating it, but what the heck, we eat the non-infested pulp. It is all worth it. When the military exercise ends, the training grounds are littered with empty durian shells. A sure sign that the Singapore Armed Forces have been here :-) -- Jin Ngee, Chia Chemical Carcinogenesis Laboratory (Genie, the OligoMan) Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology mcblab47@leonis.nus.sg National University of Singapore Tel: (065)772-3797 Kent Ridge Crescent Fax: (065)779-1117 Singapore 0511 ... Durian is the King of Fruit. You should all be so lucky to have access to Durian. If there are gods, the gods eat Durian. I would rather eat Durian than pizza. However, to keep all in perspective, I would rather have sex than eat Durian. But Durian is definitely second on my list. From aramirez@agsm.ucla.edu (Alice Ramirez) EELS, JELLIED (England) ESCARGOT (France) garden snails FAT (Central Asia) The fat from the haunches of sheep bred especially for the fat. Served cooked to honored guests. (Wasn't there also an episode of "All Creatures Great & Small" in which an English farmer served a breakfast featuring mostly sheep fat to express his gratitude to the vet.?) khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) FIDDLEHEAD FERNS (U.S. Northeast) These are the sprouting, curled tops of new ferns, which resemble the head of a violin. They are eaten as a springtime vegetable. Unusual, but is it so wierd? FISH FLOTATION BLADDER (China) that fish use to control their buoyancy. Chinese cooking uses this for a soup. It's pretty good, actually: sort of spongy. From: khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) FISH PASTE, FERMENTED (Southeast Asia) shrimp or anchovy paste. Traditionally, you piled up a mound of the critters with salt mixed in and let it sit outdoors until it was thick with flies. Modern production techniques are said to be much more sanitary. khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) ... Thai "fish sauce" is absolutely revolting - you take a barrel of fish and salt and let it set in the sun. Now and then you press a board down on the top and collect liquid dribbles out a hole in the bottom. From: wombat@kilimanjaro.engr.sgi.com (Joan Eslinger) ... Southeast Asian fermented fish is more important than many realize. Adding sugar, tamarind, and marketing savvy produced the deliberately misnamed Worcester sauce. Adding sugar and tomato paste produced the world conquering Ketjap/Catsup. From: tth@astro.caltech.edu (Thomas Hamilton) FRIED CHEESE BALLS or CHEESE STICKS (U.S. Midwest) Don't forget the dreaded deep fried cheese product. I was stunned the first time I saw that on an Iowa menu. From: tth@astro.caltech.edu (Thomas Hamilton) FRUITCAKE (U.S. Midwest and Northeast) Building material with embedded aggregate of bright green and scarlet transparent substances. macleod@adoc.xerox.com (Peter MacLeod) writes: > Joanne Spetz (jojo@leland.Stanford.EDU) wrote: > : Curtis Jackson wrote: > : >}U.S. Midwest: White Castle Sliders, Jell-O Salad, fruitcake, > : >} American Cheese Food Product, such as Velveeta > : > > : >Fruitcake is not bizarre! > > : Oh, I think if you described this dark brown thing with fluorescent > : fruit thingies in it to someone NOT from the U.S., they'd think it > : was pretty gross. A lot of people in the U.S. think it's gross. > > No, no..you're describing BAD fruitcake. > > It's easy enough to make a disgusting version of anything-- > just eat at The Good Earth for a demonstration. This illustrates one of the subtleties of rec.food.weird-disgusting. Some things make the list regardless of the skill and care with which they were prepared. You wouldn't be convinced by this exchange: "My God! They had live puppies in a cage, and we were supposed to.." "Oh, that wasn't a good restaurant. You see, the cook should..." "Oh, I see. Well, we'll give it another try when we go back there." Other things make the list precisely because they are rendered so poorly. For example, it has been suggested that American bread and beer are hideously over-qualified for the list, although most cultures don't find bread and beer disgusting. Au contraire. Fruitcake may be a borderline substance. The "bad" version is legendary in American culture, and mocking it is a Christmas tradition in our journalism. Hence, I count it as a cultural marker. ---Ray FUFU (Africa) Many West Africans have strong loyalty to their native fufu. It is made from pounded yam and is eaten in slimy balls without chewing, normally with a spicy peanut sauce. It is a strong identity issue, notably in Ghana. From: tth@astro.caltech.edu (Thomas Hamilton) FUGU (Japan) blowfish, with an organ containing a toxin so deadly that only specially licensed chefs are allowed to prepare it. Supposedly it is the delicious flavor, not the macho thrill, that draws consumers. ... I noticed a little physical buzz, but that might easily have been psychological rather than physiological. Certainly the danger is part of the appeal. -- Jonathan Lundell jlundell@opus.com ... I read that fugu poison kills by paralyzing the muscles (including the lungs), but does not make the victim lose consciousness. Imagine being wide awake but completely unable to move or speak as you count off the seconds until you suffocate. >From dcd@se.houston.geoquest.slb.com (Dan Day) Kills about 300 in Japan per year according to Mac Clancy in _Consuming Culture_. But people keep eating it. -- Susan Hattie Steinsapir GARI (West Africa and Brazil) Grated cassava root. Somewhat like poi. GEFILTE FISH (European Jews) poached balls of ground fish, mixed with ground onions and maybe ground carrots, salt, pepper, sugar (depending on where yourfamily comes form), and then boiled. Often in a fish broth, but not always. The only disgustin gpart (in my opinion) is that some people (not me) like to make a jelled broth, like with the bones. The ironic thing is that in yiddish this jelled stuff is called yuch. Actually, that's the yiddish word for broth, but it just always struck me funny in this particualr context. Juli Shanblatt GEODUCK CLAMS (U.S. Northwest) big clams with a huge long neck. Very popular, just looks wierd. Often called "Gooey Duck." ... You forgot to mention their real charm -- the "huge long necks" bear an uncanny resemblance to an obscenely oversized penis, including the head and a hole at the end from which water oozes. >From dcd@se.houston.geoquest.slb.com (Dan Day) GORGONZOLA (Italy) ripe stinky cheese GRASSHOPPERS (Africa, Thailand) fried in oil. Good and good for you. GRITS (U.S. South) cereal made of hominy (blanched white corn meal) HABANERO PEPPERS (Mexico) bright green, much hotter than jalapenos ... Sure, just like a forest fire is "much hotter" than a summer's day. I have an habanero pepper plant, and they're best treated like plutonium. From dcd@se.houston.geoquest.slb.com (Dan Day) HAGGIS (Scotland) sheep's stomach, stuffed with oatmeal and steamed A more accurate definition would be: "a highly spiced sausage made from offal meats with oatmeal filler, traditionally in a casing made from a sheep's stomach." From: Lyndon Watson HAKARL (Iceland) Brian Leibowitz (bml@netcom.com) wrote: : And you forgot one that I have tried (and survived) - - - HAKARL !!! : this is an old posting about it: : -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= : Well the Icelandic delicacy is HAKARL (Somniosus microcephalus) Greenland : shark. The hakarl is poisonious when it is fresh. The production process : does not include any peeing, but the body fluids of this shark contain : differnt compounds of ammonia and urea, the same that give your piss that : special smell..... Actually the shark meat is put through a fermentation : process. Earlier this was done by burying the meat deep in the ground : (1,5-2 meters) wrapped up in something to cover it. Nowadays this is done : by packing the meat in air-tight plastic. The meat is left to ferment for : some weeks and is then hanged up in air (to dry and get a nice colour) : for some more weeks. Hakarl is eaten without anything with it, like : jerk-meat. It is only the tourists (and urbans) who get it served as tiny : cubes on a toothpick. No UL. : Greetings, Gunnar *no fancy middelname* Davidsson : -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- HEAD CHEESE (Sweden) lunch meat made from boiled animal heads. Many European nations make this. It's basically a jellied meat product made by boiling a whole head, and other scraps of meat, then chilling it into a loaf to be sliced. (I don't have a true recipe.) The only reason I placed it in "Sweden" is a story of my mother's. When she was a little girl there was a Swedish girl in her elementary school whose sandwiches were so delicious that everyone wanted to trade with her. No one knew what "head cheese" was. One day someone went to her house when her mother was making head cheese. Everyone changed their minds about head cheese. It was no longer delicious. I guess that's the moral of rec.food.weird-disgusting, if any... "Don't WORRY about it." Now, if readers have the name in Swedish, German, French, etc please post it here. ... Headcheese! Nasty greasy gristley stuff. I hated it when we made it at hog butchering time in Wisconsin 40 years ago; despised it when it masqueraded as "souse" in Delaware; loathed it when it appeared on a cold meat platter in southern France. Yuk, Yuk, Yuk. From: Rosemary using the account of dale@crl.com (E Dale Thompson) ... The Time-Life series, the volume on "Pork" should have a recipe. There's also an account of making head cheese (and scrapple) in James Michener's book, "Centennial." I found it fascinating. >From bmailman@eyecon.com ... I remember the scrapple account ( I also found it fascinating), but I think the making of headcheese came in the Little House series - specifically Farmer Boy. Levi Zendt of _Centennial_ made souse - boiled pig's feet meat and pickles in a sour aspic made from the feet themselves. It was indeed fascinating. Gross, but fascinating. >From dfbaker@panix.com (Debra Fran Baker) HEAD (Mediterranean) Sheep's head. The whole thing, cooked and skinned. Includes the eyeballs. khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) HOG MAWS (U.S. South) ICEBERG LETTUCE (U.S.) Carefully bred and most popular variety sold in stores... but why? ICED TEA (U.S. South) This is the most common summer beverage. A travel handbook for New Zealand reassures Americans: "Don't feel self conscious about ordering iced tea. We don't find it any stranger than you would if we ordered hot Coca Cola." IRN BRU (Scotland) Mustn't forget Irn Bru. Scotland's answer to the rest of the world's disgusting soft drinks. It's flourescent orange, tastes vaguely of bubble gum, and has the best non-beer adverts on the TV. >From rjc@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Richard Caley) KANGAROO (Australia) Ten years ago it was considered weird to eat kangaroo in Oz, but nationalistic chefs have popularized it. The chef of the late, lamented, "Pheasent Farm" restaurant in Nuriootpa claimed kangaroo was particularly popular with visiting Japanese. From: tth@astro.caltech.edu (Thomas Hamilton) KAPI (Thailand) see NGAPI-JAW KIDNEY PIE (England) KIM CHEE (Korea) fermented mixture of vegetables, meat or fish, and very strong chili peppers, pickeled and aged. Legend has it that people bury it for extended periods of time, THEN eat it. KISHKE (European Jews) Intestines stuffed with very finely chopped meat and a bunch of other stuff. From janiceg@marvin.Eng.Sun.COM (Janice Gelb) ... Kishke is to sausage as head cheese is to sausage. --- Aahz (@netcom.com) ... Except that kishke usually has no meat except for the casing (bovine intestine) and, perhaps, beef or chicken suet. The filling is almost entirely bread crumbs, salt, pepper, paprika. Much better with a little farfel and gravy. That's kiske (Jewish style). Kiska (Russian) and kiszka (Polish) may vary. From: Gary Sloane sloane@adoc.xerox.com (415) 813-6767 "Let's Eat Rat to Keep Fat" --Adele Davis KUMISS (central Asia) fermented mare's milk. It tastes like thin buttermilk mixed with sparkling white wine. JALAPENO PEPPERS (Mexico) peppers from the town of Jalapa, which once had a large industry scrapping automobiles from the U.S. People who saw the destination painted on junked cars corrupted the word to "jalopy." JELL-O SALAD (U.S. Midwest) filled with tiny marshmallows and lurid fruit. KVASS (Russia) beer-like beverage made by fermenting old bread in water. It's sold from tank-trailers on the street during the summer. LIGHTS (England) lungs LIMBURGER (Germany) strong-smelling cheese LOBSTER (U.S. Northeast, among many) In Steve McQueen's last movie, Tom Horn, he plays a cowboy at a banquet, confronted with his first lobster. Trying to look unperturbed, he says, "Well, I will say that's the BIGGEST bug I ever ate!") LUTEFISK (Norway) cod fish soaked in lye MAGGOT CHEESE (?Sardinia): What is the cheese called that they make in ?Sardinia? The one where they leave the cheese out covered with cheesecloth so flies will lay their eggs in it, let the maggots hatch, then spread it on bread (including live maggots) and eat it? Now *that* is a bizarre food! cjackson@adobe.com (Curtis Jackson) MARMITE (see also VEGEMITE) (Australia/New Zealand, UK) sandwich spread made of yeast extract, pungently smelly and salty. MENUDO (Mexico) soup of boiled tripe (stomach lining of a cow) Supposedly a hangover cure. MISO (Japan) Japanese travellers get very homesick for their familiar food -- even more than most other nationalities. And this (fermented bean goo) soup is one of the principal foods that makes them sentimental. MOLE (Mexico) The word "mole" means "sauce" but taken alone it refers to the chocolate/pepper sauce placed on meat, as in "chicken mole." MONKEY BRAINS (Hong Kong?) some people delight in experiencing wierd or horrifying food. This takes the cake, according to most. The brains must be eaten from the open skull of a live monkey, in a VERY expensive restaurant. In another context, Woody Allen said: "I want my food dead. Not wounded, not sick. Dead." MORCILLAS (Argentina) Blood sausages, "morcillas", are an integral part of an Argentine asado. Many people swear by them, though I personally don't like them. In any case, they are not weird. From mlacabe@crl.com (Margarita Lacabe) MOUNTAIN POTATO (Japan) A root that is eaten raw and grated, often with raw tuna and a raw quail egg. When a mountain potato is grated, it secreets a translucent slime that is the _exact_ consistancy of mucus, yet is totally without flavor. From: Andrew Lewis Tepper NATTO (Japan) fermented beans. Even many Japanese dislike it. The guidebook warned about it. But it was served with breakfast at the Youth Hostel in Tokyo, of all places. A strange honey-like syrup forms on the beans, so faint threads of it dangle from your chopsticks. Vile. NGAPI-JAW (SE Asia) This one has various names in different countries and is a stir fried concoction containing chiles, garlic, onions, dried shrimp and some of the previously mentioned fermented shrimp/anchovy paste. It's known as ngapi-jaw in Burma, kapi(?) in Thailand, and blachan in Indonesia. While you're making it, your house reeks of dead fish. From: khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) OKRA (Africa, U.S. South) a strong contender for Least Favorite Vegetable or Ropiest Mucus (vegetable division) OWL SOUP (China) An acquaintance, Hong Kong Chinese, relates a banquet story from the PRC hinterlands (he was traveling on business). What had appeared tobe something like chicken soup turned out to be owl! His hosts produced theowl's head from the pot as proof. Jonathan Lundell jlundell@opus.com OYSTER SAUCE (China and others) This is fermented, not braised! PICKLED PIG'S FEET (U.S. and many others) POI (Hawaii) pounded taro root. Not many outsiders take to it; they usually characterize it as "library paste without the flavor." PORK LOAF (U.S. Pennsylvania) A food item consumed by those residents of eastern Pennsylvania for whom scrapple is not disgusting enought. Ingredients: Pork and pork by-products, cornmeal (bread in some cases), _active cultures_ From lraymond@aol.com (Lenny Raymond) PORK RINDS (U.S. West) pig skin, deep-fried PRAIRIE OYSTERS (U.S. West) testicles from cattle RATS (China) In July 1994 the Weekly World News, known for its accurate and conscientious reporting (NOT) claimed that many restaurants in China were taking rat items off the menu because rats were becoming difficult to find in sufficient quantity. The reason for eating rats is in the first place in dispute. Naturally, starving people always eat what they have to, regardless of nationality. ... As far as I've ever read, the only time Chinese have resorted to eating rat is during famine or when the vermin are so out of control that the authorities try to persuade the populace to regard them as sources of meat in an attempt to reduce their numbers. Fair is fair. Michael Khaw khaw@parcplace.com (or khaw%parcplace.com@netcom.com) RETSINA (Greece) white wine with pine resin added. Legend has it that this was started by religious authorities trying to discourage drinking. Taxes were levied on wine that wasn't altered. Then people developed a taste for the cheap stuff with the resin in it. ... The original retsinas had less than 1/10th the amount of pine resin as do the retsinas today. A politically influential (and doubtless slightly insane) wine maker in northern Greece got the legislature to mandate his high level of resin in order for a wine to call itself retsina for export, and that is why we are stuck with resin plus a few fermented grapes instead of a wine with a very delicate hint of pine. cjackson@adobe.com (Curtis Jackson) RICCI DI MARE (Sicily) see UNI SA KUO YU TOE (China) Fish head soup SAGO WORMS (Papua-New Guinea) The sago palm is the host of a worm that feeds on downed wood. They are roasted like sausages on a spit. SASHIMI (Japan) raw fish SCHMALTZ (European Jews) chicken fat SCRAPPLE (U.S. Northeast) meat scraps cooked with corn meal I always thought that there was a large measure of brains in scrapple. Along with the other stuff too vile for hotdogs. I love it fried up and maple syrupped along with eggs and/or panackes. The Pa Dutch don't waste a thing and I think that this is their invention. The French Canadians make a *meat* product called *creton* that is not, I believe, a breakfast treat like this. But what could match scrapple?? ... Maybe even those brains will make you smarter. >From RDNoyes@cup.portal.com (Robert Domine Noyes) ... ****Just an aside...my Dad grew up in Kingston, PA, loves scrapple(no questioning taste...)and sings this song: "Scraplle-oley-ole-I-ay, comes from Philadelphi-ay.... for a nickel or a dime, you can have it any time!" He has eaten scrapple from a can...alsa, mom does NOT make it from scratch! >From gonzalc@aa.wl.com (Chris) SEA CUCUMBER (beche de mer): a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Perhaps also in French? khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) SEAWEED (Japan and others) All forms of seaweed are edible and many are tasty and nutritious. But, many people are repulsed by the idea. SHAVED ICE (China) The dish is served in a bowl/plate. They ask if you want some milk on it (sounds strange, and it is, but it adds to the texture). And then you get to pick a couple toppings. toppings range from strawberry to the bizzare. Usually topped with red beans. Pretty good, but definitely weird. >From curtz@lia.com (Curtz Lam) and jonz@netcom.com (Jon Ziegler) SHIOKARA (Japan) Fresh raw fish (usually squid) served in a sauce made of fermented fish/squid guts. Truly awful. I'd sooner eat a quart of natto than down more than 1/2 cup of this stuff. cjackson@adobe.com (Curtis Jackson) SNAKE MEAT (Southeast Asia) in early July 1994, Chinese authorities announced the seizure of five tons of snakes, including many rare and endangered species, destined for restaurant use. They asked that consumers "When you look at the menu, remember the balance of nature." SONG BIRDS (Italy) roasted and eaten whole. Hunters have nearly eliminated many of the migratory species. SOUR CANDIES (Asia) as featured in the short film "Sour Balls," these are unbelievably sour. Cath calls them "those marvellous Asian lollies "super-lemon", "hot grape", "mega warheads" etc - a boiled sweet coated in a very sour or very hot powder." >From s9100032@csdvax.csd.unsw.edu.au (Cath Lawrence) SOUSE (Delaware in U.S.) see HEAD CHEESE Neese's Souse trucks have their slogan emblazoned on the sides -- "Everything But the Oink". Imagine the results of an entire pig being thrown into a Bass-O-Matic on Puree setting for five hours and you'll have a good idea of what souse is. >From lraymond@aol.com (Lenny Raymond) SPAM (U.S.) Recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. "Shoulder Pork And ...?" tinned meat became prized around the world, while boring and ultimately disgusting U.S. military personnel in WWII. SPOTTED DICK (England) While "spotted dick" sounds like an extraordinarily impolite phrase for mixed company in America, it's a real English dessert. I was served some at someone's home, and I have seen it on a menu in Newcastle Upon Tyne. I can't say I liked it, though it was actually made in honor of my arrival at my host's house as a special treat. I must admit I was rather shocked when my hosts joyfully exclaimed that they had made a spotted dick in my honor. I thanked them and said, oh how very nice. And by the way, what is it? I couldn't tell if they were pulling my leg or not. Later on I mentioned that this name would cause comment in America and explained why. >From jess@perihelion.eng.sun.com (Jessica Bernhardt) ... Terrible name, but really quite tasty. This is a basic steamed suet sponge pudding with currants mixed in, giving the spots. One of the staples of English school meals served with lashings of custard. Often dubbed "dead fly pie" by impolite schoolkids. A single 2" square of spotted dick has been known to fill up at least 100 children. For authenticity, has to be made from beef suet. From Karl Greenow STEAK, BLOODY RARE (U.S. West) Popular in other cultures too. In French it is ordered "bleu" (blue) which puts a slightly ghastly touch on the name. STEAK TARTARE (France) completely raw beef (avoid the porc tartare!) Also popular in Japan (sesame beef) and many other parts of the world SUSHI (Japan) a variety of exquisite morsels, often including raw fish Date: 10 Jul 1994 09:05:18 GMT Subject: Woman To Have Sushi In Space Copyright: 1994 by The Associated Press, R TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's first female astronaut is looking forward to marking another milestone -- being the first in space to dine on sushi. Dr. Chaiki Mukai rocketed into space Friday aboard the shuttle Colombia on a two-week laboratory research mission. The 42-year-old heart surgeon from Tokyo told Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and Makiko Tanaka, director general of the science and technology Agency, on Sunday that she was looking forward to eating sushi and octopus cakes and other traditional Japanese foods. [....] The mission is packed with experiments on the effects of weightlessness on fish, newts, jellyfish, frog eggs, sea urchins, fruit flies and worms. From: Shimpei Yamashita, Stanford University shimpei@leland.stanford.edu TAKOSU (Japan) A bit fancier than takoyaki, this is a simple dish in which slices of boiled octopus are soaked in rice vinegar. Vinegar softens the octopus flesh and adds the distinctive sour flavor. My mother always put sliced cucumbers or wakame (kelp-like seaweed) with the octopus; I don't know if this is a common practice. From: Shimpei Yamashita, Stanford University shimpei@leland.stanford.edu TAKOYAKI (Japan) Little balls (1-2in diameter) made primarily of flour/eggs, with a piece of boiled octopus in the center. (*Uncooked* octopus is way too slimyto be eaten.) Most people add other ingredients as well; I usually put shreds of raw ginger that are dyed red using sour plums, called beni-shouga. Typically served with generous toppings of Worcestershire sauce and seaweed bits (aonori). Takoyaki is a traditionally sold by roadside vendors, particularly at festivities. From: Shimpei Yamashita, Stanford University shimpei@leland.stanford.edu TEA WITH YAK BUTTER (Tibet, northern India) TEMPEH (Japan et al) deliberately moldy TOFU (i.e. ROTTEN bean crud) TEQUILA WORMS (Mexico) the little worm (gusano) that lives on the agave plant gets stuck in the bottle. Mmmm. There is even a special brand sold in 2-ounce bottles called "Dos Gusanos" (two worms) for those who can't get enough. ... Locally, which is to say in North America, a not too uncommon confection is the tequila sucker -- a tequila flavored lollipop, complete with worm. The first two ingredients are listed as "High fructose corn syrup, insect larva...". My question is this: if an insect larva can pass the Food and Drug Admin- istration as an explictly listed ingredient, what the hell's in the stuff that the FDA rejects? From danco@titan.ucs.umass.edu (Dan Cohen) THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD EGGS (China) Not really. Just look like it. TOFU (Japan and many cultures) soybean curd, sometimes called "bean crud." Bland, innocuous, healthful and politically correct, it still nauseates a lot of suspicious customers. ... Chinese: don't know the English name, but the Chinese name CHO DO FU or TSO DO FU literally translates as "smelly tofu". Fermented tofu. Smells like an outhouse. From: khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) TRIPE (France, many others) lining of cow's stomach. Famous recipe from Caen. ... Not particularly French. Tripe and onions is a traditional British dish, and tripe is an important ingredient in much of the cuisine of Africa (e.g. Fetra Desti).Lyndon Watson Tripe is also a main ingredient in Philadephia Pepper Pot (soup/stew). From: wombat@kilimanjaro.engr.sgi.com (Joan Eslinger) UNI (Japan) Raw sea urchin roe. The Sicilians also eat it as "ricci di mare". It can taste either like thick cream or low tide, depending on whether it's really fresh or not. From: khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) VEGEMITE (see also MARMITE) (Australia/New Zealand, UK) sandwich spread made of yeast extract, pungently smelly and salty. Oddly, it's an American company's product but a true national symbol of Australia. WHITE CASTLE SLIDERS (U.S. Midwest) Tiny hamburgers so greasy you don't have to chew them; just gulp and swallow. WITCHETY GRUB (Australia) In Oz now it is considered patriotic to eat Witchety Grub, a plump insect which has become the symbol of Aboriginal cuisine. It is served in fancy restaurants, but I don't think many Oz have actually screwed up the courage to sample it. From: tth@astro.caltech.edu (Thomas Hamilton) YAK MILK, RANCID (Tibet) YOGURT (central Asia, Berkeley) Famous quote: "Anyone who doubts the power of advertising should remember that 23 million Americans are convinced that yogurt tastes good." How can you tell if it spoils? YULE BROD (Denmark) also(?) ALE BROD a sort of stew of beer and old bread. It made a striking appearance in the film _Babette's Feast_ as the staple food of some dreary religious colonists. --- Ray Bruman Cogito, ergo remuneror. Raynet Corp. rbruman@raynet.com I think, therefore I am paid. 415-688-2325 -- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ / George Galang | In order to reply to me you must write to / / Atlanta GA | galang@erdas.com. Replying will not work / / galang@erdas.com | as our mailer is bent. / / | / / / / They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose. / / Could be worse / \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\