Tastes like chicken...

[spesh]

DISCLAIMER: Vegetarians, and omnivores who are at all squeamish, are advised not to bother clicking on the link below. You won't like it at all!

Found the following article discussing some of the more unusual and controversial delicacies of the world:

The world's wildest delicacies

On puffer fish:

Tastes like: fish, and not very tasty fish at that. Gourmets claim its subtle flavour and fine texture is second to none, but, as with asphyxiational sex, one suspects the risk is half the fun.

So, what's the most unusual/politically incorrect/barf-inducing food you've ever tasted and gamely chewed so as not to upset your hosts, only to spit it out when you thought they weren't looking?

 

[Tetedelacourse]

OH YES!

Paging Dayvo...

 

[Kirstie]

Guinea Pig (a delicacy in Peru, where I was at the time). It's more trouble than it's worth. I spent half an hour chasing bones around my plate for a taste sensation which was, as you say 'a bit like chicken'.

 

[ChrisKH]

I had Ostrich, Croc and Kangaroo meat on the same plate once. Actually, it wasn't half bad. Octopus tasted fine but made me incredibly ill, because of the pollution of the sea where it came out of. Infected/bad oysters also. So never spat it out as such. But wish I had.

 

[frog]

when I was with UNPROFOR in Croatia I went to visit one of the outstations in Mostar. We had to do a check of the local positions to see that each side was behaving themselves and parked up in a cave next to what we thought was a wrecked car. We stepped out of the cave and started to climb the hill behind to get a better view of the positions and ran straight into the owner of the wreck, complete with AK-47 and a sack full of grenades.

In no uncertain terms he decided we were trying to mess with his car and marched us off to his mates, right on the front line. When your only armament is a blue beret you don't have enough barginning power against an AK so we had little choice. There were two of his mates in the dug out and they were much more reasonable and laddie with the gun came all over apologies. In recompense they offered us some of their rations. There was what looked like milk in a bottle but it was grey and very gritty which we all took a swig of - it was bloody vile. The coffee one of them brewed up on a tiny spirt stove was strong enough to put you into space. The stew which came next smelled like old socks but thankfully the coffee had killed the taste buds. We departed the best of friends half an hour later and as a final gesture of good will the chap wanted to have a drive of a UN Toyota Land Cruiser. We politely mis directed him with a pair of issue sunglasses and disappeared over the horizon before the Serbs on the opposite side of the valley decided the UN had sold out to the Muslims and were supplying them with transport.

About two hour later, while fixing a puncture, all three of us were horribly sick.

 

[Globalti]

Crocodile in Kenya. Absolutely disgusting, like a mixture of rancid pork and greasy chicken.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Guinea Pig (a delicacy in Peru, where I was at the time). It's more trouble than it's worth. I spent half an hour chasing bones around my plate.

It would have been easier to kill it first.

 

[Fnaar]

I'll eat anything, me, and I usually like it. Octopus is delish, but oddest things I've had are raw lamb with herbs in Syria, duck's cheeks (= bill +flesh) and chicken feet in China, a cup of lard with bread in Poland. Things I don't like are innocuous: celery, and also mint sauce.

 

[Cab]

I'm rather fond of this article I wrote for another web site.

"Squirrel Nutkins Great Feast, or Preparing a Squirrel for the Pot"

 

[Canrider]

Not spit out, but khoumiss was probably a low point.
Think carbonated liquified feta cheese. Bottled locally in a reused beer bottle.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

My brother turned down live monkey brains in Tanzania and had the boiled dog instead.

 

[simon_adams_uk]

Barracuda brains - surprisingly nice (similar to peanut butter)
Turtle - pretty nice (somewhat chewy)
Dog - not so nice at all (gristle mostly)
Raw clam - truly horrific. The only close analogy is chewing on a salty bicycle inner tube... for several hours trying to look happy

S

 

[Globalti]

This is the Carnivore restaurant in Kenya and South Africa: http://www.tamarind.co.ke/carnivore/menu.php

They serve almost any kind of game. They bring the skewers of different meats around and carve them straight onto your plate. The secret is to hold back when they bring the cheap stuff like sausages and chicken to fill you up, wait until later when the more exotic stuff starts to appear.

 

[domtyler]

Antelope, Zebra and loads of other stuff on safari in the Masai Mara.
Some weird stuff in India and Nepal, and roughed it in the Andaman Islands for a month on a desert island eating whatever fish the local fishermen brought by, rock oysters and an fish we could catch off the reef.

Cab, can't believe you eat squirrel, they are basically rats.

 

[Morrisette]

Nothing as gross as monkey brains but I have eaten octopus, chicken stomachs (another item similar to an inner tube, but bunched up in little balls), and several unidentified but tentacled sea creatures - all in Korea. I kept waiting for the inevitable delhi belly to strike, but strangely I was fine....