WHAT’S THE STRANGEST THING YOU’VE EATEN?
I’d never eaten Ostrich before so at the small South African restaurant I visited tonight I asked the waitress what Ostrich tasted like. She paused for a moment to ponder the best way to describe the dish, then in an accent not dissimilar to that of an intoxicated Slovakian after a bar brawl, she informed me that it tasted “something like leather.”
I should have perhaps heeded such a warning, but I felt that maybe our waitresses unflattering description was due to her obvious struggles with the English language. So undeterred I went ahead and ordered. “You know what,” I said decisively, “I’ll have the Ostrich.”
So what does Ostrich meat really taste like? It tastes like an old leather chair that’s been maturing in some musty old trailer somewhere, that’s what Ostrich meat tastes like.
I don’t think I’ve really eaten that many strange things. I’ve had wood pigeon before, served at one of my favorite Welsh hideaways. In Abu Dhabi I believe I ate snake, though it might have just been an eel, I simply couldn’t tell from the waiters animated gestures. And in India I might have eaten strange or unpleasant things, but when the menu you’re looking at is entirely made up of squiggles and wiggles you tend to just point at something and nod politely when the waiter comes to take your order in his native language.
So, what’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?
Wrote the following comment on Oct 31, 2007 at 1:53 pm
In Cozumel, Mexico, basking in the sun on a beautiful beach, I boldly ate tiny octopus that had marinated in its own ink…the little suckers (literally – suckers) grab your tongue. Did I mention I had first drank at least three, maybe more, pina coladas….
Wrote the following comment on Oct 31, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Possum, raccoon, groundhog, rattlesnake, frog, turtle, squirrel and prairie dog…just to name a few.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 31, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I’ve had squirrel before…and cow brains.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 31, 2007 at 4:04 pm
aghhh!!!! fried blood, strange cow parts (brain and stomach lining) but I’ve never had Ostrich or an old leather chair.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 31, 2007 at 11:54 pm
iguana and iguana eggs.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 1, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Okay, I am impressed at what you’ve all eaten. I need to eat more bizarre things to catch up now don’t I!
Wrote the following comment on Nov 1, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Do people count?
Wrote the following comment on Nov 2, 2007 at 3:33 pm
you’re funny.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 2, 2007 at 7:00 pm
When I was 6, we visited old relatives in the German part [of Switzerland] and I was given salami. My great uncle got it out specially of the smoking chimney for us to taste. It was left of the farm dog, who’d got too old to work, so got put to a different use. So I was told afterwards. I remember thinking it was a strange, but rather good idea. I also ate my pet rabbit around that time, because he got vicious. My granddad sorted him out.
He used to fish for trout too.
I’ve had ostrich steak, back in the days when I ate red meat at my mum’s table. She bought some from the ‘traiteur’ to try it out. I recall it was quite nice, fibrous but tender, but not very strong in taste, a kind of bland version of venison. Anyway, I don’t think it passed the test because it was too expensive for what it had to offer, from what I remember (it was late 70s early 80s!), and it didn’t figure on the menu after that.
Also snails with persillade, the snails being the chewy excuse for a great butter-garlic-parsley sauce.
We used to eat oysters on a regular basis, and all sorts of strange sea things. Our friends from France would affirm that everything that came out of the sea was blessed (therefore, for a French person, edible).
Now I mostly eat vegetarian food. That can be very odd too. A lot of the things I ate in India, I don’t know what it was… I know some of the Tamil names. Strange fruit you have to be taught how to eat, which is easy as they show you on the spot. But for the veg, it’s harder to understand what to do if you don’t speak the language.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 2, 2007 at 7:09 pm
“I also ate my pet rabbit around that time, because he got vicious.”
Boy Joelle, you sure took care of the rabbit!
Wrote the following comment on Nov 2, 2007 at 7:21 pm
It was cooked first. By my grand-ma.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 2, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Ps, ever had kombucha? The drink is nice, but the actual “mushroom” (striclty speaking not a mushroom), is rather… erm…
There’s recipes to blend it into a desert, but I can assure you it’s not quite Angels Delight.