http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/leisure/2011/08/13/foods-cant-buy-in-united-states/?test=faces#slide=3
The one about Casu Marzu cheese was particularly disgusting.
Wikipedia does a good job explaining:
QuoteDerived from Pecorino, casu marzu goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider decomposition, brought about by the digestive action of the larvae of the cheese fly Piophila casei. These larvae are deliberately introduced to the cheese, promoting an advanced level of fermentation and breaking down of the cheese's fats. The texture of the cheese becomes very soft, with some liquid (called lagrima, from the Sardinian for "tears") seeping out. The larvae themselves appear as translucent white worms, about 8 millimetres (0.3 in) long.[1] When disturbed, the larvae can launch themselves for distances up to 15 centimetres (6 in). Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming while others do not.
Doing some link digging about the Ortolan and French habits when eating it was.. enlightening? I'm not sure that's the correct word.
Once again, help from wikipedia:
QuoteYou catch the ortolan with a net spread up in the forest canopy. Take it alive. Take it home. Poke out its eyes and put it in a small cage. Force-feed it oats and millet and figs until it has swollen to four times its normal size. Drown it in brandy. Roast it whole, in an oven at high heat, for six to eight minutes. Bring it to the table. Place a cloth—a napkin will do—over your head to hide your cruelty from the sight of God. Put the whole bird into your mouth, with only the beak protruding from your lips. Bite. Put the beak on your plate and begin chewing, gently. You will taste three things: First, the sweetness of the flesh and fat. This is God. Then, the bitterness of the guts will begin to overwhelm you. This is the suffering of Jesus. Finally, as your teeth break the small, delicate bones and they begin to lacerate your gums, you will taste the salt of your own blood, mingling with the richness of the fat and the bitterness of the organs. This is the Holy Spirit, the mystery of the Trinity—three united as one. It is cruel. And beautiful.
— Brendan Kiley
I just.. hmmm ok.
the one about Pommac is interesting for anyone who's heard that old "saccharin kills rats" meme that I first heard when I was but a wee lad. The sweetening additive used in it was part of the study that banned it in the US. It was at a 10:1 ratio of sodium cyclamate:saccharin that caused all the problems with the Rats of Nimh. A good read, if you're into reading about stuff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_cyclamate
The last one is Sea Turtle Soup. I'd probably try it myself if given the opportunity and that's because I'll eat pretty much anything that lives in the ocean. I'd never kill one to eat myself. Did a lot of diving in Mexico and seeing those fuckers swim around was a life changing experience. Almost as life changing as looking deeply into the eyes of a wolf.
Sorry if this was too American-centric for you Europeans and Australians. I apologise. :D
You might also enjoy http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_the-6-most-terrifying-foods-in-world.html
I heard a 'This American Life' bit on the Ortolan.
it was fascinating...
I've tried Ortolan, though not in the manner described above. If there's a difference between it and squab my palate is not advanced enough to find it.
Sea turtle is fucking disgusting. And eating it is one of the ingrained cultural practices that I wish my fellow islanders would knock the fuck off. It's not meant to taste good, it's meant to give you the ability to produce a 4-day long massive erection. I've heard enough anecdotal evidence of it working for me not to discount it completely but jesus, people, we have pharmacies now and there are PILLS FOR THAT.
LOL you banned Kinder Surprise Eggs? :lol: that's sad ... some of the toys in them are amazing.
And I never heard about Pommac. If you want an interesting (and delicious!) European soft drink, try Bionade (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bionade), it's organic and carbonated using fermentation (like ginger ale) and comes in very unique flavours (which are all pretty good, IMO).
I can think of two stores here off the top of my head where you can buy Kinder Surprise... technically they're banned I guess, but I think that for some reason it's still legal to sell them in import stores.
Or they're selling them illegally.
Illegal Kinder Surprise eggs are the best kind!
Quote from: Triple Zero on August 14, 2011, 07:43:06 PM
Illegal Kinder Surprise eggs are the best kind!
ONLY TERRORISTS BUY ILLEGAL CANDY WITH TOY SURPRISE!
Quote from: Nigel on August 14, 2011, 02:24:38 AM
You might also enjoy http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_the-6-most-terrifying-foods-in-world.html
:vom:
Seriously, I don't know why I read that... I had a lot to drink last night.
Quote from: Nph. Twid. on August 14, 2011, 08:24:16 PM
Quote from: Nigel on August 14, 2011, 02:24:38 AM
You might also enjoy http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_the-6-most-terrifying-foods-in-world.html
:vom:
Seriously, I don't know why I read that... I had a lot to drink last night.
ugh, Balut. Had a friend from the Philippines explain that one to me a few years ago. I'm a pretty adventurous eater and I think even that would be a bit too much.
Yep. I'll eat almost anything. Hell, I fuckin' LOVE durian. But I draw the line at balut.
i just took the kiddos to the asian market yesterday, and they had some balut on display, and they started saying, EGGS! we need more eggs!
i told them that those were not the droids they were looking for and attempted to explain what balut was.
i was afraid that i ruined the concept of eggs in general for them. but, after about 30 seconds of trying to comprehend what i was saying at them, they both decided that i was just bullshitting them again, and asked to go to the fish tanks again...
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on August 15, 2011, 03:46:25 PM
Yep. I'll eat almost anything. Hell, I fuckin' LOVE durian. But I draw the line at balut.
I'm not sure. I wouldn't like to eat either, but I anticipate lutefisk tasting more horrible than balut. With balut it's more the idea that is horrible.
Quote from: Iptuous on August 15, 2011, 03:51:33 PM
i just took the kiddos to the asian market yesterday, and they had some balut on display, and they started saying, EGGS! we need more eggs!
i told them that those were not the droids they were looking for and attempted to explain what balut was.
i was afraid that i ruined the concept of eggs in general for them. but, after about 30 seconds of trying to comprehend what i was saying at them, they both decided that i was just bullshitting them again, and asked to go to the fish tanks again...
:lulz:
I've actually tried lutefisk. And by "tried", I mean "tried to actually get my hand to put the lutefisk in my own mouth and failed utterly".
That shit is WAY the fuck past the line that I draw at balut. I mean, if I was hungry enough, I would eat balut. I'd eat whoever was trying to get me to eat lutefisk before I'd actually eat the lutefisk.
yeah totally. I mean, if you're hungry, I bet lutefisk isn't going to do much good*, while balut would most probably sort of satiate your hunger.
*unless you count regurgitating your previous meal
Why is balut grosser than squab? I've been asking myself this.
isn't squab a fully formed babby, rather than a bird fetus?
Quote from: Nigel on August 16, 2011, 03:01:03 AM
Why is balut grosser than squab? I've been asking myself this.
i had to look up squab, but it's not so much that it's a fetus, but rather that it's inside an egg, which you boil, and you eat the entire thing, bones, tiny feathers, beak, eyes, feet, everything.
I'm assuming they pluck the squab and cut off some bits such as head and feet and you eat it from the bones, not including the bones.
Also, for some reason (could be personal?) boiled things are always slightly grosser than cooked or fried things. If you could somehow manage to fry the balut, sans egg shell, it'd still be weird, but at least it'd be crispy :)
I've never heard of that being referred to as squab.
Squab is a small woodland ground bird, like a partridge or grouse but smaller.
ETA: according to wikipedia, it's a small pigeon.
Reading back my previous post, I see it's incredibly confusing. Sorry :)
I think Nigel's point was that they're also very young.
Though Wikipedia says about 1 month. Which is young, but very different from still-inside-the-egg.
a fetus is inherently disturbing for me because it's in some grey zone between living thing, and dismembered organ...
if there was some animal that was tastiest right after it was born, i would be ok with that, while i would have some revulsion if it were tastiest right before it were to be born, and removed from the womb.
the revulsion would increase the further back into gestation you went, i would think...
if it's in an egg, it's a little less disturbing, but the revulsion is still there.
also, like trip said, you're eating it bones, feathers, and all... eww.
I should not have looked up what balut was :|
I've always had a slight fear of opening an egg to find it had an occupant, more so if it is a boiled egg. I have a thing against eating babies.
fetus is gross.
baby can be good.
mmmmm cabrito...
Why do I keep clicking on this thread? :x
I wouldn't have a problem with balut if they could make it using a breed of beakless and featherless duck.
And in all fairness, that's only the 2nd grossest thing that asians do with eggs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg).
Aaaand we're back to lutefisk :)
I think the basic conclusion is, "if you think that bad, try curing it in a strong alkaline for some time."
I don't really care what I eat, long as it's good and has a texture other than that of a slug*.
*It was a dream I had. Couldn't eat pasta for a while after it.
When I was a kid, Nestle Magic Balls were basically the same as the surprise eggs. Looking it up, they had to change to having stickers inside the ball because of choking hazards.
What's gross isn't that the egg has a fetus, it's that the fetus has GUTS. :vom:
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on August 20, 2011, 03:47:50 AM
What's gross isn't that the egg has a fetus, it's that the fetus has GUTS. :vom:
yeah, but they're all pristine and unused! It's really not any grosser than eating a clam or a softshell crab.
Quote from: Nigel on August 20, 2011, 04:14:49 AM
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on August 20, 2011, 03:47:50 AM
What's gross isn't that the egg has a fetus, it's that the fetus has GUTS. :vom:
yeah, but they're all pristine and unused! It's really not any grosser than eating a clam or a softshell crab.
I have to respectfully disagree.
Eating a crustacean or a mollusk is, IMO, very different from eating any vertebrate.
Yes, they're all food, but at least with a crustacean or mollusk, you don't have to season it to help make it delicious
Quote from: Disco Pickle on August 20, 2011, 04:29:58 AM
Quote from: Nigel on August 20, 2011, 04:14:49 AM
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on August 20, 2011, 03:47:50 AM
What's gross isn't that the egg has a fetus, it's that the fetus has GUTS. :vom:
yeah, but they're all pristine and unused! It's really not any grosser than eating a clam or a softshell crab.
I have to respectfully disagree.
Eating a crustacean or a mollusk is, IMO, very different from eating any vertebrate.
Yes, they're all food, but at least with a crustacean or mollusk, you don't have to season it to help make it delicious
I don't even know what you're smoking.
Quote from: Nigel on August 20, 2011, 04:42:58 AM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on August 20, 2011, 04:29:58 AM
Quote from: Nigel on August 20, 2011, 04:14:49 AM
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on August 20, 2011, 03:47:50 AM
What's gross isn't that the egg has a fetus, it's that the fetus has GUTS. :vom:
yeah, but they're all pristine and unused! It's really not any grosser than eating a clam or a softshell crab.
I have to respectfully disagree.
Eating a crustacean or a mollusk is, IMO, very different from eating any vertebrate.
Yes, they're all food, but at least with a crustacean or mollusk, you don't have to season it to help make it delicious
I don't even know what you're smoking.
Someone left it here.
That should have been a red flag but hell, it would have been rude to say no.
Someday I will find Dok's stache. I mean stash.
And I will share it with the damn cat.
It will be a glorious day, with victory.