Foreign Food Horrors

[That Jekka Gal]

Yes, ladies and gennlemen, it’s that time of year again where we head to far flung corners of the world to be confronted with a smorgasbord of things you wouldn’t normally dream of putting in your mouth from fried cockroaches in Thailand to sheeps eyeballs in Morocco.

I think I’ve already spoken in detail about my rat taco but another experience that makes me chuckle comes from a rather strait laced girl with whom I used to work.

Imagine one of those squeaky clean couples who are obsessed with hygiene to an OCD level.

Well, that's this couple.

So they go to India (!). On their first day in Calcutta(!) they
spot a chai wallah and decide to have a cuppa. Declining the paper cups into which he's about to decant their hot beverages, they delve into their backpacks and produce 2 plastic cups that they'd brought with them, giving each a good wipe with alcohol gel first.

They then hand the cups over to the wallah who then proceeds to strain the tea from the urn strapped to his back through the filthy vest that he was wearing into their 2 mugs.

ISTR they stayed in India for 24 hours before heading off to New Zealand.

 

[Philtor]

Mags is that you? Tell me more about this rat taco you speak of.

 

[Jimbeam3678]

Are you going to answer the key question?

 

[HoneyBadger]

@Diddums x - you’re up, kiddo!

 

[Diddums]

Yes, ladies and gennlemen

And what else?


You done pretending to be a woman yet?

 

[Terminal_Boy]

Andouillette - take it from a man who likes offal and finds haggis delicious, don’t try this unless you’ve been born and raised on it.

 

[Scuzi]

Andouillette - take it from a man who likes offal and finds haggis delicious, don’t try this unless you’ve been born and raised on it.

Having been served chitlins before, I concur. Food that was previously a container for faeces really shouldn't be food unless there isn't another option.

 

[Flaevius]

I'll go for a drink horror - kava.

A mildly anaesthetic and psychoactive drink made from the root of the kava plant, traditional across the Pacific Islands. I partook of this at a kava ceremony in Fiji. Most of the (foreign) group tapped out after one cup but, being stubborn, there were a few of us that kept going until the tanoa bowl was empty. Iirc I had 13 cups, the tanoa was not small...

Best described as salty, muddy water, with a gritty texture - vile.

Andouillette - take it from a man who likes offal and finds haggis delicious, don’t try this unless you’ve been born and raised on it.

My god, that looks rough.

I think I’ve already spoken in detail about my rat

Ooh, matron!

 

[hornetstinger]

Yes, ladies and gennlemen, it’s that time of year again where we head to far flung corners of the world to be confronted with a smorgasbord of things you wouldn’t normally dream of putting in your mouth from fried cockroaches in Thailand to sheeps eyeballs in Morocco.

I think I’ve already spoken in detail about my rat taco but another experience that makes me chuckle comes from a rather strait laced girl with whom I used to work.

Imagine one of those squeaky clean couples who are obsessed with hygiene to an OCD level.

Well, that's this couple.

So they go to India (!). On their first day in Calcutta(!) they
spot a chai wallah and decide to have a cuppa. Declining the paper cups into which he's about to decant their hot beverages, they delve into their backpacks and produce 2 plastic cups that they'd brought with them, giving each a good wipe with alcohol gel first.

They then hand the cups over to the wallah who then proceeds to strain the tea from the urn strapped to his back through the filthy vest that he was wearing into their 2 mugs.

ISTR they stayed in India for 24 hours before heading off to New Zealand.

They wouldn't need a plane to go from one country to another, they could propel themselves at super sonic speed with the diarrhea . Although I guess if they're puking and pooing at the same time the thrust would cancel themselves out.

 

[Diddums]

I think I’ve already spoken in detail about my rat taco

Oh is that what you call it is it?

 

[That Jekka Gal]

Andouillette - take it from a man who likes offal and finds haggis delicious, don’t try this unless you’ve been born and raised on it.

I’ve been served it, smelled it and sent it back. Vile.

However, in the same way that the worse French cheese smells, the better it tastes - I may have missed out.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

I’ve been served it, smelled it and sent it back. Vile.

However, in the same way that the worse French cheese smells, the better it tastes - I may have missed out.

I worked on that assumption the one time it ended on my plate - I was very much mistaken.

You’ve not missed out.

 

[***F1ZZY***]

off to Malaysia and Indonesia tomorrow, I'm sure I can find a few horrors.

The stinky tofu was always one that got me retching - it's basically rotting and smells like something died.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

I’ve tried the Icelandic delicacy “bits of shark that have been allowed to rot until their toxicity has dropped to a level that humans can survive” mixed with dehydrated cod (Icelandic bread) and washed down with the local vodka.

The vodka is required to cleanse both the palette and the digestive system.

My recommendation: Avoid.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I’ve tried the Icelandic delicacy “bits of shark that have been allowed to rot until their toxicity has dropped to a level that humans can survive” mixed with dehydrated cod (Icelandic bread) and washed down with the local vodka.

The vodka is required to cleanse both the palette and the digestive system.

My recommendation: Avoid.

You have to imagine the amount of hunger and starvation or the level of drunken state at the time they discovered this at the first instance in order to try it.

 

[That Jekka Gal]

I’ve tried the Icelandic delicacy “bits of shark that have been allowed to rot until their toxicity has dropped to a level that humans can survive” mixed with dehydrated cod (Icelandic bread) and washed down with the local vodka.

The vodka is required to cleanse both the palette and the digestive system.

My recommendation: Avoid.

Isn’t there a dish called 1000 year old egg there too? It’s not quite 1000 yrs old but might as well be.

Then, of course, there’s the Chinese dish bird’s nest soup. Which isn’t quite as gross as I’d imagined. It’s made from the nests of swifts which , in turn, are made from solidified saliva. I’d always imagined a good helping of guano was included too but they are, apparently, thoroughly cleaned before preparation.

 

[Flaevius]

The mention of China has reminded me of a fish eye soup I encountered in Hong Kong. A pea-green soup was the final course of a 7-course meal. I was unaware what it contained; until I dipped my spoon into the opaque mixture and an eye bobbed to the surface. Apparently the soup was quite sweet tasting. Suffice to say, I didn't try it.

Isn’t there a dish called 1000 year old egg there too?

Century egg.

I'd try most things, but fish eyes and pungent eggs are off my menu.

 

[monkentage]

Andouillete is on my list of things to try. Nordic fermented herrings or shark and the Balut egg also. I'd probably spit an eyeball out in disgust when it bursts but would attempt.

Deep fried spiders **** that.

 

[SoliD]

Andouillete is on my list of things to try. Nordic fermented herrings or shark and the Balut egg also. I'd probably spit an eyeball out in disgust when it bursts but would attempt.

Deep fried spiders **** that.

Deep fried tarantulas are very tasty!