Weird Food People Eat

[Gravdigr]

Hey, wanna piece of candy?

Uh...no?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Damn whippersnappers, and their disgusting chemical laden candy. Why can't they eat all natural scabs and boogers like we did?

[Aliantha]

That must surely have been a special for halloween right?

[sad_winslow]

Oh man, I love weird food. I'll try an awful lot of stuff once, usually twice. I get a lot of funny looks when I try something and go "OH GOD this is weird/gross, YOU GOTTA TRY THIS!" but anybody I can convince to try it, whether or not they thank me for the positive taste experience, at least usually ends up thanking me for the experience of trying something different.

The last thing I tried that's made everybody I know cringe was, I thought, pretty mundane, but still terrifies many people... headcheese. Which, well, if you don't know what it is... it's pretty much scraps of meat from a pig or cow's head that's been boiled and scraped; it's encased in gelatin (that's come out of the head as it boils) and sliced thin as a cold-cut style lunchmeat.

Surprisingly good, too, I have to say. It's spiced such that it tastes a lot like corned beef, and the texture isn't actually anywhere near as awful as I thought it'd be.

the durian tasting, on the other hand, kind of went in the opposite direction.

[Aliantha]

I think the problem with headcheese is the name. Like tripe, it just doesn't sound appetising.

[Happy Monkey]

The name isn't appetizing, but I don't think that's the only problem. The description isn't appetizing either.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

The name isn't appetizing, but I don't think that's the only problem. The description isn't appetizing either.

Neither is the appearance or the flavor.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Durian-flavor ice cream, OTOH, is rather mischievously good. You can tell why Singapore doesn't allow it to be eaten on the subway, though.

[Gravdigr]

The closest I come to eating something weird is grits. Or the occasional chicken liver.

[sad_winslow]

If grits are weird, you must have a really, um.. plain diet?

Durian was.. the bites of it that were good, tasted like a delicious sweet custard. the bits that were not so good tasted like... spoiled onion-custard-egg pie that hasn't set up yet. every bite was somewhere different on a scale between those extremes, and the whole thing had the texture of scooping the guts out of an alien.

everybody should eat one of them bastards at least once. durians, i mean, not aliens.

[limey]

Originally Posted by sad_winslow

... the bites of it that were good, tasted like a delicious sweet custard. the bits that were not so good tasted like... spoiled onion-custard-egg pie that hasn't set up yet. every bite was somewhere different on a scale between those extremes, and the whole thing had the texture of scooping the guts out of an alien...

Have you every thought of becoming a restaurant critic, SW?

[sad_winslow]

Originally Posted by limey

Have you every thought of becoming a restaurant critic, SW?

Yes, but I'm a) poor and b) already fat enough as is.

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by sad_winslow

If grits are weird, you must have a really, um.. plain diet?

I don't find 'em weird, it's almost everyone I know that finds them weird.

[Tulip]

Originally Posted by sad_winslow

If grits are weird, you must have a really, um.. plain diet?

Durian was.. the bites of it that were good, tasted like a delicious sweet custard. the bits that were not so good tasted like... spoiled onion-custard-egg pie that hasn't set up yet. every bite was somewhere different on a scale between those extremes, and the whole thing had the texture of scooping the guts out of an alien.

everybody should eat one of them bastards at least once. durians, i mean, not aliens.

You must've eaten a thawed frozen durian. A stinky mush doesn't make a good eat. If you could afford it, try a fresh one. I guarantee you, it'll taste better. And the texture is so much better. Have you tried jackfruit?

[sad_winslow]

It wouldn't entirely surprise me; I've heard that the majority received in the USA are first frozen. It was whole, though, and unfrozen when I got it. I want to find a hopefully better one and give it another try. The bites that were good were actually excellent.

Jackfruit, now, that shit is some amazing business. I was kinda floored at how good it was. i've had it fresh and had it dried, and it's good either way. I don't even know how to begin to describe the flavor, but mostly because it was quite a while ago and all i really remember is it being damn good, and also having an interesting texture.

i am hoping to the heavens that i get a new car tomorrow to replace my existing bald-tires-failing-electrical-brakes-dead-clutch-cylinders-busted-exhaust-falling-off hoopwagon, and then i can actually make the trips back to the asian markets again to pick up some more fascinating fruits, vegetables, and miscellaneous offal to try. jackfruit is right up on the top of the list, cause man it was good.

It wasn't that long ago that I learned exactly what "pork melts" were, and I still haven't quite worked up the cajones to try to cook some.

Originally Posted by Tulip

You must've eaten a thawed frozen durian. A stinky mush doesn't make a good eat. If you could afford it, try a fresh one. I guarantee you, it'll taste better. And the texture is so much better. Have you tried jackfruit?