What is the most unusual meal you've experienced or cooked?

[Claire]

One day, I was sitting at home in our townhouse in Hawaii, with my mom and husband (Daddy came a few days later). I got a call from a friend: Did I want a boar? Her husband had killed a couple on a hunting trip, and it was a lot more than she wanted. It was already gutted, skinned, etc. At the time, I happened to have a freezer, so, said, "Sure". He brought it in, still warm, and I hacked it into quarters and froze it on the spot. Most of it I made into barbecue sandwiches and the more tender parts into kabobs.

My mother is still amazed that I managed to wrangle that hog into the freezer in no time flat (oh, come on, it wasn't that big, seriously, it was tiny).

 

[ellakav]

about 15 years ago my parents got rooked into this ostrich-raising
thing. they joined a few other couples and purchased these birds
because the thing was to raise them and butcher them for their meat.
they also collected their eggs, which were roughly the size of a football!
actually I think they told me that one ostrich egg was equivalent to 3-5
hen's eggs. but I have had ostrich egg omelets and ostrich burgers.
the meat as I remember was like a very, very lean ground beef. it
wasn't the worst thing I ever ate like you would think it would be.

 

[Claire]

Oh, no; ostrich (at least what I've had) and emu are something like beef, but so darned lean that it doesn't have as much flavor. I've had both, and they were ok, but not very flavorfull (they were farmed, not wild).

 

[Claire]

Oh, one time I was with a friend, showing her Honolulu's farmers' market. She was, like me, a military wife who'd been around the world a few times, and asked me if I'd ever had a duck egg. In fact, I hadn't. I'm not much of an egg eater anyway, and she bought me one to take home and cook. The yolk was much more yellow (almost, now yes, orange), but the flavor not that much different from the farm-raised chicken eggs I'd eaten. Even though they had them for sale, the ostrich and emu eggs I never tried. Not out of cowardice,but because I wasn't in a position to cook them.

 

[ChefJune]

about 15 years ago my parents got rooked into this ostrich-raising
thing. they joined a few other couples and purchased these birds
because the thing was to raise them and butcher them for their meat.
they also collected their eggs, which were roughly the size of a football!
actually I think they told me that one ostrich egg was equivalent to 3-5
hen's eggs. but I have had ostrich egg omelets and ostrich burgers.
the meat as I remember was like a very, very lean ground beef. it
wasn't the worst thing I ever ate like you would think it would be.

Why would you think ostrich meat would taste terrible? I rather liked it, but it seems the craze has passed, and there doesn't seem to be much of it around any more. I have also enjoyed emu and kangaroo. Yes, they are very lean, so you have to be careful NOT to overcook them, as they will become stringy and tough in that case (that means no well-done meat) and marinades help to boost the flavor. Kinda like filet mignon. Its leanness also renders it less flavorful than the more fatty cuts of meat, and it doesn't do well when cooked to well-done.

 

[ellakav]

Why would you think ostrich meat would taste terrible? I rather liked it, but it seems the craze has passed, and there doesn't seem to be much of it around any more. I have also enjoyed emu and kangaroo. Yes, they are very lean, so you have to be careful NOT to overcook them, as they will become stringy and tough in that case (that means no well-done meat) and marinades help to boost the flavor. Kinda like filet mignon. Its leanness also renders it less flavorful than the more fatty cuts of meat, and it doesn't do well when cooked to well-done.

oh, I don't know...maybe I thought it would be terrible because they
are huge, ugly, mean and totally unappealing looking. while the meat
was okay and not the worst thing I ever had, as I stated, it was rather
bland and I couldn't quite get past the fact of what I was eating.
you do have to eat it quite rare as well, and I don't like rare meat.
when I was young I used to eat it that way because my Dad liked
it that way, and I wanted to be like him. I'd tell him to cook my
burger or steak like his and I ate it. I can't believe I did that. everyone
has different tastes, but I don't do raw, rare, or risky now.
my folks had this one bird in their group named Sadie and she was
just massive. and she was meee-EAN!! I couldn't believe
something that evil and nasty could even be edible.

 

[linicx]

One night a couple of months ago I wast tired of cooking and bored. I went to the grocers freezer and picked up a shrimp ring, supreme pizza and chocolate ice cream. The only work I did was thaw the shrimp and make some cocktail sauce. My dear spouse was shocked. We hadn't eaten pizza or shrimp for at least five years due to dietary restrictions. .

 

[recipedirect]

Iguana and Goat. I like the goat and eat it in Bonaire every year but the Iguana I won't try again. Rattlesnake is another on my done with list!

 

[SRL]

Iguana and Goat. I like the goat and eat it in Bonaire every year but the Iguana I won't try again. Rattlesnake is another on my done with list!

Now iguana is a new one on me! But, I don't suppose it's much different than alligator, which I had a number of times as an appetizer at the Key West Bar & Grill when I lived in South Carolina. I've had rattlesnake as an appetizer at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo.

Goat is pretty common around here and I actually like cabrito much more than I do lamb.

One do-not-repeat experience for me was balut, a Filipino snack that's a boiled 17- to 21-day embryonic duck egg, eaten cold with vinegar or lime and salt. But that, too, is very common in SoCal.

And for some reason, I can't bring myself to eat tongue or brains, although they're really quite widely enjoyed and I don't have a problem with other organ meats.

 

[bigdaddy3k]

I have eaten the Mexico City, street vendor, worm taco. Not really a worm, its the same "worm" as in old bottles of tequila. Ehh, it was no great shakes. It did however turn me on to cabbage instead of lettuce in my mexican fair. Shredded cabbage stays crunchy much longer and isn't as wimpy in regardes to temperature. In other words it doesn't wilt as easily as lettuce.

 

[Silversage]

Alligator, goat, antelope, tongue come to mind. None are that unsual, but you don't find them in the grocery store every day!

 

[ErikC]

Kangaroo....really. I grilled it like a small steak, and I remember it being rather tough.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

A completely raw seafood meal in Pusan Korea that tasted terrible to me, was the strangest meal I've ever eaten. And balut in the Phillipines isn't cooked. It's a egg, chicken usually, with the chicken partially formed inside, and burried for two years. Then it's dug up, the egg-shell is broken, and the insides are sucked down. Nope, I couldn't bring myself to try that one. And I'm a very adventurous eater.

Oh, wait. The strangest thing I ever ate was as a 9 year old child, when a buddy talked me into roasting an earthworm in a burning paper milk carton that I had just emptied, and then eating the worm. That is by far the most horific flavor I've ever had in my mouth.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[CharlieD]

Gee, I have to think about really strange or adventures foods, it’s been years, more like decades, since I’ve tried anything like that.

The only thing I can think of would be Turtle soup which was excellent, pigeons in many forms, my grandma used to make them all the time, taste like chicken or even better. Oh, here I remember really weird stuff Yong Hedgehog soup and grilled squirrel, I did not like very much, though soup had very interesting flavor. I suppose the frog legs are not that weird, neither is crocodile or snakes. I suppose nutria can qualify as weird, but taste really good if done right it taste like rabbit.

I actually have to agree about ostrich meat, I had number of times and never liked it.
But what I do like is wild game, if done right it’s yum. But again, the last time I’ve tasted anything remotely weird was at least 25 years ago.

 

[katybar22]

Gee, I have to think about really strange or adventures foods, it’s been years, more like decades, since I’ve tried anything like that.

The only thing I can think of would be Turtle soup which was excellent

(politely snipped for space)

About 10 years ago, hubby and I went down to Brennan's in New Orleans and had absolutely the most fantastic breakfast. And it started with a bowl of Turtle Soup with a very very generous shot of sherry. What a way to start your day!! Thanks for reminding me of that, Charlie!!! I guess that's about as adventurous as I get, although I have had emu, and liked it, but I think I liked the sauce better.