What foods you don't ever want to see on your plate?

[buckytom]

I don't want to see land snails, freshwater snails or sea snails on my plate! If we ever discover space snails I don't want to see them either!

But I'd like to see some squids on my plate! Particularly in a Thai recipe.

i love pla muk yang, or thai style flash grilled squid over a simple salad with a wedge of lime and sweet chili sauce.

 

[Addie]

thanks for the explanation, glc. it's funny how easy misinformation can be spread unintentionally.

if i recall correctly, the people in the show literally were collecting snails from right around their houses and gardens. dozens at a time after a heavy rain, and like you said, kind of free range. it was almost a snail infestation from the pictures.

i know from my own garden that all you need to do is leave out some wooden planks in a loose pile near a lawn sprinkler to collect them.

I would rather pour salt on them. Then I watch them melt into nothing. Nasty, slimy little critters.

 

[buckytom]

well, of course you're supposed to season them first...

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

what other kinds of fish are used there, bolas?

Cod, Rock Salmon and whale heads

 

[Addie]

Cod, Rock Salmon and whale heads

We have a restaurant that imports whale meat from Japan and if it is your birthday, you can get a free order. It is located right on the Fish Pier. I would throw my plate right back into the sea if it came to me with whale on it.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I don't want to see whale on my plate, or any other mammal that lives in the sea.

 

[Timothy]

I don't want to see whale on my plate, or any other mammal that lives in the sea.

I agree, Greg. I have absolutely no desire to eat whale.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I don't want to see any fugu on my plate. This is a fish served as sashimi in Japan that contains neurotoxins, which gives a "high" when consumed in proper quantities, or can be lethal if improperly prepared. (Fugu chefs are required to have a government license, to ensure the safety of the public.)

If I want something that gets me high I'll have a few glasses of wine, thank you.

 

[Timothy]

I don't want to see any fugu on my plate. This is a fish served as sashimi in Japan that contains neurotoxins, which gives a "high" when consumed in proper quantities, or can be lethal if improperly prepared. (Fugu chefs are required to have a government license, to ensure the safety of the public.)

If I want something that gets me high I'll have a few glasses of wine, thank you.

Again, I agree 100% with you Greg. I don't tinker with foods that are deadly to people. There are too many other foods to enjoy that pose no risk at all.

 

[Lil Ms Sueshine]

I grew up in an Asian household and I've seen a bunch of odd things being cooked. I USE to eat dinuguan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinuguan) until my cousin told me what it was. Needless to say, it has not graced my plate since I was about 8. On the more normal food side, I CANNOT stand green beans. I think it's a cruel joke that my family has me make the green bean casserole every Thanksgiving :P

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Oh yeah, blood pudding. It doesn't sound attractive to me either. Asians eat a very wide variety of foods. My local Asian market (Vietnamese owned) has coagulated blood (if that's the correct term) in the meat market, probably pork blood. It doesn't bother me to see it there but I'm never tempted to buy any. I'll also pass on the pork ears, pork snouts, pork stomach, pork hooves and even pork uterus. I admire that Asians use practically the entire animal, and I admire the wide variety and range of foods that they eat. They are certainly adventuresome! Although growing up in the culture that stuff probably doesn't seem odd at all, just commonplace. I bet I'd like all of them if nobody told me what I'm eating.


I was watching a TV program a few evenings ago, on alligators. As I watched the huge beasts swim it seemed to me that they probably have lots of meat because of their huge muscles. I kind of wondered what they taste like although I'm not tempted to try them. Probably tastes like chicken...

I don't want to see any alligator on my plate, and I don't want to see any pork uteruses either!

 

[taxlady]

I grew up in an Asian household and I've seen a bunch of odd things being cooked. I USE to eat dinuguan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinuguan) until my cousin told me what it was. Needless to say, it has not graced my plate since I was about 8. On the more normal food side, I CANNOT stand green beans. I think it's a cruel joke that my family has me make the green bean casserole every Thanksgiving :P

That dinuguan sounds yummy.

 

[Timothy]

That dinuguan sounds yummy.

That's what I thought too, taxlady.

Kinda like Menudo, but sounds thicker. Like a stew maybe.

Nothing in it I don't like...

But heck, I"ll eat almost anything that anyone eats once in front of me.

 

[Andy M.]

Greg, having watched many episodes of Bizarre Foods, I can say with confidence that parts of the pig/cow/sheep/etc such as you mentioned are consumed in similar dishes around the world.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

That's quite possible Andy, and the only thing that's lacking here is my culinary knowledge which is restricted mostly to US, EU and Asia. Nonetheless I'm quite impressed with the huge variety of foods that Asians eat, from what I've seen in Asian markets, and from my familiarity with Japanese cuisine. For example, I'm always amazed at all the surprises I see on sushi menus, lots of it stuff that I'll admit is a bit too extreme for me. However I suspect that only a small percentage of Americans would even consider eating raw fish. I'll bet a Japanese who had an aversion to raw fish would be considered very odd in Japan.

Menudo, a Latino food made from beef stomach for those unfamiliar with it, probably wouldn't be something most non-Latino Americans would like to eat, but is another example of using up the entire animal for all it's nutrient value. I suspect most of the beef stomach and other parts of beef and pork end up in dog food in America. I bet if I looked closer in my local Latino markets I'd discover a lot of the same parts sold in local Asian markets.

A good example of what you say, how many cultures make blood sausage? I'll bet a lot although I can't name them. I think blood has been used traditionally in a lot of sausages that aren't blood sausage per se. And as far as I know the traditional sausage casing is intestines. How many people have eaten the intestines and not even known it?

You could write a book on all the things I don't know. In fact they already wrote it, it's called an encyclopedia!

 

[Addie]

That green bean casserole is not a real American holiday tradition. It was made up by Campnell Soup Company to increase sales for their Cream of Mushroom soup. It was printed in time for Thanksgiving in their ads in such a way that folks began to think that it was unAmerican to not make it for this time of year. Campbell also owns the French Onion brand. If they had owned a green bean product at the time they would have printed their own name brand of that also. I would rather make my own cream of anything recipe. Less salt yet more flavor. I make cream carrots with white sauce and organic carrots with the tops still on them. The kind you have to peel. I hate the texture of those little peeled carrots. They have been treated with chemicals to keep them looking fresh. I will do my own work, thank you.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I agree, the Campbells/French's green bean casserole not being a real American tradition, except of course in the minds of Campbell marketing executives. I've made it 2-3 times for Thanksgiving or Christmas, and thought it quite good, but I suspect I'd get tired of it if I cooked it often. I think it would be a good casserole to cook when you're cooking a large complicated holiday dinner by yourself and want to simplify your job so that you don't have to spend the entire day on your feet cooking. Most of us would rather have time to visit with our company and family while we're cooking our holiday dinner.

I've often thought that recipes that require a specific name brand or a manufacturer's unique product aren't real recipes, although I've got a few recipes exactly like that. I don't feel good about a recipe until I've formulated it using nothing but basic generic ingredients.

 

[buckytom]

both of my ancestries (norwegian and irish) make blood pudding/sausage. i have to say that i've enjoyed both types.

it sounds disgusting but it doesn't taste bad. it really just adds a sort of food colouring and a slight mineral taste, but if no one told you what was in the sausage, i doubt anyone would guess.

 

[Andy M.]

I agree, the Campbells/French's green bean casserole not being a real American tradition, except of course in the minds of Campbell marketing executives...

Are you suggesting it's not real because it has origins outside the USA or that it's not real because it came from a corporate kitchen?

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Are you suggesting it's not real because it has origins outside the USA or that it's not real because it came from a corporate kitchen?

It's not from USA? I didn't know that.