I was having food talk with a friend when it was asked: what is the weirdest or most unusual thing you've ever eaten?

For me, tiger meat. Very tough, needed a lot of tenderizing before hand. Tasted mostly like other red meat. Definitely isn't something I'd have on a regular basis. I've not had it since that time - 1997. I distincitly remember listening to Emancipation while eating it, too.

Probably ostrich. It's delicious.

Frog's legs or as they were called at Caesar's Palace - Nymphs Thighs At Dawn.

This was well before my famously-documented War on Frogs, but feel free to joke about it anyway.

EmmaMcG said:

...I had frogs legs in France (because when in Rome, or Paris as the case may be) and the frogs legs tasted kind of the same as the rattlesnake. Mind you, both were deep fried....

I was going to list frog legs, but I figured tiger meat was more exotic. But I had them as a kid.

Grasshoppers and earthworms when I was traveling Southeast Asia.

Mostly you just taste the oyster sauce that they're dipped into. Pretty yummy.

None of the above i'd consider 'odd'. Well, maybe the earthworms a bit.
I have yet to try a whole living octopus or a pufferfish, or the Italian cheese from rotten flies. I think I better don't go into what i already had.

Rotten shark in Reykjavik, wouldn't have been able to choke it down without the Icelandic vodka.

When I was a kid my mother put this sort of round blob on my plate and everyone elses and my dads too.

Cows heart!!


I turned my nose up at it and my father said "there are starving children in China you should be thankful what's on your plate".

I said "well, give it to them then" - I almost got into trouble for saying that

After my parents left the table I snuck pieces of it to the family dog

Then I pretended and said I was finished. So I was allowed to leave the table.

TheFman said:

None of the above i'd consider 'odd'. Well, maybe the earthworms a bit.
I have yet to try a whole living octopus or a pufferfish, or the Italian cheese from rotten flies. I think I better don't go into what i already had.

I have tried Sannakji in Korea, recently killed and cut up octopus served with red chili paste and sesame oil. The legs were still moving with their muscles. Don't have the guts to try the live one, a whole one for that matter. Good luck when you do.

TrivialPursuit said:

EmmaMcG said:

...I had frogs legs in France (because when in Rome, or Paris as the case may be) and the frogs legs tasted kind of the same as the rattlesnake. Mind you, both were deep fried....

I was going to list frog legs, but I figured tiger meat was more exotic. But I had them as a kid.

Frog legs aren't really "exotic." They're quite often one of the options at traditional Friday fish fries, which are ubiquitous around here. As I recall, I was around 10 years old the first time I had them - and I've had them many times since.

luv4u said:

When I was a kid my mother put this sort of round blob on my plate and everyone elses and my dads too.

Cows heart!!


I turned my nose up at it and my father said "there are starving children in China you should be thankful what's on your plate".

I said "well, give it to them then" - I almost got into trouble for saying that

After my parents left the table I snuck pieces of it to the family dog

Then I pretended and said I was finished. So I was allowed to leave the table.

I've had that, too - and I actually dressed out the heart, myself. I haven't had it since - like most organ meats, it was a little ... uh ... "ripe" for my taste.

Genesia said:

I have had frogs legs and yes they taste like chicken.

I have also had escargots in garlic butter.

My assistant had a crawfish boil this past weekend. I don't like crawfish for the same reason I don't like shelled peanuts - way too much work for way too little food.

But what blew me away was how expensive those mudbugs are! They spent $500 just on crawfish to feed 11 people (they also had to buy the requisite potatoes and corn on the cob). It took 150 pounds of those buggers to feed 11 people. Of course, it also takes a few hours and a whole lot of mess to boil them.

WTF?!? They probably spent $50 per person for this. I could have taken them to the best steakhouse in Houston for that much - and someone else would do the cooking and cleaning!

RodeoSchro said:

My assistant had a crawfish boil this past weekend. I don't like crawfish for the same reason I don't like shelled peanuts - way too much work for way too little food.

But what blew me away was how expensive those mudbugs are! They spent $500 just on crawfish to feed 11 people (they also had to buy the requisite potatoes and corn on the cob). It took 150 pounds of those buggers to feed 11 people. Of course, it also takes a few hours and a whole lot of mess to boil them.

WTF?!? They probably spent $50 per person for this. I could have taken them to the best steakhouse in Houston for that much - and someone else would do the cooking and cleaning!

mud bugs

Well i once ate most of a granola bar that had worms in it(didn't see the worms until after taking a few bites). Other than that, i've eaten things like frogs legs, rabbit, and Chitterlings(pig intestines). Thats about it.

[Edited 4/23/19 18:20pm]

My grandpa used to like Rocky Mountain Oysters.

PennyPurple said:

My grandpa used to like Rocky Mountain Oysters.

nooooooooooo hell way!

PennyPurple said:

My grandpa used to like Rocky Mountain Oysters.

One time a friend of mine went to Spain and attended the bullfights. It was much more enjoyable than he thought it would be - the matador killed the bull but it was somehow majestic. In a good mood, my friend went to the restaurant right across the street.

"Let me have the specialty of the house!" he said, and a little while later the waiter brought him a plate with two meatballs and assorted vegetables. It was the best meal he'd ever had! He told the waiter so and the waiter said, "You have been given a true delicacy. Those were the testicles from this evening's bull!"

My friend was surprised but the greatness of the meal could not be disputed. In fact, it was so great that the next night he went to another event, but returned to the same restaurant and asked for the specialty of the house once again.

The same dish was brought out, but the meatballs weren't nearly as big and truth be told, not nearly as tasty. When my friend asked the waiter about the disparity in the two meals, the waiter looked at him and said, "My friend - the bull does not always lose".

RodeoSchro said:

PennyPurple said:

My grandpa used to like Rocky Mountain Oysters.

One time a friend of mine went to Spain and attended the bullfights. It was much more enjoyable than he thought it would be - the matador killed the bull but it was somehow majestic. In a good mood, my friend went to the restaurant right across the street.

"Let me have the specialty of the house!" he said, and a little while later the waiter brought him a plate with two meatballs and assorted vegetables. It was the best meal he'd ever had! He told the waiter so and the waiter said, "You have been given a true delicacy. Those were the testicles from this evening's bull!"

My friend was surprised but the greatness of the meal could not be disputed. In fact, it was so great that the next night he went to another event, but returned to the same restaurant and asked for the specialty of the house once again.

The same dish was brought out, but the meatballs weren't nearly as big and truth be told, not nearly as tasty. When my friend asked the waiter about the disparity in the two meals, the waiter looked at him and said, "My friend - the bull does not always lose".

luv4u said:

PennyPurple said:

My grandpa used to like Rocky Mountain Oysters.

nooooooooooo hell way!

It made me gag just thinking about it.

RodeoSchro said:

My assistant had a crawfish boil this past weekend. I don't like crawfish for the same reason I don't like shelled peanuts - way too much work for way too little food.

But what blew me away was how expensive those mudbugs are! They spent $500 just on crawfish to feed 11 people (they also had to buy the requisite potatoes and corn on the cob). It took 150 pounds of those buggers to feed 11 people. Of course, it also takes a few hours and a whole lot of mess to boil them.

WTF?!? They probably spent $50 per person for this. I could have taken them to the best steakhouse in Houston for that much - and someone else would do the cooking and cleaning!

I tried crawfish (or crayfish) for the first time a couple of weeks ago and was really disappointed. The meat to shell ratio isn´t worth the effort of cooking and peeling them, regular shrimp tastes so much better and has more meat, too. And yes, I find crawfish comparatively expensive because most other crustaceans taste much better and are a bit cheaper, too. At least around here.

As far as taste goes, nothing comes even close to tiny little North German shrimp caught in the North Sea. But they´ve gotten more expensive in the last couple of years due to a certain kind of fish that eats the shrimp. I think the fish is an invasive species.

TrivialPursuit said:

I was having food talk with a friend when it was asked: what is the weirdest or most unusual thing you've ever eaten?

For me, tiger meat. Very tough, needed a lot of tenderizing before hand. Tasted mostly like other red meat. Definitely isn't something I'd have on a regular basis. I've not had it since that time - 1997. I distincitly remember listening to Emancipation while eating it, too.

Where and how did you get tiger meat? During your Navy years? Aren´t they a protected species? Was it legal to eat tiger meat?

I´ve tried a couple of things that some people might find exotic but that are perfectly normal food in some countries, such as mutton tripe soup which is kind of a hangover food in Turkish cuisine and tastes delicious when cooked right.

I´ve also tried ostrich but found it very close to beef or venison.

And I´ve tried kangaroo meat and crocodile at a restaurant that had a special "Australia platter".

Both tasted ok but I don´t think I´d eat crocodile or kangaroo again.

I used to eat octopus but I like those intelligent animals so much that I stopped eating them.

I´ve also tried grasshoppers in Thailand but they had no real taste other than the oyster sauce they were sprinkled with, and had almost no meat.....it was a very crunchy and almost bland experience.

I tried sheep´s brain when I was a kid but I would not eat it today.

RodeoSchro said:

PennyPurple said:

My grandpa used to like Rocky Mountain Oysters.

One time a friend of mine went to Spain and attended the bullfights. It was much more enjoyable than he thought it would be - the matador killed the bull but it was somehow majestic. In a good mood, my friend went to the restaurant right across the street.

"Let me have the specialty of the house!" he said, and a little while later the waiter brought him a plate with two meatballs and assorted vegetables. It was the best meal he'd ever had! He told the waiter so and the waiter said, "You have been given a true delicacy. Those were the testicles from this evening's bull!"

My friend was surprised but the greatness of the meal could not be disputed. In fact, it was so great that the next night he went to another event, but returned to the same restaurant and asked for the specialty of the house once again.

The same dish was brought out, but the meatballs weren't nearly as big and truth be told, not nearly as tasty. When my friend asked the waiter about the disparity in the two meals, the waiter looked at him and said, "My friend - the bull does not always lose".

Sorry, sometimes I'm a bit slow...

It was the bullfighter's balls he was about to eat?

S2DG said:

RodeoSchro said:

One time a friend of mine went to Spain and attended the bullfights. It was much more enjoyable than he thought it would be - the matador killed the bull but it was somehow majestic. In a good mood, my friend went to the restaurant right across the street.

"Let me have the specialty of the house!" he said, and a little while later the waiter brought him a plate with two meatballs and assorted vegetables. It was the best meal he'd ever had! He told the waiter so and the waiter said, "You have been given a true delicacy. Those were the testicles from this evening's bull!"

My friend was surprised but the greatness of the meal could not be disputed. In fact, it was so great that the next night he went to another event, but returned to the same restaurant and asked for the specialty of the house once again.

The same dish was brought out, but the meatballs weren't nearly as big and truth be told, not nearly as tasty. When my friend asked the waiter about the disparity in the two meals, the waiter looked at him and said, "My friend - the bull does not always lose".

Sorry, sometimes I'm a bit slow...

It was the bullfighter's balls he was about to eat?

No no no no!

He had ALREADY eaten the bullfighter's balls.

KoolEaze said:

Where and how did you get tiger meat? During your Navy years? Aren´t they a protected species? Was it legal to eat tiger meat?

I don't know if they're protected, or the way it got cut up and delved out. My friend Bob had a friend who gave him quite a few tiger steaks. It needed a lot of tenderizing or else it was just really tough. It was lean, but flavorful if prepped well.

It was a decade after my Navy days.

TrivialPursuit said:

KoolEaze said:

Where and how did you get tiger meat? During your Navy years? Aren´t they a protected species? Was it legal to eat tiger meat?

I don't know if they're protected, or the way it got cut up and delved out. My friend Bob had a friend who gave him quite a few tiger steaks. It needed a lot of tenderizing or else it was just really tough. It was lean, but flavorful if prepped well.

It was a decade after my Navy days.

So this happened in the USA?

Then again, I just read the other day that there are more captive tigers in the US than in forests in the rest of the world.

So how does one tenderize a tiger steak? Did you beat it with one of those wooden things that look like a judge´s hammer? Like a gavel or mallet? Or was it the marinade that tenderized it?