So, I’m doing research the other day for a totally throwaway line in my current WIP (the question arose for my world-traveler heroine–where would she buy a silk robe?) and I end up, somehow (no telling, honestly) on this website…
But before you click over and read…be prepared. It’s not for the weak of stomach.
Eating silkworms
You don’t actually see anyone eating silkworm pupae on this site…it’s just a very vivid (and VERY funny) description, with some pictures, of the author’s experimentation with this Asian …um…delicacy.
Makes me wonder sometimes.
I’m a foodie and all, but I think in the US, we don’t eat very many weird things that aren’t eaten generally everywhere else. I mean, okay, we eat squid, but that’s no biggie. We generally eat it fried with a spicy marinara. Not exactly hard to stomach. (In fact, it’s quite delicious!)
But it makes me wonder how other cultures view our food…are they simply grossed out by the amount of MSG and other chemicals in our plethora of processed foods? Do American staples like cheeseburgers or apple pie give people in other places the willies?
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? Have you been abroad? Have you ever been offered or eaten anything truly strange…but maybe wasn’t half bad? Or was it awful?
The weirdest thing I’ve ever eaten is octopus in its own ink. Okay, it could have been squid. I was very young and actually liked it. I wouldn’t touch it now!
By all reports, Julie Leto was a sweet child once, somewhat shy, preferring to play quietly in her room making up stories. However, being raised with three brothers in a loud, primarily Italian household did have its influences and Julie discovered her inner tough girl. That’s probably why most of her heroines kick serious butt. Writing sassy heroines has worked out, as she’s sold over forty books to four publishers featuring strong, confident women. Julie lives in Florida with her daughter, a spoiled dachshund, a haughty lynx-point Siamese and a wide range of relatives all within driving distance.
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Probably calamari is the weirdest thing I’ve eaten, and oysters, and I’m willing to try new things, but no grasshoppers or really bugs in general. Shudder.
I would try alligator, just haven’t. The octupus in its own ink? Probably not. Now get rid of the ink and yeah, I’d try that.
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I’ve had gator. I guess living in Florida, we don’t think of it as weird.
It’s actually pretty good. Like a meaty fish, if I remember correctly. I don’t eat it every day!
I love oysters. I can still remember the best ones I ever had. I’m such a foodie.
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Frogs Legs, I can remember when I was a kid my mom cooked some and they were jumping around in the skillet. I wouldn’t eat them then but as an adult I did try them and they weren’t bad.
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I’m pretty sure I’ve had frogs legs, but I can’t remember. Maybe I haven’t…they sell them at my grocery store, but I can’t imagine preparing them myself!
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Julie I think the strangest thing I had to eat was Beef tongue it was sitting in the pan boiling when I was a kid at the sitters and I asked her what we were having for lunch and she said beef tongue and showed it to me. YUCK I was so sick I said well I am not hungry for lunch and she said well everyone is going to try it. I got sick right away and said not me. I had her call my mom to come and get me but not before I had to eat a piece that was just plain mean, I threw up on her after that and I never went back there again. LOL
Another strange thing to eat is Beef liver with onions I know some people love it but I think it is just plain gross my mom used to make me eat it and when she wasn’t looking I would feed it to the dog. Shame on me that poor dog probably had a belly ache.
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Bren, I with you on beef liver. It’s one of the like FIVE foods I won’t eat. I do, oddly enough, like chicken livers. Maybe it’s in the preparation? The chicken livers I had were wrapped in bacon…and let’s face it, everything is better when it’s wrapped in bacon!
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Funny you say that- I had beef liver and onions for lunch yesterday. Hubby and I both like it but won’t cook it, the smell of it cooking turns us off. Go figure.
But I won’t touch chicken livers. LOL
One of these days I will try Haggis though.
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I’m such a weenie…
Cher
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This is an icon we rarely get to use…I was wondering who’d be first!
I can’t watch when he’d eating weird things either, especially if they are still alive!
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Cher…one of the reasons I refuse to watch “Survivor’ is the eating challenges (and I hate it when one of my favorite shows, “The Amazing Race” does a food challenge). I can’t watch.
Me, my friends told me I was eating kangaroo (I am still not sure if it is true or not). I don’t even want to think about it. I don’t eat much beef and I can’t even think of it. When my aunt and uncle had a cow (and then killed it)….since I knew the cow, I couldn’t eat it. I can’t eat something I know. Now, that’s wimpy.
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Katie, it might be wimpy, but I couldn’t eat a cow I knew, either! In fact, I used to love Gordon Ramsey’s show on BBC (can’t remember the name) where he not only cooks, but shows scenes from his home garden and such with his kids. They’re always raising animals for slaughter…that part doesn’t bother me, but the animals get names! How can you eat something you treated, at least partially, like a pet??
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That is the main reason I wouldn’t watch Survivor too — because of the weird food they eat! I do watch it on The Amazing Race though because it doesn’t happen all the time. I’m just not that adventurous!
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I loved the link. I lived in Korea when I was a kid and remember sidewalk vendors selling silkworm larva in paper cones. Never tried it myself, but I did snack on dried squid.
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Wasn’t the link hilarious? If nothing else, the writing was fantastic. Dried squid doesn’t sound so bad…but definitely on the strange side!
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The weirdest thing I ever ate was rooster’s comb. We were in Russia, before the coup and it was for lunch. It was very cheewy and grissly. I’ve also tried frog legs, buffalo, and snake.
Also, I downed the worms in tequila one night. It was hard to eat dinner after that. lol
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I did try octopus once(not in it’s own ink) and didn’t really like it. Guess that is the weirdest thing I’ve ever tried.
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More than weird enough. Funny, but don’t you ever ask yourself…who’s the first person who thought of eating that? Not octopus…it’s close enough to fish to make the connection…but who is the first person who thought about eating silkworm larvae or even oysters, for that matter? Who opened up that shell and said, “Hmmm…that looks tasty!” Because as much as I love oysters, they are not exactly visually appealing!
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I guess the weirdest gross thing I’ve eaten was Rocky Mountain Oysters or Calf Fries as we call them here in Texas. I’ve also heard them called Montana Tendergroins.
I did it on a dare years ago and would never do it again.
Tami
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Calamari is the werdest thing that I have ever eaten and that was enough for me.
I am going to go on my very first trip out of the country in September and I am worried about the food. I am very picky eater so a week in Jamacia should turn out to be every interesting.
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After reading that, I think I’m going to throw up my breakfast
However, that guy’s blog was LMAO funny!!!!
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The weirdest thing I’ve ever eaten is pigeon. Let me preface that by saying I was traveling in France with my father and sister at the time. My sister spoke fluent French. I dropped out after one year but was determined to show my skill one night while ordering off the menu (which did not have English subtitles). I looked under Poulet…chicken. How bad could it be? My father questioned my order but I stuck by my decision. When my entree came I saw red meat on the plate and declared the waiter had made a mistake. Between chuckles my dad and sister told me that I’d ordered pigeon and come to find out, pigeon is a red meat bird. After I got over the visual of all the pigeons we’d seen flocking and pooping around the many tourist attractions we’d visited, I have to say it wasn’t that bad. Would I eat it again? Not by choice. Oh and I’ve also eaten Foie Grois, goose livers, which is actually quite tasty.
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I lived in Alaska for several years, and so ate bear, beaver, and moose, plus caribou in the form of summer sausage. However, being allergic to fish and seafood eliminates a lot of the weirder foods people might expect me to try — especially since I also react to things that eat fish and seafood. For example, if I want Omega3 enhanced eggs, I have to find the vegetarian ones, and I wouldn’t try alligator because of their diet.
I lived in Japan for a while and had to be especially careful and totally boring — except when I got to Kyoto, where the historically heavy population of Buddhist monks spawned a delicious vegetarian cuisine based on fu (wheat gluten) and, of course, tofu.
On liver: My mom used to do calves liver once a month, heavily smothered in onions and bacon. I ate it and tolerated it and even enjoyed it a little. I tried doing it once after I left home. Never, ever, ever again. //shudder//
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I so very much don’t eat too many weird foods. (see above comment) I am a traditionalist. I like my beef and chicken and turkey.
I hate fish. Any way, shape or form. I like crab, lobster, shrimp and scallops. that’s it. I’ve tried squid. ICK!
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Hey Jules, fun topic today. I am not really that adventurous when it comes to what goes in my stomach. I eat what I recognize, and that is about it. I know that I miss out on some things that are probably really delicious, but I don’t go there.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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When it comes to food I am pretty adventurous and have eaten a variety of things. My dad was a hunter & fisherman, we would not think of not eating what he brought home! Although that said, he finally quit duck hunting as no matter what mom tried they had such a wild flavor no one liked them! I love liver & onions, especially venison liver. Some of my friends and I used to get together with a group of us to have liver & onions after one of the husbands and been hunting. yum! We had such fun. Anyway, I’ve eaten pheasant, duck, squirrel, elk, antelope, squid, crawfish/crayfish, sweetbreads, brains (no thanks), heart & tongue
, bear (I think, it was ages ago). When my daughter & her family lived in Colorado they bought buffalo which is very tasty, much better for you than beef and yummy. Oysters 
I tried them again a few years ago to see if my taste had changed–it did not! When I hung out with friends in bars many, many years ago (I was in my 20′s) I loved pickled eggs. Haven’t had one in over 40 years!! Guess you have heard enough from me on this subject! 
Fun subject Julie.
:rain:
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LOL I haven’t seen anyone mention escargot – snails. Love them. Of course it’s the butter and garlic sauce that really sells them!!!
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LOL I haven’t seen anyone mention escargot – snails. Love them. Of course it’s the butter and garlic sauce that really sells them!!!
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opps sorry about that double post