Extreme Cuisine & Strange Ingredients

[Darb]

Last night I had a special treat at my local sushi haunt: whole broiled squid heads, in a special thick sauce of squid liver, squid ink, and dark miso paste. The chef sliced the caps into medallions (which he cross-hatched with his knife, to prevent curling during broiling), and took the heads and removed the eyeballs and beaks ... then painted both with the sauce broiled them until just set ... and served them with more of the same sauce.

One serving is 2 med squid, which is plenty, because it has a very intense flavor/texture profile. More would be overkill. Anyway, I loved it.

[Darb]

I was at the gym this morning, and while I was on the ellypical trainer, I was flipping through a few articles of interest. One was an article in GQ magazine on extreme cuisine, in which the author went on an extreme cuisine safari in New York City recently. There were a few noteworthy items in there worth mentioning here:

YES:

• Chitlins: Stewed southern style pig's intestines. I like many (but not all) intestinal and stomach-based dishes, so I'd definitely order that.
  
  Ginea Pig: In this case, the dish described was stewed. Hey, as far as I'm concerned, it doesnt look all that different from rabbit. As long as they take the head and feet off before putting it in the pot, i'm good to go.
  
  Pig's trotters, milanese: I happen to love slow-simmered smoked pork hocks - in fact, you can't make a good authentic tuscan white bean and escarole without one. However, the version described was milanese style version, invented by the irrepressable mario batali, in which poached pig trotters are sliced, breaded and lightly sauteed ... most of the fat is still in it. I'd be perfectly happy to taste it, and I'm sure it's yummy, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to order ... definite heart attack fodder there, cholesterol wise.

MAYBE (Depending on who's with me at the time):

• Sezchuan Style Pizzle: This involves slicing and sauteeing a bull's weiner in chili paste and onions. As a guy, I'm sure I'd have serious sympathy pains for the bull, but I'd probably be willing to give it a whirl. It's not something I'd ever order, except as part of a group of friends on a food safari. This is the kind of cuisine that's probably popular among man-hating feminist bull-dykes.
  
  Prairie Oysters: sliced, battered and deep fried bull's testicles. As with pizzle, it's not something I'd ever order, except on a food safari with friends. Ditto on the feminists crack above.
  
  Chicken's Anuses: If I remember the article, I believe this was listed as Korean, and that they're deep fried, like calamari. I think I'd probably pass on that. However, rather than listing it under "NO", I moved it back up to "maybe" - if only because I might consider it if a non-trivial monetary bet were involved, with friends at the table.

NO:

• Poultry Embryos: If I recall, this was listed as an equadorian thing. Apparently, it involves taking fertilized duck (or chicken) eggs, letting them develop for about 2 weeks, then blanching them and eating them soft-boiled & runny. And yes, the embryo is partially developed, and a bit crunchy. I think I'll pass on that one - but that's a bit extreme, even for me.

[Kilgore Trout]

Brad, on your "Yes" list I'd try any of them.

As to the "Maybes," I'd hesitate on the first and third. I've had the second, and it followed the "tastes like chicken" rule. Heck, under the same circumstances ( ) I might even try #1, but not likely #3.

I'm in total agreement with you, Brad, on the "No."

[violetblue]

Brad, on your "Yes" list I'd try any of them.

As to the "Maybes," I'd hesitate on the first and third. I've had the second, and it followed the "tastes like chicken" rule. Heck, under the same circumstances ( ) I might even try #1, but not likely #3.

I'm in total agreement with you, Brad, on the "No."

Prairie Oysters are called Rocky Mountain Oysters in my neck of the woods. When I saw Brad's post, I immediately thought of Anthony Bourdain, the king of extreme eating. Which led me to this article from the 1994 New York magazine: http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/foo ... s/n_10380/ which, mais oui, has several mentions of Mr. Bourdain.

[tollbaby]

I've seen Prairie Oysters prepared..... I've seen people eat them. It's not something I'm ever liable to do myself. YUCK. Same goes with the "pizzle" (ok, just the word makes me think dirty thoughts...) Now, not being a man-hating feminist bull-dyke, I'm not likely to want to eat anything comprised of, or resembling, boy-parts

I'd try the chicken anuses.... I've tried tripe (didn't like it)... but it was presented to me with the phrase "Here, this is a**hole lining - eat it!" (not entirely accurate, but meh - I wasn't going to split hairs). I ate it. A bite, anyway

I've tried guinea pig.... Do you have any clue how BIG those things get in some places? Yum. Good eatin' (funny, Tim and I were just talking about this last night LOL).

Chitlins..... um.... I'm not big on organ meat as a whole. It tends to be a bit too greasy for my taste, and I just don't like the texture. I'd try a bite, but I'm not guaranteeing any more.

As for anything involving pork hocks, I know I won't like it. My mom has always made a pork hock and meatball stew for Christmas dinner, and it has ALWAYS made me sick to my stomach. I can't even stand the texture of the meat. Blech.

I tried escargot a few weeks ago.... I've been trying to branch out and try new things rather than just avoiding them because they seem gross. I didn't like the escargot (partially because I kept mentally seeing that scene in Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets where Ron's puking up slugs)... I tried pickled pork tongue, and although the texture was strange, I ate several pieces and it wasn't bad. I tried caviar. YUM. New favorite LOL Tried "riettes au canard".... I thought this would taste like pâté, but it's NOTHING like it (For one thing, there's no liver or kidney in it, just meat!). It was FANTASTIC!!!!

I even ate a piece of cheese and mushroom pie at an SCA event a little while back. Now, I've never made a secret of the fact that I don't like mushrooms, but it had been so long since I'd eaten one, I wasn't sure if I just didn't like them because I'd gotten sick eating them once or if I genuinely didn't like them. Now I know. I ate the entire slice that was served to me (basically whole button mushrooms with cheese sprinkled over top, baked in a pie crust).... I just don't like them. I don't like the taste, I don't like the texture... blech.

But I'm being a grownup and trying new things.

[daetara]

i was reading through the posts and was all excited cause nobody had mentioned the weirdest thing i've eaten...and then halfway through brad had to burst my bubble. i've had pickled jellyfish (although, looking at the time stamp, i might have actually had them before he did... ). as i reported to everyone who inquired, it felt like jello that's been sitting out too long - ever so slightly rubbery. tasted like the sauce or whatever that it was served in.

i've had cow tongue, and heart, and remember greatly disliking both. in their defense, however, i was very young and they were probably not prepared in the most ideal fashion. i'm a big fan of deer from my childhood visits to relatives in kentucky, and am not a fan of froglegs or snapper soup or boiled mutton for the same reason. ordered some pho one day and they put in tendon by mistake. following my motto (i'll try almost any food once) i ate a bit. very strange. no discernable taste, kinda felt like trying to bite down on cotton candy - no feel that you've gotten a toothhold on it before it dissolves.

can someone help me with a possible misinformedness? i've refused to eat veal since middle school on the grounds that it is cruel. this was based off of information that i got from somewhere that the calves in question were locked in a stall in the dark and never got to walk around or see sunlight. recent discussions lead me to think that perhaps that information is incorrect. i doubt that i'd be able to change my feelings on eating veal now, but i wouldn't want to pass along bad info.

[Darb]

I even ate a piece of cheese and mushroom pie at an SCA event a little while back. Now, I've never made a secret of the fact that I don't like mushrooms, but it had been so long since I'd eaten one, I wasn't sure if I just didn't like them because I'd gotten sick eating them once or if I genuinely didn't like them. Now I know. I ate the entire slice that was served to me (basically whole button mushrooms with cheese sprinkled over top, baked in a pie crust).... I just don't like them. I don't like the taste, I don't like the texture... blech.

Mushrooms ... extreme ?!

Ya know, if I make it to our next IBDoF/IBList jamboree someplace, I'll volunteer to take point on coordinating a food/beverage safari. I wanna see Lynne projectile-vomit in horror when I pound fistfuls of {gasp} portabellos, enoki, chantrelles, hen-of-the-woods and shitake mushrooms.

[Darb]

can someone help me with a possible misinformedness? i've refused to eat veal since middle school on the grounds that it is cruel. this was based off of information that i got from somewhere that the calves in question were locked in a stall in the dark and never got to walk around or see sunlight. recent discussions lead me to think that perhaps that information is incorrect. i doubt that i'd be able to change my feelings on eating veal now, but i wouldn't want to pass along bad info.

Well, there's veal, and then there's gourmet prime veal. Veal is nothing more than very young milk-fed beef, eaten before it's been weaned (switching from milk to grass and grain turns, as well as the onset of hormonal maturity, changes the flesh from tender and pale to red).

Free range veal doesnt really have as many ethical overtones for people ... but it's also not nearly as good as prime. The best and tastiest veal has, as you've reported, been raised in confined surroundings. They do that to keep the meat tender, because if they get exercise, the meat toughens. Some people have ethical problems with that.

As for myself - I like veal ... particularly bones (for stock), veal breast stew, and the occasional 7-bone steak, all 3 of which are throw-away cuts that're byproducts of other people's veal consumption (leg, shank, loin chops and rib chops are the high-demand cuts), so I have less to feel bad about there ... there's more of the types of cuts I use on the market than can be sold to humans, so a lot of what I use otherwise gets processed into pet food.

In any case, I rarely eat veal, as a matter of habit ... but that's just me. My ancestors spent millions of years clawing and fighting for survival to put me on top of the food chain, I'm not losing sleep over it, and I have no intention of abdicating my perch without a fight.

Still ... there are matters of responsible consumption when it comes to certain foods. I wont, for instance, eat endangered species - such as whale, and more recently, chilean sea bass, sturgeon & sturgeon caviar, green sea turtles, etc.

I don't really have a big problem with veal ... I just don't go out of my way for it.

[tollbaby]

I even ate a piece of cheese and mushroom pie at an SCA event a little while back. Now, I've never made a secret of the fact that I don't like mushrooms, but it had been so long since I'd eaten one, I wasn't sure if I just didn't like them because I'd gotten sick eating them once or if I genuinely didn't like them. Now I know. I ate the entire slice that was served to me (basically whole button mushrooms with cheese sprinkled over top, baked in a pie crust).... I just don't like them. I don't like the taste, I don't like the texture... blech.

Mushrooms ... extreme ?!

Ya know, if I make it to our next IBDoF/IBList jamboree someplace, I'll volunteer to take point on coordinating a food/beverage safari. I wanna see Lynne projectile-vomit in horror when I pound fistfuls of {gasp} portabellos, enoki, chantrelles, hen-of-the-woods and shitake mushrooms.

I never said they were extreme, I said I was attempting to try stuff I'd always turned my nose up at before. I've taken a liking to zucchini, which I'd always HATED (my mom always served it stewed or boiled - yuck), I've become tolerant to small bits of mushrooms (but won't eat whole ones, or a dish based on them), I'll eat meats I previously wouldn't have even tried (I even tried barbecued chicken hearts at a friend's house, thus the discovery of the grease/texture issue)... I'm just saying as I get older, I'm more willing to try things I previously would have shuddered at simply because of what they were.

I still don't think I can eat eyeballs though. At least, not anything recognizable as an eyeball LOL

Besides, extremism is in the eye of the beholder. Some would consider Beavertails extreme, we consider them a necessity of life I have had visitors who considered poutine "Extreme cuisine" (Most recent visitor, my UK friend Chris, wouldn't even try it... of course, he doesn't like cheese....)

[Darb]

Some would consider Beavertails extreme

I've never had that. In fact, the only reference I've seen to it being eaten is in a book by Roger Welsh. I'd be willing to try it though.

I have had visitors who considered poutine "Extreme cuisine" (Most recent visitor, my UK friend Chris, wouldn't even try it... of course, he doesn't like cheese....)

My understanding of "Poutine" is that it's the Irish equivalent of Kentucky moonshine, and Italian Grappa ... it's raw, unaged, unblended, clear spirits (whisky, in this case). That's something I'd never ever ever EVER turn down.

/me pauses to jam to China Cat Sunflower, from Europe 72 Disc 1 (Grateful Dead)

[Kvetch]

That is Poitín

Poutine - Poitín


(OMG I know something culinary-related brad doesn't - again!)

[Kilgore Trout]

Ditto on the feminists crack above.

Speaking of which, and of course no pun intended , but are there no female equivalents to these delicacies? Is it only the male nether parts that get such treatment?

[Darb]

/me resists the urge to make NC-17 remark(s).

All kidding aside, yes, there are feminine counterparts ... but they're typically only eaten in the realm of seafood. Uni, for instance, is the female organs of a sea urchin. Caviar is basically the contents of an egg sac from a female fish.

I haven't heard of ovaries in mammals being considered a delicacy ... although, technically speaking, they're basically undescended testes that produce female, rather than male, gametes and hormones. Testes are typically harvested because it makes steers & make goats and sheep more placid and prone to weight gain. Women, on the other hand (whose jewels are internal, rather than dangling vulnerably) tend to gain weight all on their own, without the need to be 'shorn'.

[Hunter B]

• Poultry Embryos: If I recall, this was listed as an equadorian thing. Apparently, it involves taking fertilized duck (or chicken) eggs, letting them develop for about 2 weeks, then blanching them and eating them soft-boiled & runny. And yes, the embryo is partially developed, and a bit crunchy. I think I'll pass on that one - but that's a bit extreme, even for me.

Haha, well, I've tried it.

It's alright, almost bland... I wouldn't buy it, but if someone offered it again, I don't think I'd refuse it.

The yolk tastes worse than the bird itself.

Oh, and it's a Filipino thing.

[tollbaby]

Some would consider Beavertails extreme

I've never had that. In fact, the only reference I've seen to it being eaten is in a book by Roger Welsh. I'd be willing to try it though.

I have had visitors who considered poutine "Extreme cuisine" (Most recent visitor, my UK friend Chris, wouldn't even try it... of course, he doesn't like cheese....)

My understanding of "Poutine" is that it's the Irish equivalent of Kentucky moonshine, and Italian Grappa ... it's raw, unaged, unblended, clear spirits (whisky, in this case). That's something I'd never ever ever EVER turn down.

/me pauses to jam to China Cat Sunflower, from Europe 72 Disc 1 (Grateful Dead)

GOod lord... I've come up with two common foods Brad has never heard of

Beavertails, dear, are a pastry They're donut pastry stretched out to form a long oval, deep-fried, and (the best ones) are sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice But tell a furriner that you're taking him out for Beavertails, and they get disgusting visions of actual tails on a spit, hissing as the fat escapes... LOL (actually sounds kind of tasty, but I'm not sure I could get past the leathery skin).

Poutine is a fantastically deadly combination of french fries, dark gravy, and cheese curds. REAL poutine uses the darkest gravy you can get and big fat St. Albert cheese curds. Grated cheese may NOT be used for poutine. CHicken gravy is disgusting.

Brad, if you ever make it up to my neck of the woods, I'll take you out for poutine and Beavertails

[StefanY]

• Poultry Embryos: If I recall, this was listed as an equadorian thing. Apparently, it involves taking fertilized duck (or chicken) eggs, letting them develop for about 2 weeks, then blanching them and eating them soft-boiled & runny. And yes, the embryo is partially developed, and a bit crunchy. I think I'll pass on that one - but that's a bit extreme, even for me.

Haha, well, I've tried it.

It's alright, almost bland... I wouldn't buy it, but if someone offered it again, I don't think I'd refuse it.

The yolk tastes worse than the bird itself.

Oh, and it's a Filipino thing.

They ate them on Survivor Phillipines. It was pretty nasty looking. I could probably choke it down, but I don't think that I'd eat them for pleasure!

[wolfspirit]

Poutine is a fantastically deadly combination of french fries, dark gravy, and cheese curds. REAL poutine uses the darkest gravy you can get and big fat St. Albert cheese curds. Grated cheese may NOT be used for poutine. CHicken gravy is disgusting.

I'm ginivng a +f'ing+ on the poultine. Good stuff man, good stuff.

Fried jellyfish is the extent of my extreme cuisineso I'm a rather tame (foodwise) person all in all.

wolfspirit

[Darb]

I really need to get a digital camera at some point ... this past week, I had perhaps one of the most visually arresting dishes I've ever eaten. In this case, it was deep-fried whole scorpion fish. The chef basically split the head in half, fillet'd the body and then lightly dredged everything (head, fillets, frame and all) in corn starch and twice-fried it until crispy, and then reassembled the fish on the plate.

And yes, aside from a few of the tougher parts (the center part of the spine, the toothy parts of the jaw, and a few of the harder parts of the head), you eat the whole thing ... fins, frame, spines, head, everything. It's about 80% edible, if prepared properly, your teeth are good, and if you're not squeamish.

I've had tastier whole-fried fish, but nothing that looked nearly as impressive ... even braised head of golden-eye is as big a show-stopper.

[violetblue]

From chosun.com:

Murderous Dog Stew Lover Undone by Telltale Collar

A discarded dog collar led authorities to a man in his 40s who had stolen a pedigree dog and turned it into the stew known as Boshintang that is still considered a delicacy by some Koreans.
Police said a woman identified as Kim (57) on the morning of April 3 tied her pedigree dog, of a breed that sells for some US$300, in the yard of the restaurant she manages. That was the last she saw of her furry companion. Searching all over the neighborhood later that morning, however, she found the animal’s collar near the door of a portakabin, home to a man identified as Song (44). Kim reported her suspicion that Song had stolen the dog to the police, who arrested the man on Monday.


An officer with Seoul Guro-gu police station said Song was a great lover of Boshintang, and his mouth watered at the sight of the dog, driving him to steal the animal and eat it. "He probably never thought he would be caught because of the collar," the officer added.

[Kilgore Trout]

a woman identified as Kim (57)...
the restaurant she manages

That wouldn't be the famous Korean restauranteur Kim Chi, would it?

Anyway, chalk up another collar for the Seoul Police!

[KeE]

Prairie oysters:
These are also served as a delicacy after bullfighting in Spain.
Sometimes they are quite small- but then again sometimes the bull wins...

Prime Veal: You can raise these calfs with a bit of grain and grass feed; mobility is restricted (they do not graze with their mother, as is often usual in other production of meat) but restriction is not not total (usually where I've seen this production they are placed in pens with straw bedding where they can move about- with a small enclosure outside as well, they can move between these two), but a majority of the food they consume should be milk- so they are slaughtered quite young. Personally, I find that the taste can be a bit too mild. I like my calfs to romp about and become ruminants quite fast- but then again i make milk, not meat. Meat can almost be considered as a waste product of my farm.
KEE







(And lets not carry this thread off into "I hate bullfighting"- that's for the soapbox. It is a bad tradition, and unneccesary cruelty. Now, leave the thread for other extreme foods)

[Darb]

KeE: With the exception of an occasional indulgence in a well-made veal marsala, a really good veal stew, or veal chops slow-braised in milk, I tend to agree with you ... 90% of the time, all things being equal, I'd rather have good beef.

p.s. I wish I lived near a farm like yours - I'd be tickled pink to be able to buy fresh primal cuts of whatever, for a good price, and have regular BBQs for my culinary friends.

[Darb]

I had something I hadn't had before last week ... whole (uncleaned) raw baby squid. I've had them blanched (30 sec) before, but never completely raw.

I think I prefer them blanched.

[tollbaby]

blech. raw? *squick*

[Darb]

The inner cores of the eyeballs were a bit hard ... kinda like eating soggy pomegranate seeds (only smaller), and the tiny beak was a bit crunchy, and the clear piece of membrane in the head was a bit akin to chewing on a small piece of edible plastic, but otherwise the flavor was ... well ... strongly squiddy, and a bit murky.