Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am the same way, Moose. I consider myself to be fairly adventurous, but smell is important to me, too. And texture. I cannot abide slimy (overcooked yellow squash) or "snotty" textures (undercooked eggs). I guess I picture a grub's being goopy or slimy, and I think I wouldn't be able to stomach it. Something with a shell would probably be fine ... after all, I like shellfish a lot, and they're all just arthropods.
I would have an ethical problem with some exotic foods and would not eat them on principle. It's already a dilemma I struggle with at home, so I don't need to seek out dishes that challenge me on that level.
Yep, slimey textures really put me off...there's one food, it's not that weird, that I cannot stand anymore. Lady finger's or okra. The slimy texture reminds me of mucus or something.
I can't top Mooseketeer (who can?). I'll try most anything, but just the thought of fermented shark makes me gag a little (as it did Zimmern when he tried it).
That said, I lived in Mexico for awhile. My biggest gripe about US "Mexican" restaurants is that the really good stuff you'd find in Mexico isn't offered on the menu. Then again, I don't know of a place in Pittsburgh that sells grasshoppers to fry up and put in a tortilla. Fried maguey worms are as addicting as potato sticks. And even something as common as huitlacoche (a grey/green corn fungus) is still relatively rare in most of the US (the canned stuff... blech). I loved octopus in adobo, one of my favorite bar foods - can't find it here. Let alone a restaurant that brings out a little hibachi grill so you can grill up some bull testicles at your table. It's all good.
I've had brains on a pizza in Sofia. Haggis in Scotland tastes a lot better than in the US. Kangaroo in Australia was fine but nothing to write home about. I've gagged down a bit of durian. I recall being offered fish heads and told to eat everything but the bones. The eyes were OK and the cheeks delectable. Fish brain, not so much - it's not the same as calve's or sheep's brain. I've had most organs, save lung. Of those, the only one I couldn't choke down was a spleen.
Outside the spleen, pretty much everything above tasted better than my mother's Jell-O salad with crunchy things in it.
You guys are adventurous. I wish I was, but my stomach is sensitive and just the sight of some of that stuff would gag me. I am sure a lot of is cultural and people get used to whatever they grow up with.
While in Vietnam picking up our adopted daughters I was a guest at a very special celebratory restaurant dinner. When I saw the fish eyeball soup I politely declined and tried not to show my disgust. But the hostess insisted I try it =just a small bite. I put some in a bowl but did not eat it. i swear I almost lost it right there. nobody should ever insist another adult try something they obviously don't want.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
