Strange meats?

[firebll31]

My dad worked for the Conservation Dept. and they had a wild game feed every year where everyone contributed. In addition to the usual wild turkey and venison, I've had:raccoon, beaver, copperhead, elk, dove, rabbit, squirrel, woodcock, pheasant, quail, duck, antelope, paddlefish, frog and snapping turtle. At other times I've eaten goat,(meat and milk), emu, alligator, donkey milk, squid ink sausage, conch (a favorite) grilled chicken feet and skin and whole smelt cooked with the eggs still inside. And maybe iguana but no one knows for sure.

[Mar0]

When I was in Japan I ate a LOT of weird stuff. The two weirdest were probably basashi, which is horse sashami, and tori sashi, chicken sashimi. Obviously both were raw and were presented like fish-sashimi. I liked the horse and had it a few times- it tasted gamey like a beef tartare, but had more of a fish consistency. The chicken sashimi wasn't my favorite and tasted like raw chicken (maybe b/c thats what it was?!?!!!!).

[JuLioBanderas]

[quote=Rathagos;5683292]But in the Philippines, I had a couple weird dishes I would never have again.

My sisters went to Bangkok and saw people jostling to eat the brains of a live monkey with small spoons designed to carve out the brains. Yucky!

But in the Philippines, you did not get to see everything !!! You must try the duck eggs called balut.

I went to this fiesta in a town outside Manila called Pateros, derived from the word "pato" or duck, I presume, and this town is what was known as the BALUT CAPITAL of the Philippines. What I later saw left me dumbfounded. They had more than a dozen viands where balut was cooked in various ways, some of which were very tasty, but some really smelled nasty.

Balut is made by boiling the 2-week old duck eggs in salt water, but the surprise is when you crack up the shell and discover what's inside - egg yolk and a half-formed chick that you have to eat with chili-spiced vinegar. hmm... it turned out delicious, but I avoided eating the bones from the duck's thighs.

"abnoy" is a local word for something "somewhat abnormal", so they named this for a novel balut delicacy where the duck did not even get to take form in spite of it's age. I learned that the average Filipino also avoids this but the locals from Pateros love it.

Eggs normally solidify when cooked, but this ultimate dish called "iku-iku"
beats them all. My hosts brought out the dish and immediately, everyone rushed to get some of what looked like Jell-O. The smell was eerie..something like burnt plasticor rubber. Or maybe sulphur.. the type one would smell near an active volcano.

I was going to pass out... but no !! I would not allow that to happen. The thought of them reviving me with that dish crossed my mind, so I rushed out of the house and left for the safety of my hotel in Manila.

Balut, anyone? LOL

[jtur88]

I made a list once of the mammals I have knowkngly eaten. Lets see if I can remember:
Cow
Pig
Sheep
Goat
Buffalo
Camel
Horse
Rabbit
Squirrel
Guinea pig
Bear
Seal
Whale
Caribou
Moose
Deer

Also four-legged,m but not mammal:
Alligator
Frog
Turtle

[Mooseketeer]

The weirdest was Marmot in Mongolia and it was truly awful. It was so incredibly chewy and tough and very gristly. I had various monkeys in the Amazon, various snakes ( all quite nice) , grasshoppers and grubs ( also quite nice).

Also had alligator, crocodile, ostrich, kangaroo, bear, bison, frog, turtle, snails, deer, elk, reindeer, guinea pig, seal, gnu, antelope, camel, goat, pecaris, wild boar, hare, rabbit, iguana, roasted ants, armadillo,horse and I am sure many more I can't remember. I also had tree rat in Indonesia which was very tough but perfectly edible.

I will try most things at least once and most of the ones listed above were actually very nice, but I could not eat roasted Tarentula. I was offered it in the Amazon and I'm afraid as an arachnophobe this was just too much and it would have made me sick. I had to explain to the people why I could not eat it was I felt rude.


Warm blood straight out of slaughtered cow in Kenya was something I found difficult keeping down, not so much because of the taste but because of the clotted texture. But refusing would have been extremely rude as I was given it as an honoured guest and I felt I had to try and adapt to local customs.

We are a product of our culture and food which seems revolting to us is often a delicacy somewhere else and I try not to put any judgement on that realising that for many people my eating habits are probably gruesome too !

I cannot ever imagine eating Dog unless I was starving because to me there is a kind of Taboo about it ( strangely enough Cat would not freak me out as much) but I do realise that Dog is in the end only another form of meat and protein to many people.

As long as the animal has not suffered too much when killed or been treated inhumanely beforehand than I feel it would be hypocritical for me to pass judgement.


The Western Meat industry does not have a great record on how it treats it animals for the food production and factory farming certainly needs some improving.

What is "weird" to some is normal to others. For example I eat a lot of Hare, Rabbit, Game-Birds, Wild Boar, Venison whenever I can , and to some that is just weird.

To me eating Marshmallows or really sweet foods is odd as I cannot fathom how anyone could like the taste. Different strokes for different people.

[titaniummd]

I love Escargot.

I like Dinugan.

I have tried Balut - the concept of which is disgusting. It tastes like a boiled chicken.

I will eat Gator Tail and Frog Legs.

After watching Bizarre Foods, I would not mind trying Snake, Guinea Pig, Mountain Oysters, Brain, or Insects.