# What "exotic" food do you crave?



## DennisBreene (May 28, 2013)

Not sure why this popped into my head. Maybe I'm hungry.  With as diverse a group as we have, I thought it would be interesting so hear what unusual foods (in the mind of the individual posting)  people find to be special treats. I'll confess I have a fondness for beef tongue.


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## Aiki Lee (May 28, 2013)

Roasted bovine heart. Had it in Japan and it was fantastic. I'll probably never be able to find that in a restaurant again.


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## granfire (May 28, 2013)

Cow's heart? I had that at a friend's house when I was little. I found it a little tough.
(but good luck even finding the heart to cook it at home)

The most exotic I am going these days is Nigiri. I think I can eat that any time (but I prefer tuna over all)

not very adventurous....


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## Gnarlie (May 28, 2013)

Pickled onions, and salt and malt vinegar on chips, because you just can't get them in Deutschland.

Also, British Indian Restaurant curry, because the German taste bud is apparently different and the curry is what I would refer to as 'bland'.  Which is bad news coming from a Brit.

Apart from that, not much.

Gnarlie


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## arnisador (May 28, 2013)

Not so exotic, maybe, but I like BBQ beef ribs and can never find them.


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## Sukerkin (May 29, 2013)

I'm along the same lines as Gnarlie on this one .  A fine lamb Jalfrezi with high heat green chillies and plain basmati rice is a joy to devour.


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## Aiki Lee (May 29, 2013)

I'm very fond of unagi as well. That's eel, if you don't eat at Japanese restaurants often.


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## Carol (May 29, 2013)

Sushi/Sashimi of just about any sort!  Although I cooked up some elk tongue for the first time a couple weeks ago and it was amazing if I say so myself


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## jezr74 (May 29, 2013)

I do like ostrich, 1000 year old egg with a white vinegar chaser can be nice too.


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## Xue Sheng (May 29, 2013)

Wombat


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## jezr74 (May 29, 2013)

Xue Sheng said:


> Wombat



Where did you have that?


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## DennisBreene (May 30, 2013)

Himura Kenshin said:


> I'm very fond of unagi as well. That's eel, if you don't eat at Japanese restaurants often.



I tend to favor Uni, when I can get it.


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## DennisBreene (May 30, 2013)

I did enjoy armadillo and water moccasin during survival training in the Navy as a youngster. Anyone tried scorpion? I've heard it's popular in China.


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## Aiki Lee (May 30, 2013)

DennisBreene said:


> I tend to favor Uni, when I can get it.



No one ever seems to have that around here! I've never had a chance to try it!


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## Dirty Dog (May 30, 2013)

I had skunk as a kid (tastes a lot like veal). These days, I crave seafood, but you cannot get good seafood in Colorado, so I load up on it when we travel.
Before Xue asks... I don't eat shark. We have an agreement. I don't eat them, they don't eat me.


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## Cirdan (May 30, 2013)

Fried chicken feet, I bring it for lunch sometimes. A coworker asked me if I was eating vodoo shrunken human hands 
Traditional dishes where I grew up includes salted sheep`s head, seasoned ox testicles and boiled pig`s foot. Not to mention _tørrfisk_, a "fish flavored baseball bat" according to John Cleese.
A friend served up fried raven and bisam rat (a ratlike beaver creature with a long tail), not bad at all.
My girlfriend made me _balut_ some time ago, delicious! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg)


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## DennisBreene (May 30, 2013)

Himura Kenshin said:


> No one ever seems to have that around here! I've never had a chance to try it!



Don't know what part of Illinois you're from but JMK Nippon in Rockford often has it. Places near Chicago often have it. Keep asking, it's worth it.


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## Aiki Lee (May 30, 2013)

DennisBreene said:


> Don't know what part of Illinois you're from but JMK Nippon in Rockford often has it. Places near Chicago often have it. Keep asking, it's worth it.


No they don&#8217;t. 
I go there all the time and they never have it. I think they don&#8217;t sell it anymore.


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## harlan (May 30, 2013)

Sliced avocado with salt. 

Maybe not so exotic, but when you're five and haven't eaten in a day or two, and you share an avocado between your parents and siblings, it becomes a 'go-to' feel good food afterwards.


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## DennisBreene (May 30, 2013)

Himura Kenshin said:


> No they dont.
> I go there all the time and they never have it. I think they dont sell it anymore.


That would be truly sad. Uni is food for the gods.


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## oftheherd1 (May 31, 2013)

Dirty Dog said:


> I had skunk as a kid (tastes a lot like veal). These days, I crave seafood, but you cannot get good seafood in Colorado, so I load up on it when we travel.
> Before Xue asks... I don't eat shark. We have an agreement. I don't eat them, they don't eat me.



I have never heard of anyone eating skunk before.  Where do you grab it to kill it?  :uhyeah:



Cirdan said:


> Fried chicken feet, I bring it for lunch sometimes. A coworker asked me if I was eating vodoo shrunken human hands
> Traditional dishes where I grew up includes salted sheep`s head, seasoned ox testicles and boiled pig`s foot. Not to mention _tørrfisk_, a "fish flavored baseball bat" according to John Cleese.
> A friend served up fried raven and bisam rat (a ratlike beaver creature with a long tail), not bad at all.
> My girlfriend made me _balut_ some time ago, delicious! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg)



Note to self:  Cancel that trip to Norway.  

Being married to a Korean wife who cooks mostly Korean food at home, and living in Northern Virginia with access to all the big oriental grocery marts and restaurants, there isn't much I would crave that I could not get.  But I do miss Ham Hung Neng Myon.  That is a North Korean style Neng Myon, or cold noodle soup.  My wife gets very close however, so I don't miss it that much.  There was a restaurant in Seoul that served that in the summer time, and in the winter, they served a wonderful Sun Dae Gook, or blood sausage soup.  They probably closed after we left, due to lack of business.    Again, in Annandale, VA, there is the Seoul Sun Dae House, which serves among other things, a reasonable Sun Dae.  (sigh)

For those who live where there are Korean populations, look for oriental supermarkets, or combined oriental/latin/african supermarkets.  Some here have pigs feet, frozen blood (cooked it tastes like liver to me), beef heart, beef tongue, beef testicles, and other delicacies.  Even smaller mom and pop stores might have some things, or be able to get them for you (One outside Ft Knox used to sell uncooked fish entrails.  But that's another story).  Some Chinese buffets have eel sushi and different types of sashimi, as well as a choose what you want in it Pho soup.  I need to quit.  Pho as I used to get it in Quang Tri was so good.  I haven't yet found that here, but I haven't been to "Little Saigon" in Northern VA either.

I do consider Vietnamese coffee to be a delicacy.  It is hard to get here.  My favorite for a long time was Cao Nguyen.  Sadly, it is no longer made.  I found Tay Nguyen good, as well as Cafe Demonte.  But they are also hard to get.  I have the local supermarket manager trying to get me a case of Cafe Demonte.  My fingers are crossed.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.


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## Dirty Dog (May 31, 2013)

oftheherd1 said:


> I have never heard of anyone eating skunk before. Where do you grab it to kill it? :uhyeah:



I was told that the secret is to shoot them in the head so they don't spray, and that when you clean them, you absolutely must do so without causing any leaking from the scent gland.


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## DennisBreene (Jun 1, 2013)

oftheherd1 said:


> I have never heard of anyone eating skunk before.  Where do you grab it to kill it?  :uhyeah:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That brought back memories of Pul Kogi.  I also used to make spring rolls with home made Kim Chee from a friend wife at the school.  There is a store named Uagimia (sp?) in Seattle that is like a small Japanese dept. store/grocery.  It is wonderful.


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## oftheherd1 (Jun 1, 2013)

@ DennisBreene - As you probably know, Pulgogi is one of about 3 or 4 Korean foods most all Americans can eat.  Chop chae pap (noodle and rice with meat) is another, as is Yaki-mandu (fried mandu which is a wrapped combination of noodles and meat, sometimes kimchi).  Of course, fried rice is usually palatable to most Americans anywhere as well.


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## granfire (Jun 1, 2013)

we have a lovely Korean restaurant here in town...(she spells it Bulgogi tho) 
I love her Kimchee with plain rice. Might have to tell dear Husband we need to go to the buffet tomorrow! Her kimbop is good, too.


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## elder999 (Jun 1, 2013)

DennisBreene said:


> Not sure why this popped into my head. Maybe I'm hungry.  With as diverse a group as we have, I thought it would be interesting so hear what unusual foods (in the mind of the individual posting)  people find to be special treats. I'll confess I have a fondness for beef tongue.


 What we'd call "exotic," as you've said, eventually becomes something less than exotic.With that said, this time of year, my thoughts turn to Sundance, and stewed puppy.Come autumn, we'll probably make some rabbit and rattlesnake sausage-but I actually was wishing for some for breakfast this morning!


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## DennisBreene (Jun 1, 2013)

elder999 said:


> What we'd call "exotic," as you've said, eventually becomes something less than exotic.With that said, this time of year, my thoughts turn to Sundance, and stewed puppy.Come autumn, we'll probably make some rabbit and rattlesnake sausage-but I actually was wishing for some for breakfast this morning!


I would think that puppy would be too tender to stew. But then I've only recently started looking at my dog as a possible entre/ if she doesn't stop peeing on the carpet.


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## Dirty Dog (Jun 1, 2013)

As you can see from this menu entry at the Honolulu Airport, that damned dog didn't "run for the border" fast enough...


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## oftheherd1 (Jun 2, 2013)

Dirty Dog said:


> View attachment 18099
> 
> As you can see from this menu entry at the Honolulu Airport, that damned dog didn't "run for the border" fast enough...



That's funny.  I had dog in Da Nang several times.  I can eat it, but wouldn't go out of my way to get it.  Funny, with 7 1/2 years in Korea, I never had it there.  Used to see it it the markets though.


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## Aiki Lee (Jun 2, 2013)

If you haven't already, try lutefisk. It's probably what they serve in hell.


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## DennisBreene (Jun 2, 2013)

Himura Kenshin said:


> If you haven't already, try lutefisk. It's probably what they serve in hell.


After hearing it described, I'm not sure I could manage it.


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## Cirdan (Jun 3, 2013)

DennisBreene said:


> After hearing it described, I'm not sure I could manage it.



You either love it or hate it. 

*Lutefisk is the Norwegians' attempt at conquering the world. When they discovered that Viking raids didn't give world supremacy, they invented a meal so terrifying, so cruel, that they could scare people to become one's subordinates.*


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## DennisBreene (Jun 3, 2013)

Cirdan said:


> You either love it or hate it.
> 
> *Lutefisk is the Norwegians' attempt at conquering the world. When they discovered that Viking raids didn't give world supremacy, they invented a meal so terrifying, so cruel, that they could scare people to become one's subordinates.*


Apparently my wife's grandmother would make it in the bathtub for her husband.  Doesn't it have something to do with soaking the fish with Lye?


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## Cirdan (Jun 4, 2013)

DennisBreene said:


> Apparently my wife's grandmother would make it in the bathtub for her husband. Doesn't it have something to do with soaking the fish with Lye?



Yep I don`t recall the details but the dried fish is first soaked several days in water, then lye, then water again before finally cooking it. The process can take up to two weeks or more. 
Btw never use silver utensils when eating this dish (or weapon of mass destruction as some call it), lutefisk will ruin silver permanently.


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## oftheherd1 (Jun 4, 2013)

DennisBreene said:


> After hearing it described, I'm not sure I could manage it.



Agreed.  Although if you had told me when I was a child, that I would not only eat some of the things I do today, but enjoy them, I would probably have gagged at the thought.  When my brother returned from Japan and told me of seeing returning fishermen downing small fish, I couldn't think of anything worse.

But after reading http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...36&hl=en&tbm=isch&itbs=1&sa=X&ved=0CCwQrQMwAA I am convinced I would not be likely to want it.  But the article had a couple of humorous bits in it anyway.


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## Carol (Jun 4, 2013)

Some buddies and I flew out to Minnesota shortly after graduating from college to attend a friend's wedding.  Arriving there was like walking in to the Scandinavian version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  On our day of arrival we meet up with some of the folks and they ask us where we want to go for dinner, or what we want to eat.  "Something local" was the overall response, and somewhere it came up in conversation that I like sushi.

So, a bunch of people start laughing and say that I should try Lutefisk...telling me it means "lake fish" in Norwegian....and I believed it.  After all we were in the land of 10 gazillion lakes.   So after deadpanning that lake fish doesn't make good sushi, they assured me that lutefisk was cooked and served with butter.   Well alrighty then.  I'm thinking that trying out a new kind of seafood served with butter sounds dandy to me, so we all go out to a restaurant and I order the lutefisk.

Only.....they're out of it.  And the other folks around me are seriously disappointed!  I order a steak instead, and for the rest of the trip they are urging me to try lutefisk.  I never had the chance to do so. 

It wasn't until well after that I returned home to Boston that I learned lutefisk doesn't mean lake fish...... :lol:


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## Sukerkin (Jun 4, 2013)

I have to ask ... having read up on what it is, why go through so much trouble to prepare a fish that tastes absolutely wonderful cooked without the use of hazardous chemicals?


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## aedrasteia (Jun 4, 2013)

Carol said:


> It wasn't until well after that I returned home to Boston that I learned lutefisk doesn't mean lake fish...... :lol:




Carol, shhhh... don't tell da Norveegins.  Dey don't know.

OK - somebody has to do it - post the Ole and Lena joke

Ole and Lena had Mr. and Mrs. Thorvald over for lutefisk. Lena knew that Mr. Thorvald liked his lutefisk with lots of melted butter and black pepper. After the company had gone home, Lena made a terrible discovery. She had served Mr. Thorvald gunpowder instead of black pepper!  Vell, it vas too late to call or go over, so Lena lay awake all night worrying. Early the next morning she called da Thorvalds. "Oh Mr. Thorvald" said Lena, "I've done a turrible ting. Last night I served you gunpowder instead of black pepper in the lutefisk."   "Oh tank Gud" said Mr. Thorvald. "Dot explains it all!."   "Explains what?" asks Lena.   Mr. Torvald said "Vell, vhen ve got home last night, I bent over to tie my shoe and shot da cat."

umm. Its OK, I'm bi-cultural and scandehoovian.  And I have lots more Ole and Lena... be afraid. Be very afraid.


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## granfire (Jun 4, 2013)

Sukerkin said:


> I have to ask ... having read up on what it is, why go through so much trouble to prepare a fish that tastes absolutely wonderful cooked without the use of hazardous chemicals?



to make it last for the voyage from Danmark to Greenland?
:lol:

or kill the bad stuff when it was not as fresh anymore?


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## DennisBreene (Jun 4, 2013)

granfire said:


> to make it last for the voyage from Danmark to Greenland?
> :lol:
> 
> or kill the bad stuff when it was not as fresh anymore?



And to repair leaks in the hull.


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## DennisBreene (Jun 4, 2013)

Has anyone else tried insects?


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## Carol (Jun 4, 2013)

Sukerkin said:


> I have to ask ... having read up on what it is, why go through so much trouble to prepare a fish that tastes absolutely wonderful cooked without the use of hazardous chemicals?



At the time, it was a way of preserving fish with a commonly available substance (wood ash from cooking fires) for winters when the outside conditions would mean food supplies would be limited.

As far as why folks in Minnesota and Wisconsin continue to eat it...well...

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Scandinavians-Strange-Holiday-Lutefisk-Tradition.html


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## DennisBreene (Jun 4, 2013)

aedrasteia said:


> Carol, shhhh... don't tell da Norveegins.  Dey don't know.
> 
> OK - somebody has to do it - post the Ole and Lena joke
> 
> ...



Ok, a slight divergence from topic but as my in-laws had Norwegian roots (Stavanger) there were often jokes about Norwegian and Swedish Rivalries. Two neighboring towns; one predminantly Norwegian and the other Swedish prided themselves on their hard fought high school football games.  One game was particularly contentious and tempers got hot.  The Norwegian teem finally got fed up, stormed off the field and went home.  Four plays later the Swedes scored.


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## Cirdan (Jun 5, 2013)

Since we are already off topic a bit..*

Every year for the 17th of May parade the Swedes line up on one side of the road for the parade, the Norwegians on the other. Then, the Swedes throw firecrackers at the Norwegians. Then, the Norwegians light the firecrackers and throw them back


A Swede, a Norwegian and a Dane were arrested in France during the French revolution. They each got to choose which way they would die. The Norwegian chose the guillotine, because he saw it as the latest fashion. His head went under, but the blade stopped 1 inch from his neck. The French saw this as a sign from God or something and decided to let him go. The same thing happened to the Dane. Then they asked the Swede how he wanted to die. "I think I'll die by hanging, that guillotine doesn't work anyway," he said.


**A Swedish road-worker was hired to paint the line that goes down the center of the road. The first day he managed to paint 2 kilometers, and his boss was very pleased. The next day he only painted 200 meters, but his boss thought that he'd probably started off too hard on the first day. But on the third day he was only able to paint 20 meters. The boss called him into the office and demanded an explanation. "Well, you see it's getting so darn far to walk all the way to the paint bucket," the Swede explained.


There was this Swede who once got home and found his wife in bed with another man. He was so angry that he got a gun and pointed it to his own head. "NO! Don't do that," his wife begged. "Shut up woman! You'll be next," the angry Swede replied.


A Norwegian drove into a Swedish gas station, and wanted some help with his signal lights. After he'd changed the light-bulb, he asked the Swede to check if it was blinking. The Swede looked at it and said, "funkar, funkar inte, funkar, funkar inte. " (Works, doesn't work, works, doesn't work...)


"Daddy, I'm pregnant," the daughter said. "Hey, wait a minute. Are you sure it's yours?" the Swedish father responded.


Sven came home to his apartment one night, all Upset. "Dat yanitor, vot a bragger. He says he's made love to every voman in dis building except one."
"Hmmph," said his wife. "Must be that snooty Mrs.Johnson on the second floor."


Ole came home one evening and shot his dog. When his
neighbor asked why, he explained, "Some vun phoned me
up and said my vife was fooling around vith my best friend."


A farmer was in town one day and was telling the butcher that he had a pack of dogs living under his front porch and didn't know how to get rid of them. 
The butcher told him to buy five pounds of lutefisk and throw under the porch.
So he bought some before he went home and that night he threw it under the porch.
The next time he was in town the butcher asked him if he got rid of the dogs. The farmer told him he got up the next morning and looked and the dogs were gone, and a couple of days later he wanted to make sure they were gone so he looked under the porch and sure enough the dogs were gone but two Norwegian families had moved in.


*​


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## DennisBreene (Jun 5, 2013)

Cirdan said:


> Since we are already off topic a bit..*
> 
> Every year for the 17th of May parade the Swedes line up on one side of the road for the parade, the Norwegians on the other. Then, the Swedes throw firecrackers at the Norwegians. Then, the Norwegians light the firecrackers and throw them back
> 
> ...


Fantastic, I also started a thread where we can continue such shenanigans without diverting the original thread.


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## granfire (Jun 5, 2013)

DennisBreene said:


> Has anyone else tried insects?



Only the odd fruit fly drowning in my wine...I do detest having more brain in my stomach than in my head....


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