# Abominable local cuisine **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322 "2008-10-10T14:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/81 "2008-10-11T19:06:46Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Chicken hearts aren’t that bad, actually. At least, I had some at a Brazilian BBQ place, and they were okay. Tasted like rubbery chicken. _shrugs_ Like gizzards? I really like those, and chicken livers, too. I also want to try chicken lungs after an American ex-pat friend in Turkey described them to me. So far as other animals’ organs go, I also really want to try haggis one of these days. ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/82 "2008-10-11T19:28:10Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Like gizzards? I really like those, and chicken livers, too. I also want to try chicken lungs after an American ex-pat friend in Turkey described them to me. Yes, chicken hearts taste similar to chicken gizzards, but they’re smaller and not as chewy. I love both, but I hate livers…go figure. How did your friend describe lungs? I’ve never had those. ETA: you used to be able to get a big box of fried gizzards at Lee’s Famous Fried Chicken back when I was building up to a heart attack. Dang, those were excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/83 "2008-10-11T19:36:00Z")
A lot like liver, actually, but more tender and delicate. Apparently, the word for lung and liver is the same in Turkey, and she was eating lungs for quite a while without ever realizing the difference. Weird that a muscle like a heart would be more tender than a gizzard. A cardiovascular muscle would get more of a workout than a digestive one, I would think. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/84 "2008-10-11T19:44:13Z")
Someone mentioned Bhutanese chow? Try [Ema Datshi](http://www.yanatravel.com/2008/food-health/a-taste-of-bhutan.html)- chili and yak cheese. [Preserved cheese.](http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/files/articles/yakcheese.jpg) Somehow manages to be both deathly bland and spicy. Have a [momo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_momo) instead. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/85 "2008-10-11T20:24:10Z")
Hoo-boy. Well, let’s see: we have [_muktuk_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muktuk), also called “eskimo candy”, which is just raw whale blubber, and we have fermented beaver tail, which causes [periodic outbreaks of botulism](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5032a2.htm), and we have [_akutak_](http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Akutaq_EskimoIceCream.htm), or “eskimo ice cream”, described as follows: > [@](#): > > It’s not creamy ice cream as we know it, but a concoction made from reindeer fat or tallow, seal oil, freshly fallen snow or water, fresh berries, and sometimes ground fish. Air is whipped in by hand so that it slowly cools into foam. They often make it with Crisco instead of tallow. Yummmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/86 "2008-10-11T20:44:13Z")
The most _disappointing_ cuisine I’ve tried recently was Tibetan. It was like a really bland synthesis of Indian and Chinese. Actually, Afghan was similarly a letdown (though overall better)-- like a bland mix of Indian and Mediterranean. Either would have been better, in both cases. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/87 "2008-10-11T20:50:06Z")
White Castle…there’s a reason they’re called “Sliders!” Bleeeaaacchh! ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/88 "2008-10-11T20:54:20Z")
> [@Lama\_Pacos](#): > > The most _disappointing_ cuisine I’ve tried recently was Tibetan. It was like a really bland synthesis of Indian and Chinese. That yak sure lingers on the palate. But, momos! ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/89 "2008-10-11T21:36:43Z")
[QUOTE=Bill Door] Are you deranged? Skyline chili is what I came here to condemn. Chili containing cinnamon, allspice, cloves and baking chocolate? It’s the very definition of abominable. The whole spaghetti thing is just adding insult to injury. [/QUOTE] Cincinnati chili is sublime and Skyline is its highest form. Pretenders like Empress may aspire to _adequacy_ but nothing more.\* Actually Cincinnati chili is simply a fast-food spin on the Greek staple [pastitio](http://stage-recipes.ksl.com/recipe-12895i.php). No suprise since the Skyline franchise was started by [Greek immigrants](http://www.skylinechili.com/story.php). The spices aren’t all that unusual in meat dishes: Mexican moles, German sauerbratens with allspice, etc. They sure aren’t to everyone’s taste though. There are many examples but one of the few food combos I really dislike is meat and fruit. Pork with apricots, beef with prunes, chicken marengo with raisins, etc.–ick. That nasty acidic-sweet note sends a shiver of disgust down my neck. I’ll choke down small amounts to be polite but man, that’s just nasty. \*quoth Veb, Cincinnati native and proud possessor of an arduously developed, fairly-authentic recipe to satisfy the homesick Skyline joneses. I even own heavy white ceramic oval plates to serves it on. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/90 "2008-10-12T02:07:50Z")
> [@Lama\_Pacos](#): > > The most _disappointing_ cuisine I’ve tried recently was Tibetan. Nepali fare is pretty awful. Mainly this sort of lentil mush, and you’re expected to eat it with your (right) hand! Always go for Indian when in Nepal. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/91 "2008-10-12T02:12:30Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Like gizzards? I really like those, and chicken livers, too. I also want to try chicken lungs after an American ex-pat friend in Turkey described them to me. They probably have those in Bulgaria too, then. Bulgarian food is REALLY strongly influenced by Turkish food. I didn’t realize by how much until I went to Turkey and was amazed that I recognized virtually everything on the menus. But I’m a vegetarian, so I never paid that much attention. Also, I don’t know how to say “gizzard” in Bulgarian. What IS a gizzard, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/92 "2008-10-12T02:21:20Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > My nomination for abominable local cuisine is the unidentifiable meat parts that come with a standard [Phở](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pho): I haven’t read the Wikipedia article, I must admit, but the bit you quoted doesn’t seem right in my experience. “Standard” pho that I’ve seen both here in Australia and also in Vietnam, is strictly beef pho, with the only meat in it being those thin strips of beef. To get the strange bits, you have to ask for a “special”. Personally, I do like the strange bits, if they’re prepared properly (they can be too chewy). > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And then there is the dreaded durian fruit, which I have banned from our home. Smells like a rotting corpse. The very few times I’ve eaten it, it tasted like what I imagined a rotten corpse would taste like. Many farangs (Westerners) claim to like it, but I think they’re all amateur poseurs just trying to fit in. I’m a farang who likes the stuff, and I don’t think I’m trying to be a poseur - but it was definitely an acquired taste. Luckily, I’ve had eighteen years of living and working with Vietnamese folk, which was plenty of time to acquire it. I pretty much _had_ to eat the stuff because it is considered such a delicacy and it’s so bloody expensive here, that to refuse a piece would be very rude. Yes, it does smell of vomit, but then so do many cheeses which we Westerners tend to chow down on quite merrily. The taste is quite gentle once you get into it, and the texture is a big part of the attraction. One thing though - it needs to be the fresh fruit itself: there is nothing worse than the awful durian _flavoured_ crap the Vietnamese I know will try to foist upon me. Durian biscuits? Durian cake? No, thanks. When I was in Thailand, I developed a taste for that sauerkraut kinda stuff the ethnic Lao street vendors sold. The locals called me _farang lao_ as a nickname after that. I didn’t understand how most farangs avoided it as it was PERFECT WITH BEER. It couldn’t be the sour taste either, because they were all happily chewing on green mango with salt and chilli (and that stuff makes my lips purse, it’s so sour). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/93 "2008-10-12T02:22:25Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] What IS a gizzard, anyway? [/QUOTE] A secondary stomach that aids in digestion for birds, reptiles, and some fish. They swallow stones, which help grind the food since they have no teeth to chew with. They have a very bland meaty taste, and are really chewy. You typically see them fried in meal in the South. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/94 "2008-10-12T02:45:05Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > I’m a farang who likes the stuff, and I don’t think I’m trying to be a poseur - but it was definitely an acquired taste. Luckily, I’ve had eighteen years of living and working with Vietnamese folk, which was plenty of time to acquire it. I pretty much _had_ to eat the stuff because it is considered such a delicacy and it’s so bloody expensive here, that to refuse a piece would be very rude. Yes, it does smell of vomit, but then so do many cheeses which we Westerners tend to chow down on quite merrily. The taste is quite gentle once you get into it, and the texture is a big part of the attraction. One thing though - it needs to be the fresh fruit itself: there is nothing worse than the awful durian _flavoured_ crap the Vietnamese I know will try to foist upon me. Durian biscuits? Durian cake? No, thanks. If only it smelled like vomit alone, some compromise might indeed be worked out. As it is, I’ve never ever understood how any farang could eat the stuff. Sometimes you just have to draw the line at cultural experiences; I’d go in for cannibalism before I’d pop another piece of durian into my mouth. But I do admit that I sampled some durian cookies that didn’t seem too bad. I can only assume there was very little durian and a load of sugar in them. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/95 "2008-10-12T02:49:34Z")
I had something that was supposedly a durian milkshake at a Thai restaraunt in the Boston, Massachusetts area earlier this year and it tasted a lot like onion. That’s been my sole experience with the stuff, and I didn’t think it was offensive at all, assuming it really was what it purported to be. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/96 "2008-10-12T02:50:46Z")
> [@Lama\_Pacos](#): > > The most _disappointing_ cuisine I’ve tried recently was Tibetan. … Yeah, I had this Baked Yeti dish once … it was definitely Abominable. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/97 "2008-10-12T02:54:17Z")
I’ve read growers are working hard at producing less offensive durians, so it’s possible people’s experiences with it are different. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/98 "2008-10-12T03:17:50Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I’ve read growers are working hard at producing less offensive durians, so it’s possible people’s experiences with it are different. To true durian conno-sewers, that would be complete sacrilege. Supposedly, the stinkier it is, the better the taste and overall quality. It is evil fruit. Evil, evil. The Horror! The Horror! ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/99 "2008-10-12T03:23:14Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It is evil fruit. Evil, evil. The Horror! The Horror! It even _looks_ evil! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322/100 "2008-10-12T03:29:21Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > It even _looks_ evil! True! Like something out of the Hundred Years’ War. Swinging one of those things around and whapping someone up beside the head might kill them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abominable-local-cuisine/467322.md?page=6)