# Edible things that have never been featured in a recipe **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959 "2012-07-12T02:26:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/1 "2012-07-12T02:26:26Z")
Watching a cooking show where one chef prepared a molecular gastronomy dish. I was just thinking, these shows love to throw chefs for a loop with bizarre ingredients like Fruit Loops. Then I started to think: what edible things are unimaginable in a dish? I have three: [ol] [li]Toothpaste[/li][li]Bubble gum[/li][li]Mouthwash[/li][/ol] Any others? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/2 "2012-07-12T02:36:12Z")
Mouthwash, as I understand it, contains ingredients to make one ill if it is swallowed in any quantity, at least as formulated here in the US. I’ve never seen a recipe calling for peanuts in the shell, though many people do eat them shell and all. ---
**Author:** ![Recusant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/3 "2012-07-12T02:45:06Z")
Also, most toothpastes (at least, that I’ve encountered) aren’t meant to be swallowed- small amounts have never hurt me, but they do put the poison control number on the tubes, and I suspect it’s not just to avert lawsuits. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/4 "2012-07-12T02:54:14Z")
Well, I wasn’t thinking of a toothpaste sarnie per se. 🙂 More of, “instead of a raspberry coulis, I used Aim.” ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/5 "2012-07-12T03:02:52Z")
Egg shells can probably be eaten fairly safely if broken up finely enough (true for most solids isn’t it?), though I don’t know why anyone would WANT to. How about the vein from a shrimp/prawn? The poop chute thing. It’s edible (I often don’t remove it when I’m eating them, I know, ewwww), but would a recipe ever call for them SPECIFICALLY to be added to a dish? ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/6 "2012-07-12T03:04:31Z")
I’ve had Bubble-Gum Ice Cream as a kid, so there’s gotta be a recipe for home-made ice cream where bubble gum comes in to use. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/7 "2012-07-12T03:16:43Z")
How about eyeballs? Are they ever called for in recipes? I know that sometimes people will eat the eyes of an animal that they roast whole… but are they ever added to anything else? And then… what about… anus? ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/8 "2012-07-12T03:33:21Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > How about eyeballs? Are they ever called for in recipes? I know that sometimes people will eat the eyes of an animal that they roast whole… but are they ever added to anything else? > > And then… what about… anus? Aren’t anuses (ani?) used in haggis, hot dogs, and scrapple? I can imagine sending my dish back at a restaurant because the anus wasn’t fresh enough (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little). ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/9 "2012-07-12T03:50:08Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > How about eyeballs? Are they ever called for in recipes? I know that sometimes people will eat the eyes of an animal that they roast whole… but are they ever added to anything else? > > And then… what about… anus? Based on watching Andrew Zimmern eat grilled skewers of chicken tails, uteri, and combs, among other bits, I have no doubt that somebody is selling charcoal grilled assholes somewhere in Tokyo. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/10 "2012-07-12T05:48:54Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > How about eyeballs? Are they ever called for in recipes? I know that sometimes people will eat the eyes of an animal that they roast whole… but are they ever added to anything else? The Mexicans do an eyeball taco. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/11 "2012-07-12T06:16:20Z")
Kittens. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/12 "2012-07-12T06:52:26Z")
One thing I learned from the old TV show Fear Factor is that there are thousands of species of beetles, and every single one of them is edible. (The contest was called “Bowling for Beetles”. Each contestant bowled one frame and the number of pins left standing was how many live beetles they had to eat. I don’t know if they psyched themselves out or what but all of the contestants did poorly) ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/13 "2012-07-12T06:57:07Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Kittens. There are plenty of Chinese recipes that feature cat. The Swiss, Italians and Basques have also historically eaten cat. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/14 "2012-07-12T07:35:07Z")
Bodily fluids of the sort commonly involved in oral sex. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/15 "2012-07-12T07:35:25Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > There are plenty of Chinese recipes that feature cat. The Swiss, Italians and Basques have also historically eaten cat. I said kittens. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/16 "2012-07-12T07:36:47Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Bodily fluids of the sort commonly involved in oral sex. You’re kidding, right? There’s a recipe right here on the SDMB for that. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/17 "2012-07-12T07:53:34Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Egg shells can probably be eaten fairly safely if broken up finely enough (true for most solids isn’t it?), though I don’t know why anyone would WANT to. The first time my youngest son was offered a boiled egg in the shell he ate it shell and all. He said afterwards he just didn’t realise he wasn’t supposed to. His older brother had eaten eggs out of the shell in front of his younger brother often enough that it just never occurred to us that the younger wouldn’t have seen how it was supposed to be done. No harm done. And at least he got some calcium. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/18 "2012-07-12T08:02:03Z")
Roast toddler. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/19 "2012-07-12T08:35:03Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Aren’t anuses (ani?) used in haggis, hot dogs, and scrapple? > > I can imagine sending my dish back at a restaurant because the anus wasn’t fresh enough (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little). i remember a comedian saying " order weird things to be difficult…like candied goat anus ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959/20 "2012-07-12T08:59:35Z")
Toenails, fingernails and hair. Meg Griffin made hair pie once. Earned Brian a punch in the mouth. I guess that could be a side dish. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edible-things-that-have-never-been-featured-in-a-recipe/627959.md?page=2)