Ninja’ed on scrapple! Oh, the ignominy! I hang my head in shame!
Sauerkraut is the magical addition that will dress up any savory dish.
I lurves me some hominy.
Oh, nm, you said ignominy.
My bad.
Hmm, the first three that came to mind are already here: liver, beets, and Brussels sprouts.
Black pudding/blutwurst/blood sausage grosses the hell out of a lot of people (understandably, I guess), but it’s delicious stuff and a great way to start the day with some eggs and toast!
Also, Marmite is nowhere near as disgusting as people make it out to be. Maybe if the first time you tried eating an entire teaspoon of it, but it tastes like salt and umami bond, not unlike a stock cube. Especially great when paired with some sliced fresh cucumbers on a sandwich with butter.
Unless you’re making boiled potatoes. Or beets. Boiled beets drizzled with butter and lemon juice…drooooooolllllll.
And some rattlesnakes taste like a chicken that has eaten a chicken.
Dennis
That’s not a use of Marmite I’ve ever considered before, but yeah I can see how that would work. Pure umami with crisp freshness. Come to think of it, I might pitch that flavour profile to one of the seemingly-thousands of artisan gin producers who have sprung up recently…
Radishes. I don’t know why and I don’t care, but I love those things.
Someone here, I forget who, pointed out on a thread about the grocery chain ALDI that their store brand SPAM is actually better than the brand name. And it’s true! Sliced and fried, it’s a wonderful sandwich. I’ve got a can right here, and it contains: Pork, salt, water, sugar, sodium nitrate.
One of the things I remember from reading Modernist Cuisine was the culinary heresy that canned vegetables are actually fresher than the ones in your grocery store’s produce department, because they are canned right after being picked, while the fresh ones are trucked from farms, warehoused and all the rest.
Braunschweiger (Liverwurst).
Sardines. (In Mustard sauce FTW)
Spam (thinly sliced and pan fried)
I can feel the atherosclerosis.
OMG, Yes!
Nearly half the price too.
Never really cared about Marmite, personally (being in the UK).
Then I had it on melted cheddar cheese on toasted bread. Bliss. Works so well…
Cauliflower. I always found it insanely dull, until I tossed some in olive oil and rosemary then roasted it.
Now I have to go buy some.
I can’t stand liver in any form but I’ll eat fried chicken gizzards until the cows come home.
Interestingly, that’s one of the common uses I know for it, but that’s almost too much umami and salt for my tastes. I’ll do it once in awhile with grilled cheese, but I think I prefer the regular kind. Still, something to try for those who don’t like it.
I have only ever found cauliflower palatable in aloo gobi and will deliberately choose it from the Indian buffet.
Haggis is basically a mild, peppery sausage and it can be pretty good. In Scotland, you can have it as part of your breakfast along with bacon, eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, and blood pudding, or enjoy it for dinner with neeps and tatties.
I’d bet the most common way haggis is eaten in Scotland is battered and deep-fried from a chip shop. ![]()
Two foods I was always afraid to try because of the bad rap; prunes & spinach (raw)
I finally ate my first prune when I was in my 40’s! I was shocked! It was delicious and tasted like a much tastier, moister raisin.
Spinach had such a bad rap when I was a kid. This was another food I waited until my 40’s to try. I love it as a salad or on a sandwich and is also great in soups. I don’t think I’d like a pile of mucky cooked spinach though.
Not being in the UK I’ve not tried Marmite, but isn’t the problem we Americans put it on too thick, like it’s some sort of savory peanut butter? It should be so thin you can kind of see the toast underneath. Now I’ll have to see if I can find some locally ($7 for 125 grams seems pricey for an experiment).