# Foods that make you think twice when you think/learn about what they are/how they're made... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645 "2018-11-16T21:16:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Textual\_Innuendo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@Textual\_Innuendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Innuendo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/21 "2018-11-17T17:31:38Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > It’s not that much of a claim to fame - you can have a choice of two at a high class chippy: skate or rock (aka huss, aka dogfish). > > There are loads: [Chondrichthyes - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondrichthyes) > > I’m sure a biologist can tell you more; but I can confirm that the ones I’ve eaten were tasty. Oh, good. Looking up pictures, it definitely wasn’t skate, and didn’t really look like a shark, but I guess it could have been a young huss or something? But I’m glad it was probably a common fish and not endangered, so thanks for bringing that up. So I guess coming back to the thread topic, I hereby formally revoke the only time I had second thoughts about eating something. 😃 ---
**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:** [November 17, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/22 "2018-11-17T18:53:13Z")
**Moderator Action** Since this is about food and the enjoyment of eating it (or lack thereof), let’s move this to Cafe Society (from MPSIMS). ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/23 "2018-11-19T15:42:26Z")
Mine is simply The Egg I love them fried and scrambled. But sometimes when I think of what they really are…UGH ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/24 "2018-11-19T16:01:18Z")
Mushrooms. It’s the same stuff that grows in my bathroom grout and damp basement corners, let grown to epic proportions. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/25 "2018-11-19T16:12:40Z")
[Salt-rising bread](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt-rising_bread), in which the leavening agent is not yeast or baking powder, but _Clostridium perfringens_, the bacteria that causes gas gangrene. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/26 "2018-11-19T18:05:56Z")
I first had black pudding at the age of 21, when I was staying in the home of a Scottish pen-pal. I’d been there almost a week before her mother told me what I’d been scarfing down for lunch every day was congealed blood. I was a little taken aback, but I’ve never stopped eating it. Her father was a gamekeeper on an estate, so we also had hare quite often. They’d leave the carcass hanging outside until it was good and gamey. I never acquired a taste for it, even after I’d given it a few shots of L&P sauce. Haggis, on the other hand, is lovely stuff, regardless of how it’s prepared. Tastes just like spicy liverwurst, that’s all. Tofu I cannot stand. When I was in college, I could always tell when it was on the menu in the cafeteria, because it stank like burning rubber. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/27 "2018-11-19T19:50:52Z")
> [@Textual\_Innuendo](#): > > The only time I’ve had second thoughts was at a very fancy business dinner in China once, when they were serving us a (heinously expensive) fish whose claim to fame was that it had no bones at all, only cartilage. I thought there was a decent chance it might be an endangered species, and didn’t feel great about that (although I was never able to verify it either way). Tasted good, though. If it were a shark or a ray you’d probably remember that, so if not a chimera it could also be a [paddlefish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddlefish). If that were the case, probably an imported American one, as the Chinese one is critically endangered. Time for lunch, this is making me hungry. I don’t get squeamish about food too easy, but I do have tastes. I don’t really care about the age of animals, as in the wild a significant number them are unlikely to make breeding age, especially those octopuses. An adult animal is more likely to survive. I try to eat somewhat ethically, which differs greatly from the PETA definition. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/28 "2018-11-19T20:39:03Z")
Refried beans are made with lard. I am certainly not a vegetarian, but once I found that out I no longer enjoy that creamy texture. If I do make tacos the vegetarian beans are just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/29 "2018-11-19T21:23:16Z")
To step away from the meats for a moment, how about cashews? I mean, I still love them, but it’s a ton of work to separate the edible “nuts” from the poison-ivy leaves surrounding them. And when you consider that even with that, they’re only twice the price of peanuts… just what kind of slave labor must the cashew growers be using? ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/30 "2018-11-19T21:36:28Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > This reminds of the time I went to have lunch with my local Chinese girlfriends parents to a Chinese restaurant. Her Mom served me up a bowl of soup and insisted I eat the little white ball of something floating in my bowl. My girlfriend kept shaking her head no and telling me not to eat it, but like a good future son-in-law (the relationship didn’t work out BTW), I did. It didn’t taste like anything and only after I swallowed, her Mom told me that it was the fish bladder! > > Another time I was eating her Mom’s fried rice with harm ha (fermented shrimp paste) and while I was used to the little bits of crunchy shrimp shell, I once found a whole snail shell, like the kind you put in your aquarium. When I showed it to her Mom, she just exclaimed, “Oh, you’re so lucky!”. > > I don’t know if this is true or not, but supposedly in certain Southern Chinese restaurants, you can get Dragon, Phoenix Tiger soup. The Phoenix is chicken, maybe the expensive black chicken, the Dragon is snake and the Tiger is cat. I’m pretty sure I’ve eaten dog sometime, the meat was a bit chewier and dry than pork or it may have been goat, which I know for sure I’ve eaten a few times, so cat wouldn’t be off my menu! For what it’s worth, I had Phoenix and Dragon soup in a restaurant in Guangzhou in 1986. It featured chicken feet (Phoenix) and snake (Dragon). So that at least was a real thing. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/31 "2018-11-20T00:02:00Z")
Just remembered, bird’s nest soup. Swallow spit, yum! 😃 And to a lesser extent, shark’s fin soup. What do they do with the rest of the shark? (p.s. Yes, I know it’s often left to die, but all those other sea yummies need to eat too!) I’ve had both and while okay, it’s nothing I’d personally pay the high price for. The nice thing is that usually someone on the table does think twice about it and I get to have their portion too! Win! Oh, BTW, about baby animals, if it wasn’t clear my, comments are all tongue in cheek. As I stated, it’s the law of the jungle that the youngest and weakest are often the first to go. Also, while I don’t condone animal cruelty or support the harvesting of endangered species, the way I look at it, if the animal is already on my plate, it would be a greater waste of the animalis life if I didn’t consume it and just let it go to waste in protest. Sometimes when an endangered animal is illegally poached and discovered, the flesh is given to the native peoples for consumption and I applaud that. NOT the illegal poaching, but the passing on of the flesh so something positive can come from the negative act. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/32 "2018-11-20T00:09:06Z")
Another memory. My ex-girlfriend refused to eat split pea soup because her Dad told her that they were split by hand as punishment in China! 😛 As for eggs, I think it was George Carlin that had a bit about his friend refusing to tongue because it came out of a cow’s mouth, but would happily eat eggs that came out of a chicken’s butt! It’s very rare with market eggs, but farm fresh eggs sometimes have a bit of blood or poop on the shell, reminding you where they came from! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/33 "2018-11-20T00:16:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > To step away from the meats for a moment, how about cashews? I mean, I still love them, but it’s a ton of work to separate the edible “nuts” from the poison-ivy leaves surrounding them. And when you consider that even with that, they’re only twice the price of peanuts… just what kind of slave labor must the cashew growers be using? [It’s not great conditions in many cases](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/nov/02/cashew-nut-workers-pay-conditions-profits). But that doesn’t mean that they produced your cashews that way, there are mechanical solutions as well. It’s not the same substance as poison ivy/oak/sumac (urishiol) but [a cousin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacardic_acids), so I don’t think it’s as bad. > [@lingyi](#): > > Just remembered, bird’s nest soup. Swallow spit, yum! 😃 And to a lesser extent, shark’s fin soup. What do they do with the rest of the shark? (p.s. Yes, I know it’s often left to die, but all those other sea yummies need to eat too!) If illegally harvested, they toss the rest of the shark. While cruel to the individual animal, I think the bigger concern is the sustainability of it. > [@](#): > > Oh, BTW, about baby animals, if it wasn’t clear my, comments are all tongue in cheek. As I stated, it’s the law of the jungle that the youngest and weakest are often the first to go. Anyone is absolutely allowed to have a food aversion, even if it doesn’t make “sense” logically. Bad experiences, or just because it’s cute are fine. > [@](#): > > Also, while I don’t condone animal cruelty or support the harvesting of endangered species, the way I look at it, if the animal is already on my plate, it would be a greater waste of the animalis life if I didn’t consume it and just let it go to waste in protest. Sometimes when an endangered animal is illegally poached and discovered, the flesh is given to the native peoples for consumption and I applaud that. NOT the illegal poaching, but the passing on of the flesh so something positive can come from the negative act. I support removing roadkill harvest restrictions for this reason. Some people claim that it might lead to vehicle poaching. These people haven’t seen the aftermath of a deer collision. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/34 "2018-11-20T02:45:31Z")
> [@brossa](#): > > [Salt-rising bread](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt-rising_bread), in which the leavening agent is not yeast or baking powder, but _Clostridium perfringens_, the bacteria that causes gas gangrene. I didn’t know that. I do know that there are leavening agents other than yeast, but C. perfringens?!? EEEEEEEWWWWWWWW! ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/35 "2018-11-20T03:00:19Z")
Will not purchase seafood from SE Asia because of the slave labor > **[Was Your Seafood Caught With Slave Labor? New Database Helps Retailers Combat...](https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/01/582214032/was-your-seafood-caught-with-slave-labor-new-database-helps-retailers-combat-abu)** > > Many seafood lovers use the Monterey Bay Aquarium's ratings to choose sustainable fish. Now it has rolled out a tool to help corporations assess the risk of human trafficking in seafood supply chains. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/36 "2018-11-20T04:57:13Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Will not purchase seafood from SE Asia because of the slave labor > [Was Your Seafood Caught With Slave Labor? New Database Helps Retailers Combat Abuse : The Salt : NPR](https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/01/582214032/was-your-seafood-caught-with-slave-labor-new-database-helps-retailers-combat-abu) About 10 years ago, Hy-Vee, an upper Midwestern grocery chain, offered salmon for sale with a sign stating that it was caught in Alaska and processed in China. This didn’t last long because people refused to buy it. This was around the time that the one of the stores in my town tested a special “pay with your thumbprint” machine. I am not the only person who refused to try it (on one occasion, I said, “I’m not touching this with a 10-foot pole!”) and in time, they discontinued it because the company that made the machines went bankrupt. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/37 "2018-11-20T10:48:11Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > Baby octopus and baby squid - They’re not a special miniature species? They often are. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/38 "2018-11-20T11:18:50Z")
Kumis is fermented mare’s milk, very popular in Central Asia and often available in Russian stores. I was standing in the checkout line at my local supermarket one day when the person in front of me dropped his bottle of the stuff, which broke on the counter. Holy sweet JHC, the only stench I’ve ever encountered that was nearly as bad was when my dog farted one morning while the cat was trying to play with her! **WHOOOOO!** :mad: ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/39 "2018-11-20T13:32:35Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I have no qualms eating baby animals. But I have issues with animals that suffered. Especially with smart charismatic animals that suffered. I’ve cut way down on eating pork since realizing how nasty the factory farms are. And when I buy pork at the market, I try to buy pork that claims to have been humanely reared. It only costs about twice as much as traditionally-reared pork, and seems worth the surcharge. > > Sheep are dumb, delicious, and mostly pastured, even in the US. I eat a fair amount of lamb. While I agree that sheep are delicious and an animal that does not take well to factory farm conditions- they are also not as stupid as people think. I’ve owned sheep for on and off for over 20 years as well as competed in sheepdog trials- while they can make interesting choices, they not stupid. Usually, people who call them stupid have tried to get them to do something the sheep does not want to do and was frustrated by the results. Summary Cite: [http://www.sheep101.info/stupidsheep.html](http://www.sheep101.info/stupidsheep.html) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/40 "2018-11-20T13:42:52Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Where’s Mr. FoisGrasIsEvil? 🆒 Here I am! I came in to say foie gras. So good, it’s evil. Or, so inhumanely produced, it’s evil. Texturally speaking, it’s like a meat pillow, meat butter, silken, delicious…so also, very evil. So, after much careful thought and research, I’m going with sweetbreads. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645.md?page=3)