Ah - a good example of something that looks vile and tastes good.
The cat litter cake is a very good example of that, actually! I made one a couple of years ago for a Boy Scout party and it was (once you got over the whole, well, poop thing) pretty tasty
I cannot come up with anything that tops some of the things mentioned on this thread (but squirrel is good stuff, from my one experience with it as a young kid).
Just about anything from the Gallery of Regrettable Food would qualify. This morning, paging through his most recent book, I saw a recipe for “Scottish Heart Patties”. The instructions went something like, “Wash hearts, remove large tubes, force through meat grinder with onions…” and there I pretty much had to stop. So, patties made with hearts. No thank you, he said greenly.
One of his books had excerpts from a WWII-era cookbook concerning “variety meats” – parts of the animal (cow, I believe it was) that aren’t traditionally eaten, but can be ground up, shaped, and stuffed in a gelatin mold.
Of all the things Louisiana natives eat with gusto and write up in cookbooks, it’s squirrel that grosses you out, lorene? I’m from Louisiana, and lived in Baton Rouge for years, and I can say with authority that we eat things most people would be afraid to step on.
"Hasenpfeffer (also spelled hasenfeffer) is a traditional German stew made from marinated rabbit. Pfeffer is not only the name of a spice, but also for a dish where the animal’s blood is used as a gelling agent for the sauce. Wine or vinegar is also a prominent ingredient, to lend a sourness to the recipe.
In the USA and perhaps elsewhere, squirrel is frequently substituted for rabbit. This substitution is accepted as authentic by the families of German immigrants. The substitution of chicken, although common, is not considered authentic."
We actually touched on that in one of my grad-school courses in mass communication. What we were studying, actually, was the government’s methods in trying to get housewives to use nontraditional cheap cuts during a period of meat rationing. Apparently it involved something along the lines of state-sponsored Tupperware parties, with the recipes demonstrated, health benefits explained, then something like, “So, Mrs. Smith, are you going to cook your husband a delicious beef heart for dinner?”
(I once tried cooking up some sliced beef heart I found in the supermarket. Way too tough! Unless you put it through a grinder, I guess.)
I grew up in eastern Kentucky. We would often have squirrel during the hunting season. The one thing that I could not bring myself to try however was eating the brains of the squirrel. My mother and father thought that was a delicacy.
One of my mother’s uncles used to make his own pickled pigs’ feet. As a child, he’d bring them over to her house. She tells me that she’d sit there and watch my grandmother just gnawing on the things, while trying not to vomit.
I remember when I was in oh, maybe 6th grade, and we had our “Santa Workshop” store every December (note-this was a CATHOLIC school, so no comments about church/state). Some of the kids’ mothers would bake cookies and bring them in.
One made these “wreath cookies” that had cornflakes with sort of a green coating, with little red hots for berries. Except that the cookies looked like big piles of snot.
My friends and I tried them, if only BECAUSE they looked so gross, out of curiosity.
We were the only ones who did so-and I’m glad because they were delicious and there were more for us!
It’s awesome – sweet and sour and spicy – but it’s better with little meatballs than with baby weiners.
The volunteer fire department used to host a wild game feed every spring to raise money. Ever et hog nuts? Baked into a stuffing, that’s good eatin’.
Guinastasia, I can get behind some pickled pig’s feet, but my grandma’s favorite was the back end of the chicken. My husband eats bone marrow. Said he never got any at home – his dad had dibs.
It’s “Gordon Ramsey’s F Word”, a British show. You can probably find more of it on Youtube or possible BBC America (I know Ramsdey’s gone American, now).
I was wondering how long it would be until haggis or black pudding were mentioned. Nevertheless, haggis is delicious, especially deep fried and served with chips (haggis supper) from a chippy, when drunk.