This is MilliCal’s idea for a thread. At first I said “No way”, but then I thought about it.
I’ve eaten Octopus, squid, and various underwater life.
One time I was invited to a dinner and found a large scallop shell with some light, pink mousse-like thing in it.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Just try it,” I was told.
So I did. It was vaguely fishy.
Later on I learned that it was calf’s brain. This was LONG before anyone heard of Mad Cow Disease. Thanks.
But the grossest thing I ever ate was Escargot. I have knowingly and voluntarily eaten SNAILS. And more than one.
MilliCal’s entry is:
She says she can’t remember the grossest thing, but this is in the running:
French fry with ketchup with peach sauce with cream cheese.
I love escargot and my two year old daughter gobbled them up like candy during one trip to France. I am not impressed by that contribution at all.
My contributions comes from a survival camp that I went to. One thing that we were able to catch was an armadillo. Their natural habitat is lying face up in the road stinking like Satan’s vomit covered in flies. They don’t smell much better soon after they are killed and they carry leprosy. Fire roasted armadillo on the half shell is the nastiest thing I have ever eaten. Half the survivalists in our group faked eating any of it. I was one of the unfortunate other half that actually ate a bite and then we all engaged in a vomit fest like Lard-ass caused in Stand By Me.
I agree, escargot can be good. The grossest sounding thing I’ve ever eaten is probably barnacles. They were actually tasty, though. They had a briny taste and somewhat springy flesh, kind of like shrimp.
I have enjoyed octopus marinated in vinaigrette. However, I once was served a big plate of boiled octopus served with mayonnaise. That was pretty gross. There’s nothing like trying to finish a big plate of chewy octopus, trying to be polite.
Hmm. Tuna Brownie, back on yond at a deli I worked at, on a dare: exactly as it sounds, a brownie with an inch of tuna salad on top.It relly wasn’t that bad, the salty flavor of the tuna complemented the deep chocolate flavor. But, it grossed out everyone watching.
Broccoli Daquiri. Again, on a youthful dare, with all ingredients available and a blender. Not so bad, really, but I’ve never tried it again.
As a kid, my parents served it a lot. They’d boil it. (They boiled almost everything.) I used to think they were kidding when they told me it was cow tongue because they were very sarcastic when it came to food. If my siblings or I dared commit the unholy sin of asking what was for dinner, we’d get all sorts of non-answers.
I couldn’t eat it now. Maybe I could get past my squeamish-ness if it had a decent flavor. For the most part, it’s flavorless, but what little flavor there is just isn’t that great.
I had sea urchin that was fresh and living… I would have found it somewhat tasty, except it was sort of wiggling its spines and trying to inch off my plate, which gave the whole situation a very Dark Crystal kind of vibe. In the future, I don’t wish to eat things while they are trying to escape from me.
Went to a very fancy dinner party thrown by the parents of a friend. This was one of the first parties where we got to be with the adults instead of at the kiddie table. Pre dinner, there were appetizers–fruit and chunks of cheeze. I had one piece that was good, so I tried another. Nastiest thing ever. Of course I had to chew it, swallow it, the whole thing.
I was never sure what kind of cheese it was, but it was nasty, nasty stuff. I avoided all cheese for the next several years because of that.
I had canned haggis, but that was nothing. It was like ground beef and things with spices. Escargot is just plain yummy, so I don’t understand the issue with that. Octopus is also great when it is deep fried. It could be good other ways too, but normally you would cook it.
I had raw octopus at a sushi bar when I was 10. It had the suction cups on it and everything. It was a piece of a big octopus too, not a little bitty thing.
I really want to try black pudding. I think that sounds very tasty. I’ve never had a brain, but I’d certainly give it a shot. Deep fried insects are also on the list. Basically, I’ll try anything if it is for real and not a dare.
I never ate my boogers though. Yech, I never understood that.
Escargot, no problem. Abalone’s a pretty damn good snail too, as is conch. However, I had some baby abalone type things in Hawaii once that were not so good. The least appetizing snails I’ve eaten were periwinkle types gathered off a rocky beach in New Zealand and boiled up by a Maori visitor to an island where I was working.
I’ve had rat. It wasn’t bad, except for the fact it tasted like rat.
I love haggis (at least the ersatz kind they serve these days), blood sausage, escargot (or course!), Braims, sweetbreads, etc.
The most unpleasant (I don’t know if it was actually gross, but I sure didn’t like it) thing I ever ate was Turtle, in Taiwan. Greasy, gelatinous, and full of tiny bones. Completely inedible.
