I don’t think I’d have a problem with any sort of mollusc or crustacean, though it might take me a while to screw up my courage for slugs or pillbugs (curiously, snails seem completely different from slugs, to me). And it still weirds me out a bit when I can see tentacles with suckers in calamari, but properly-prepared calimari is easily delicious enough to overcome that. And I have no problem with beets or liver, and I’d love to try haggis some day.
However, I am not going to voluntarily eat anything that’s still wriggling when I’m eating it (see casu marza), nor any part of a dog, cetacean, or primate.
Sidenote: the last “Bizarre Foods” episodes were particularly humorous because Andrew met his match a couple of times. He had a hard time at “Dai’s House of Unique Stink”, and the Moroccan “preserved meat” khli didn’t agree with him at all.
I’ll try most anything once - love pate, frog legs are bearable, love lobster, gator, carpacchio, some raw sushi, etc. However, I will try (never say never) in my lifetime to not eat:
[ul]
[li]another human[/li][li]horse[/li][li]dog[/li][li]cat[/li][li]monkey[/li][li]any organs other than liver, especially penises, testicles, eyeballs, etc. :eek:[/li][li]milt (some kind of sperm I saw at a sushi restaurant in atlanta)[/li][li]geflite (sp?) fish[/li][li]pigs feet[/li][li]big, fat, juicy grubs and such (I’ve eaten regular bugs - they’re not bad)[/li][/ul]
What is it about a root vegetable that would make you avoid it, even if you thought it tasted good? Or, do you just not like beets?
Are we even sure Casu Marzu is a real product? The description sounds like a joke, and 99% of all its google images are the exact same picture (the one from Wikipedia).
I thought that would be me but someone else at my table ordered them once and I got the nerve to try just one. Turns out they are totally inoffensive. Shrimp has a much stronger taste.
I never thought of myself as “picky” per se, but I won’t eat
*Organs
*Assorted Offal
*Red Meat
*Reptiles and Insects
*Sea slugs, sea urchins
*A number of cheeses
OTOH, I’ve gotten over one of my long-standing icks-I ate and enjoyed a poached egg. BUT it was smothered under red pepper hollandaise and on top of a crab hash. I can’t see myself eating it without something crunchy and smothered by Hollandaise.
Like I said, I never considered myself “picky”. I can handle extreme spice, enjoy a variety of cuisines, any type of vegetable/legume…but I have major issues with the texture of organs/offal, I don’t eat beef for religious reasons and I am physically repulsed by the thought of eating things like horse/dog etc… To tell you the truth I am morally repulsed by the thought of meat in general…but I adore fish and sometimes I feel an enormous craving for chicken protein. Damn critters…having to be so tasty. If I ever turn full vegetarian I’ll never be able to say I didn’t enjoy meat and it was easy to give it up…I’m going to feel it every day. That said, I’m capable of being pescatarian most days.
Anyway, it’s clear that compared to a lot of people I am picky.
For me, ortolan. Here’s a quick description from wikipedia.
I like minimal cruelty toward my food, and this is maybe just a bit much.
Also
It’s real. There are other pictures of it on google images that are obviously from different sources, and then there’s this… charming… youtube of it, along with this foreign language one that is even more disgusting. If you still don’t believe, there’s plenty more video out there to look at. I’ve reached my limit though. Ugh…
What’s wrong with whitefish meatballs in broth? I know why I won’t try it, but that’s because my first exposure was pretty traumatic. It just strikes me as being something of a mismatch with the other items on your list.
There’s at least one TV episode where the Gordon Ramsay did claim to go see the production of casu marzu, and partook of it. It’s available on YouTube.
Hey, don’t go eating my college mascot, now.
I think I’d eat just about anything if I thought it would taste good, or even might taste good. I think I’ll pass on balut, not because it offends me, but because it just sounds bad.
About the most daring I’ve been so far are insects, and salmon roe sushi. Didn’t really care much for either one, although someone told me that particular batch of grasshoppers had too much salt.
