# New/Exotic Foods You Thought Would Be Bad, And Were Awful **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756 "2006-03-24T18:44:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Godfrey\_Daniels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Godfrey\_Daniels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godfrey_Daniels)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/41 "2006-03-27T20:10:27Z")
hmmm…not exactly the perfect lunchtime thread-read. My tastebuds may be unsophisticated, but I do not like escargot, at all, nor pate de fois gras. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/42 "2006-03-27T20:25:36Z")
> [@Gadarene](#): > > I like the actual _food_ when I have Ethiopian food, but I find the bread way too spongy for my tastes. Have I just had some bad injera experiences? I tried it once and didn’t really mind the sponginess - kinda reminded me of an English muffin - but it was the sharp kind of salty taste that I couldn’t get past. I’ve had naan bread, which is salty tasting and I liked it, but I didn’t like the flavor of injera. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/43 "2006-03-27T20:27:18Z")
[Hundred year eggs](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=4589875#post4589875). ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/44 "2006-03-27T21:53:06Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Pickled salmon. I think it was pickled salmon, it was something pickled. > > It was a food sample in a store. I was just a little kid. I took a bite, freaked out, ran away to the other side of the store where they sold pop going ‘ewwww!’. My dad had to run after me. If it really was pickled salmon then I’ll agree wholeheartedly. Unlike Tripe (which is worthless to begin with) your dish must have taken one of the finest meats available and then perverted it into something unedible. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/45 "2006-03-27T22:12:15Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > [Hundred year eggs](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=4589875#post4589875). Dang you, jjimm! That was one thing _I_ wuz gonna post. But, also, > [@Gadarene](#): > > …but I hated the sea urchin maki… I also wanted to agree here. I love most sashimi, and heard sea urchin roe was supposed to be ambrosia. Looked like orange vomit and tasted worse. To contribute something original from my experience, I’ll add one of my father’s favorites: Hogshead Cheese. I do not know how he ate the stuff. It was…nasty tasting. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/46 "2006-03-27T22:14:13Z")
Slight correction. I meant to say “…most sashimi and sushi…” ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/47 "2006-03-27T22:20:06Z")
Caviar. Herring pickled in sour cream. Caviche. I think you get the theme… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/48 "2006-03-27T22:28:42Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > Dang you, jjimm! That was one thing _I_ wuz gonna post. Perhaps your revulsion differed qualitatively from mine? I’d be interested to hear if you were as nauseous as I was. Once in France I accidentally ordered _fromage de tête_. I stupidly thought it was cheese. When it arrived and looked at it, I thought it was cheese in savory jelly. When I ate it I thought it was weird, rubbery and unpleasant cheese in savory jelly. Then I realised it was sheep’s brains in aspic. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/49 "2006-03-28T00:33:41Z")
Fermented manioc/cassava. It had all the qualities (visual, olactory and gustative) of vomit, just somewhat stronger. I had been warned and still insisted to have some, though, so I can’t complain. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/50 "2006-03-28T00:42:02Z")
Mine is so tame, and so embarassing–blue cheese. I just can’t learn to like it. It tastes like fermented vomit. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/51 "2006-03-28T00:50:53Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Then I realised it was sheep’s brains in aspic. Feel reassured, it’s pork’s head, not sheep’s brains. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/52 "2006-03-28T00:56:53Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Feel reassured, it’s pork’s head, not sheep’s brains. If ever there was a good reason to go Kosher, that is it 🙂 Does anyone know why head cheese etc is called ‘cheese’ rather than a more sensible name like “head meat” or “head salami” or “head sausage”? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/53 "2006-03-28T01:03:30Z")
Sauteed kidneys. I’m willing to entertain the idea that they can be edible when prepared by some master chef, but the way I tried them was via three words that no lover of fine cuisine should have to experience in sequence: Soviet dorm food. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/54 "2006-03-28T01:05:41Z")
And the corollary of Soviet cuisne, which I shouldn’t include here because it’s one of the few things I’ve ever entirely refused to eat: [Herring in a Fur Coat.](http://web.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/Recipe/recipe108.htm) I like most of the components just fine, but there are some great tastes that just don’t taste great together. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/55 "2006-03-28T01:12:27Z")
McBeer (Yes, they actually served this at McDonald’s in Toulon, France.) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/56 "2006-03-28T02:14:12Z")
Mine’s pretty tame compared to most of these, but for me it was Brussels sprouts. Now, I was never the sort of kid who didn’t want to eat his vegetables. Lima beans? Love 'em. Asparagus? Awesome. Spinach? Eh, kinda gross, but OK. Then one day, mom decided to make Brussels spouts. The first thing that I noticed was the smell: a horrible sulfurous stench, like the sprouts had been grown on the slopes of Mount St. Helens or something. My siblings and I were totally grossed out, but mom insisted that we try them. I held my nose (literally) and took a bite. Let’s just say that the phrase “Satan’s turds” entered my mind. There was no redeeming these noxious little lumps of evil, and that one bite was the last time I have ever eaten one. Mom still likes them, however, and now that us kids have moved out she’s free to indulge in her culinary perversions without complaint 😃 . I’m not sure how dad feels about them, but the last time I looked in their freezer, I noticed exactly _one_ single-serving package of hell sprouts, amid dozens of packages of green beans, corn, and peas. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/57 "2006-03-28T09:43:01Z")
[QUOTE=Gadarene] I love me some sushi…but I _hated_ the sea urchin maki I tried a couple of years ago. It tasted searingly toxic, and not in a good way. [QUOTE] Oh, God. I have never regretted taking my dad’s advice so much as when I tried tasting sea urchin. That stuff is just nasty. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/58 "2006-03-28T09:44:09Z")
ARGH. The ONE TIME I forget to preview… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/59 "2006-03-28T18:35:56Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Feel reassured, it’s pork’s head, not sheep’s brains. Phew! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756/60 "2006-03-28T20:05:26Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > the last time I looked in their freezer, I noticed exactly _one_ single-serving package of hell sprouts, amid dozens of packages of green beans, corn, and peas. There’s your problem. Fresh brussels sprouts are good. Frozen brussels sprouts are, as you said, Satan’s turds. You’re also not supposed to cook them until the whole kitchen smells like sulfur. > [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > If ever there was a good reason to go Kosher, that is it Reading about all the horrible things people make with animal blood certainly makes _me_ glad I keep kosher. The varieties of sushi that I can eat all tend to be non-nasty, too- no eel or sea urchin for me ;j I had herring pickled in sour cream once, and liked it, until about a half hour after I’d eaten. What happened in the bathroom then made me think of the scene in _The Call of Cthulhu_ when the ship ran over Cthulhu: > [@H.P. Lovecraft](#): > > There was a bursting as of an exploding bladder, a slushy nastiness as of a cloven sunfish, a stench as of a thousand opened graves, and a sound that the chronicler could not put on paper. For an instant the ship was befouled by an acrid and blinding green cloud, and then there was only a venomous seething astern I flushed before it could reconstitute into some nameless horror. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-exotic-foods-you-thought-would-be-bad-and-were-awful/349756.md?page=4)