# Unusual foods you've recently tried for the first time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 19, 2022, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477 "2022-10-19T07:47:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/81 "2022-10-25T19:20:16Z")
Not consciously, though there can always be something under there. I think its a longtime warning against undercooked chicken and its inherent sliminess. It’s not the chicken’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2022, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/82 "2022-10-25T22:27:30Z")
Recently had a few of what I believe were Sapodilla / Chico sapote fruit. Small delicious fruits that taste like brown sugar. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/83 "2022-10-26T23:05:00Z")
Succinylcholine, which is a paralytic used during general anesthesia, is in a vial with a red warning cap, AND the vial itself is hexagonal in shape, unlike the vast majority which are round, and this makes it MUCH harder for anyone to mix them up. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/84 "2022-10-27T18:15:25Z")
Until now I’d completely forgotten about this highly relevant thread of mine from May of this year: > [@So I just tried real licorice, and am pretty impressed](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-tried-real-licorice-and-am-pretty-impressed/963802): > > I’m one of those folks who can’t stand black licorcice candy. I find the flavour revolting—almost nauseating. Give me a bag of assorted-flavour candy, and I’ll hand it back to you with all the icky black ones rattling around forlornly at the bottom of the bag. I was vaguely aware that there is also a [licorice plant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice) that the candy is named after. However, I always figured that it’s one of those botanicals that’s never used any more, similar to how root beer is no longer made with real [sassafr…](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassafras_albidum) ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/85 "2022-10-29T05:21:27Z")
I bit the bullet and bought some Gros Michel Bananas. Expensive, but they have ruined me for Cavendish. They taste like bananas are supposed to taste. The other actually unusual fruit I picked up was Mamey Sapote. If I can borrow a description, the flesh bears a complex sweet and savory flavor, containing subtle notes of vanilla, nutmeg, apricots, and root beer mixed with honeyed pumpkin, squash, and sweet potato nuances. It has the texture of avocado. It looks most like a cross between a sweet potato and an avocado, color more orange. Mine arrived already ripe so after an initial meal, I ended up using the rest of it in a bread. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/86 "2022-10-29T06:10:32Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > I bit the bullet and bought some Gros Michel Bananas. Where did you get them? I’ve been looking for them forever. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/87 "2022-10-30T02:06:29Z")
Miami fruit. Google that and it’s the first one that comes up. I suggest getting one of the larger boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/88 "2022-12-28T13:29:08Z")
Just bumping this thread to report… cod livers for lunch. On sourdough toast, if that matters. I like fish but I don’t like liver _at all_, so I had no idea what to make of cod liver, and nothing really to go on beyond that old cod liver oil trope. This was a tin\* given to me by a friend (French resident) so I kinda felt obliged to at least try it. Today’s lunch arrangements were askew for various reasons, I was rummaging in a cupboard and… oh well. For some reason I had assumed it was cod liver pate, but no, it was your actual livers floating in oil. It tastes like fishy liver (Duh!) and has a texture of - uh - a dense meringue? I got it down (it’s still down) and had some blue cheese to follow to make sure the taste didn’t linger in my mouth. In conclusion - job done, obligations met. j \* - Super-U Foie de Morue. So it’s a supermarket own-brand product, which kind of suggests that there are many different brands out there (!). Not that I have ever looked (or will in the future.) ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/89 "2022-12-28T13:42:59Z")
I haven’t tried it yet, but I will try this in the next few days: [Kalles codfish roe paste](https://www.amazon.com/Kalles-Creamed-Smoked-Spread-Abba/dp/B005BHZ2PU). I saw it being made on one of those “How It’s Made” style shows. It’s salted, smoked codfish roe, creamed into a paste with seasonings and contained in a squeeze tube. Apparently it’s as popular and ubiquitous in Sweden as ketchup is in the U.S. In the show, it was eaten on an open-face sandwich of rye and sliced hard-boiled eggs. You squeeze out a squiggle of the paste on top of the eggs and go to it. It looked good to me, so I ordered a tube of it from Amazon and it’s in the kitchen right now. I’ll report back if it’s as good as it looks. Anyone else here ever have it? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/90 "2022-12-28T18:45:31Z")
Improbable as it sounds, cod roe is a staple of the traditional chippie round these parts. [Here’s a menu](https://www.ropetacklefish.co.uk/branch/restaurants-menu-shoreham-sea) for a local shop - it’s listed towards the bottom of “Side Orders”. From its appearance, I would say it comes in a tin like this: > **[Buy Amanda Pressed Roe-1x600g - Order Online From JJ Foodservice](https://www.jjfoodservice.com/product/england/FSH250)** > > Buy Canned Cod at wholesale prices from JJ Foodservice. Order online or at one of our branches today. Open to all. - and is cut into slices so you get a thick disk of roe, which is then battered and fried. I ate plenty when I was a (poor) student. j ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/91 "2022-12-30T05:22:35Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > cod livers for lunch. I also recently tried canned cod livers for the first time. I was somewhat disappointed at the fairly bland flavor and featureless texture. The French can I had was ‘lightly smoked’ and I didn’t detect any liver flavor at all. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/92 "2023-01-01T21:30:39Z")
Reporting back on the Kalles smoked codfish paste-in-a-tube. It’s good! If you added a little anchovy paste to canned tuna, added a bit of sugar, and creamed it all into a smooth creamy paste, it’d taste like this. It’s very good on the plain hard-boiled eggs, and I think it’d be good smeared in a thin film across buttered white toast. I’m toying with the idea of making those triangular Japanese rice balls with a blob of this stuff in the center. You gotta like fish, though. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477/93 "2023-01-01T21:52:01Z")
The jarred gefilte fish is awful. Much better is frozen gefilte fish. That actually tastes very good. However, it’s usually only available in neighborhoods with large Jewish populations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-foods-youve-recently-tried-for-the-first-time/973477.md?page=4)