Any kind of tofu at all: In China, this past September. Does anyone know how to avoid tofu in China, in case I get to go back?
Oysters. Bought a couple at the fish market a few years ago. Then had to go to a cooking utensils store to get a oyster knife in order to open the damned things.
With some effort I pried the first one apart. There’s a litle gooey thingy straight out of a horror SF movie, innocently lying in the shell, waiting for the right moment to jump straight at my throat. I prod it a little, it seems to respond.
I suddenly realize: It’s alive.
It took an enormous effort to put it in my mouth, chew hard on it to make sure it would not survive in my stomach, and swallow. Actually, it tasted fairly nice, and I occasionally still have 'em.
First time I tried Red Bull energy drink was not a happy day for me. This is when they had just started marketing it so my Petsmart grooming place where I worked got some free cans. In my opinion they should have kept that price. It tastes like nasty ass cough medicine.
The first time I tried hummus I was hooked. I was living in Bahrain and had it with Persian bread. It’s like ambrosia.
i had never tasted General Tsao’s chicken until about 2 months ago. it is now arguably the best tasting food i’ve ever tried.
Hmm… let me think…
About 13 years ago I tried wild meat… I’ve always liked it as it has a different taste to beef but good all the same. Had to get used to it anyway as for about 2-3 years we ate it regularly and only bought ground beef (lots of steaks and roasts of deer, elk and sometimes moose)* My brother went hunting for the first time a couple weeks ago… been debating asking him to save some venison for me and bring it down after Christmas. Oh and venison makes a wicked Spanish stir-fry.
Can’t think when but about 4-5 years ago I first had bison. Very good as well.
4 years ago we had Indian food for the first time. Went to the Taj Mahal (sp?) restaurant in Calgary with some relatives who spent a year in Thailand teaching English and are now addicted to spicy food. Tried Chai at the same time and got addicted to that as well.
2-3 years ago I first tried calamari at Taste of Edmonton… it runs every year in the park downtown where you can get samples of all sorts of food to try. I decided to try it and I really liked it except I can’t remember what restaurant had put it on as they weren’t there the following year (or just didn’t have calamari)
3 years ago I first had a donair… made with tzatsiki sauce, onions and tomatoes… I ended up working for that place for a year and still say they make the best donairs I ever had. Other places only pale in comparison.
Those are the most notable I can think of…
[sub]*We lived in a small town where the RCMP had a list of people to call whenever something big got hit… Dad’s friend was on the list and Dad had a big truck so they would often go out and pick up the meat, process it and split it between them. Yes, that’s right… for 2-3 years we constantly ate road kill. It was perfectly fine you just had to cut away the meat from the side that was hit. We’d often joke that it was pre-tenderized but in reality it’s not good to eat that as stuff from the grill of the vehicle was most likely in it.[/sub]
I didn’t have a burger from McDonalds until I was a fully responsible adult…and I can still feel the grease sliding down my throat ugggh
FaerieBeth, how did you like your lamb? It’s one of my favorites, so I’m a little jealous.
This summer, I tried raw shellfish for the first time. My SO and I went to Fisherman’s Wharf in SF for lunch before a rodeo. He ordered an appetizer plate with several things on it. I thought it looked good, so I did too.
When I got it, I looked cross-eyed at the clams and oysters. “Jerry”, I said, “these things are raw!”. He laughed at me, and asked what I thought “on ice” meant. Well, I guess I thought that was sort of like shrimp cocktail, which are cooked but are served on ice. Apparently not!
Anyway, I really liked the clams. They were very fresh and had some sort of garlicky-vinegary dressing. The oysters were OK, but they won’t be on my favorites list.
Fresh asparagus is ambrosia of the gods. The proper way to cook it is lightly steaming it, so it is still bright green.
I still remember the first time I had semi-authentic Mexican food. Growing up in upstate NY with an Irish American mother who thought salt was a spice, it was quite a revelation.
I was so looking forward to my second time eating raw oysters the other day. The first time they tasted just like the beach smells and I loved them. This time, time there was none of that taste. I was disappointed. The mussels were great though.
I also got to sip a bit of Benedictine and brandy the other day. I rarely ever drink alcohol and never had anything this exotic. After the fire of the brandy goes away, there’s a very interesting and complex aftertaste. I rather liked it.
must…refrain…from…joke
How to tell a mango? The green varieties should be well-blushed with red, soft, and give out that ineffable mango aroma. How I adore a mango; just skin and slice chunks off of them and eat them. However, I too am allergic, as many of you are. I still eat them from time to time, very carefully, and fully aware that it will result in swelling and itchiness - but if I wash my hands and face really well, it’s not too bad.
Mangos are actually fairly closely related to poison ivy; it’s no surprise that sensitivity to what’s in them is common. I had a doctor’s appointment soon after having one, and mentioned that I thought I was having an allergic reaction to them. He was fairly sure I was right, since it’s such a common allergy.
I’ve never heard that it correllates to latex allergy, and I never noticed anything in the dentist’s, but if I have surgery I’ll bring it up. (That’s another incredibly common allergy anyway.)
I tried Mozzarella made from water buffalo milk last night. It was kinda bland.
Thumbs up on the lamb this weekend. This was also the first test of my new resolution to not be freaked out by eating baby animals. I used to be very anti-veal, lamb, etc. But they’re so tasty, especially when prepared by the loving hands of my Lady wife FaerieBeth.
Grew up in NYC, so not too many food items that I did not have the opportunity to try growing up…just several that I refused to eat on principle.
Though I will always remember my first lobster/ baked Alaska experience (holiday banquet during prep school)…I was like …what the hell is this damn thing? Both were tasty, though.
French Onion Soup.
I went to dinner one night at a seafood restaurant and the only thing non-fish for an appetizer was FOS. I never, ever had any desire to taste it but was so famished that I ordered it. The yumminess that ensued was almost spiritual.
Lobster: My wedding night; we had a steak & lobster dinner brought to our room by room service. It was divine. The steak was butter-knife tender. All in all, one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life.
Hummus: I was in my mid-30s before I had it, at California Pizza Kitchen. It was warm and had a drizzle of olive oil over the top. Yummmmmmmmm!
Fried Dill Pickles/Fried Alligator: Again in my mid-30s. We were at some steak house that specialized in cajun food. They gave us a free appetizer of fried dill pickles, and I got adventurous and got a salad with fried alligator bites. It was really yummy. I have since learned that fried dill pickles go better with thousand island dressing than with ranch dressing, and fried alligator is just plain good.
Swordfish: I first met this delicacy when I was about 25. I had just moved from Salt Lake City to Anaheim, and my boyfriend (now my husband) used to go to Long Beach on Friday nights. There was a seafood restaurant that we frequented, always getting fried calamari for an appetizer. I LOVE fresh swordfish.
Korean food: There’s a lovely lady in my ward at church who’s from Korea. Whenever we have a ward dinner, or whenever she hosts a party at her house, she makes loads of Korean food. I’m now addicted to kimchee and all the other wonderful things she makes that I don’t recall the names of. There was a Christmas party at church on Saturday evening. While most people were eating turkey and mashed potatoes, I was loading my plate with Korean food.
I love trying new things, and am rarely disappointed. 
I attend an annual Robert Burns dinner, and it is traditional to have haggis. The first time I attended was before the mad cow disease outbreak, and some of the attendees who flew over from London brought a real haggis with them. The very thought of eating a sheeps stomach filled with chopped up organ meats, oatmeal, suet, and all the other “stuff” that goes into a haggis made me a bit reluctant, but, hey, it was Burns Night, the scotch had been great, so what the hell…
And it wasn’t that bad at all. I wouldn’t eat alot of it, but it wasn’t as repulsive as it sounded.
The next year (after the outbreak) it was illegal to bring anything like that out of Great Britain so we had to settle for another of the guests (a chef) trying to make a home-made haggis. The results were, indeed, as repulsive as it sounds. I dont know what had gone wrong, but the dish tasted just how you’d imagine sheep stomach, filled with chopped organ meats, oatmeal, suet, and other “stuff” to taste.
The scotch was still great.
I’m a transplanted Canadian now in the Deep South, and one day last week, I had dirty rice with sausage for the first time. I don’t believe they have any dirty rice north of the border, or maybe north of the Mason-Dixon line…I’d never seen it before. It was so good that I told my wife we could have it anytime!
Also, not long ago, I had a hot dog made with bratwurst (mustard, relish and onions). I may never eat another weiner!
My ladybug has a tradition of serving Caviar and Champagne on Christmas Eve. She does the whole toast points, chopped egg, minced onion, lemon juice, capers, etc. thing with the caviar.
I thought it would be disgusting. But I tried it for her. And it’s actually not bad… it tastes kinda like the ocean smells. Anyway, there’s so much other stuff on it, that you can barely make out the caviar flavor.
Of course, I had already been indoctrinated into the legions of sushi-lovers, so caviar wasn’t that big a step from smelt roe garnish… Though I never did bring myself to eat any other kind of roe. (The only thing I’ll eat raw is bony fish and scallop.)
I also remember my first piece of sushi. It was yellowtail tuna. I tried it at my friend’s birthday party, and broke down and tasted it for him, as a birthday gift.
It reminded me of cunnilingus.
A few years ago, I had some pate’ along with some other appetizers. It was okay, but nothing special. I thought that I would be magically transported into “Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless”, but it wasn’t that great. I liked my tunafish sandwich I had for lunch a lot better. I guess this is just further proof that I am not ready for a fine dining experience.
- New Orleans. Mardi Gras. I was eleven when I tried my first, and last, helping of Grits. It reminded me of a marriage between cream of wheat and tapioca pudding…but with butter and salt.
Present Day. In a response to my raw beef thread, Zenster, may he live forever, enlightened me about Beef Carpaccio. It was about a month later when I actually made it to his exact specifications and promptly fell in love with it.