# Weird-Sounding Food That Is Surprisingly Good. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449 "2017-08-23T11:22:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/21 "2017-08-24T01:25:31Z")
Head cheese is not bad. Really just a meat jelly. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/22 "2017-08-24T01:30:08Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Head cheese is not bad. Really just a meat jelly. I enjoy head cheese and meaty aspics, and while the description of “really just a meat jelly” is plenty accurate, I don’t think that’s really gonna sell it to the masses. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/23 "2017-08-24T01:33:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I enjoy head cheese and meaty aspics, and while the description of “really just a meat jelly” is plenty accurate, I don’t think that’s really gonna sell it to the masses. 😉 More for me, then. Really, it should appeal to anyone who enjoys beef marrow, slow cooked pot roasts where the veggies are browned and enveloped in the meat drippings, or marmite! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/24 "2017-08-24T01:43:41Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > More for me, then. > > Really, it should appeal to anyone who enjoys beef marrow, slow cooked pot roasts where the veggies are browned and enveloped in the meat drippings, or marmite! 🆒 You’re speaking my language. The best dish I’ve eaten this year was a beef marrow appetizer when I visited my old Budapest stomping grounds in the spring. I was expecting just a couple of one-inch marrow bone cross sections (like you might get in a shank), but was treated to three 8-inch marrow bones with toast. Beefy bone butter heaven! (And I followed that up with a giant plate of beef tartare.) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/25 "2017-08-24T04:22:52Z")
Liederkranz cheese on crackers. I have it every so often, it’s quite tasty. No one in the house has passed out from the smell, no one has gagged as if a maggot, and the world has kept on turning. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/26 "2017-08-24T05:31:48Z")
I got the side eye on another thread when I mentioned how much I like sea urchin/uni. Yes, it has the texture of snot and tastes of saltwater bilge, but for some reason all of that appeals to me. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/27 "2017-08-24T05:42:42Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I enjoy head cheese and meaty aspics, and while the description of “really just a meat jelly” is plenty accurate, I don’t think that’s really gonna sell it to the masses. 😉 I’d describe it more as meat suspended in jelly. When you say meat jelly I get images of a very homogenous product like grape jelly. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/28 "2017-08-24T13:05:34Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > Squid in ink. Really tasty with rice. I think people react better nowadays to squid and octupus, but the ink might be too much for some. I agree, anyway re squid and cuttlefish – have not ventured onto the octopus / ink scene. I find that the ink adds something – basically, of an intensifying kind – to the already agreeable flavour. In the UK where I am, squid and cuttle “with ink” seem rather difficult to come by; though you can get the ink in separate sachets. If you do get an in-itself ink-bearing cephalopod – the ink turns the whole dish black, which can _look_ a little off-putting; but the taste is grand. The British cookery writer Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is very firmly in the “with squid / cuttle, inky / black is good” camp. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/29 "2017-08-24T15:36:29Z")
Just yesterday for dessert we had **Dragonfruit** , which sounds like a geeky Game of Thrones-themed made-up food: [![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jLNksrbPEGQ/UZ2CpNxos0I/AAAAAAAAGBc/2PYU9M16r9E/s1600/pitaya_cross_section.png) ](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jLNksrbPEGQ/UZ2CpNxos0I/AAAAAAAAGBc/2PYU9M16r9E/s1600/pitaya_cross_section.png) > **[Pitaya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya)** > > A pitaya (/pɪˈtaɪ.ə/) or pitahaya (/ˌpɪtəˈhaɪ.ə/) is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the region of southern Mexico and along the Pacific coasts of Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. Pitaya is cultivated in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the United States, the Caribbean, Australia, and throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world. > Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus Stenocereus, while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the ge... After you peel it and slice it, it looks like albino chaotic kiwifruit, with tiny black seeds in a white pulp that has no obvious order. My daughter and friend claimed it has a slight strawberry odor, but it wasn’t that evident to me. It has negligible taste, which might go hand-in-hand with its negligible calories. It’s an interesting\* but not compelling experience. \*we all used that word. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/30 "2017-08-24T15:45:15Z")
Liverwurst? Eat something worst than liver? Not The Kid! Yeah, I was a dumb kid. Liverwurst is delicious. A strange attitude for me to have considering I continued to eat morcilla even after I found out that the English name for it is blood sausage. Tangential question: does morcilla taste different than British blood sausage? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/31 "2017-08-24T15:49:24Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > I got the side eye on another thread when I mentioned how much I like sea urchin/uni. Yes, it has the texture of snot and tastes of saltwater bilge, but for some reason all of that appeals to me. I’m really glad other folks like that, but I’d prefer that when Bugs Bunny catches pneumonia, his pulmonary physician just threw the phlegm away. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/32 "2017-08-24T16:21:10Z")
growing up - my mother would make ‘ButterMilk Pie’ - it was a holiday favorite. It doesn’t sound like it would be a good pie - but damned if it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/33 "2017-08-24T16:25:35Z")
Scrapple. Has an awful reputation but in actuality it’s quite innocuous. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/34 "2017-08-24T16:28:44Z")
> [@simster](#): > > growing up - my mother would make ‘ButterMilk Pie’ - it was a holiday favorite. > > It doesn’t sound like it would be a good pie - but damned if it isn’t. Testify! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/35 "2017-08-24T16:30:56Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Scrapple. Has an awful reputation but in actuality it’s quite innocuous. Damning with faint praise; scrapple is the bee’s knees. I’d walk a mile for a Scrapple! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/36 "2017-08-24T16:52:12Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > More for me, then. > > Really, it should appeal to anyone who enjoys beef marrow, slow cooked pot roasts where the veggies are browned and enveloped in the meat drippings, or marmite! 🆒 I did marrow for breakfast Monday [hey, my nausea at eating kicks in towards the afternoon, so I eat ‘dinner’ when I wake up. Makes for less vomiting.] Sourdough toast points, and tossed salad with marinated artichoke hearts. And I absolutely love the classic slow cooked pot roast with pearl onions, baby carrots, celery and baby potatoes. The roasted veggies are almost the best part. > [@pulykamell](#): > > You’re speaking my language. The best dish I’ve eaten this year was a beef marrow appetizer when I visited my old Budapest stomping grounds in the spring. I was expecting just a couple of one-inch marrow bone cross sections (like you might get in a shank), but was treated to three 8-inch marrow bones with toast. Beefy bone butter heaven! (And I followed that up with a giant plate of beef tartare.) I love steak tartare. I can remember when I was 9 years old, my Dad took me to lunch at the Pen and Pencil in NY and I ordered the steak tartare. Right up until I dug in with enthusiasm the waiter was trying to convince me that it wouldn’t be any problem for him to take it back and have the chef throw it on the grill as a burger … _sigh_ I grew up eating weird stuff [for western NY small town in the late 60s] like _artichokes_ and chinese food that wasn’t LaChoy chop suey … my grandmother was roomies in college back in the early 1900s with a pair of Chinese ladies, and so she ended up actually getting to know, like and be able to cook some traditional dishes. With my mom being a Depression era Iowa farm girl, we always had a big garden, and home canned/preserved fruits and veggies that were worlds better than the stuff from the grocery store. To this day I detest canned spinach and canned peas. Green slime and green boogers, blech. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/37 "2017-08-24T17:05:24Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Have you been to [Gershon’s](https://www.gershonsdeli.com/)? Their tongue sandwich is supposed to be good. > > My Dad eats tongue regularly. I used to like it as a kid but not so much anymore. I do love eel – it’s my favorite sushi. Go there often, but their roast beef and turkey are so good I can’t pass them up. Maybe next time. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/38 "2017-08-24T17:07:32Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Turn out that pickled herring, which I had never planned to eat in my entire life, is REALLY good with vodka and pickled tomatoes. > , I discovered I liked pickled herring in the past year. Especially in wine sauce. And, of course, beef liver is my favorite dish, while chopped chicken liver is my favorite hors d’oeuvres. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/39 "2017-08-24T17:47:35Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Tangential question: does morcilla taste different than British blood sausage? They are all kind of in the same general ballpark, but they do taste a little different. The British version is usually made with oats and spiced with onion, allspice, and black pepper. The Polish version is barley or buckwheat, onion, and also usually heavy on the black pepper, but sometimes also marjoram. The Latin American versions I’ve had usually had rice as the grain, as well as onion and/or garlic, but the spicing was a little more varied, sometimes having things like cloves or cinnamon in it. But they all do seem to have a common flavor to them, imparted by the blood, I would suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449/40 "2017-08-24T18:31:46Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Go there often, but their roast beef and turkey are so good I can’t pass them up. Maybe next time. I’m the same way when I make my infrequent trips for delicatessen food. Tongue sandwiches are very good, but Jesus – why are you NOT ordering the brisket or the pastrami? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-sounding-food-that-is-surprisingly-good/794449.md?page=3)