Monday, January 21, 2008

Most disgusting things I've ever eaten

So, in a slightly different vein, I thought I'd post about some of the more disgusting things I've eaten during my many travels. I pride myself on my ability to eat just about anything you put in front of me. I may not like it, I may not want to take a second bite, but I'll certainly try anything once. This is a trait that I inherited from my dad, who taught me that no matter how disgusting something looks, it's nothing compared to some of the stuff they eat in the Philippines.

So without further ado:
  • Chinchulines: grilled cow intestines. My dad and I ate these quite frequently in Argentina. If they're thoroughly cleaned and grilled to the point of crunchiness, they're really quite good.
  • Molleja: grilled cow gland. I know that's kind of vague - I'm not actually sure which gland it was. But they were tender and very flavorful.
  • Seso. This was something I only had once when Ann went with me to Argentina. The waiter brought it out and, not recognizing it, I asked him what it was. He told me it was seso. Ann looked at me questioningly, so I told her it was cow brain. I tried it and didn't really like it. To her immense credit, Ann tried it too.
  • Uni: sea urchin gonads, served as sushi. Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with this taste extravaganza from a post back in October. This is one of the most personally nasty things I've every tried. Anyone who tells you texture in food doesn't bother them has never tried this stuff.
  • Broiled ray fin, also from my recent trip to Japan. Not bad. Very salty, and the texture starts to get to you after a while.
  • Blutwurst: blood sausage. I refer to the German version here, not the Argentine morcilla, although I've tried both. I found the German quite good, but never really liked it when I was in Argentina, although my dad loved the stuff. Any meat that's served by spreading it on bread is highly questionable in my mind.
  • Steak tartar. I ordered this accidentally in Germany. It looks and tastes like raw hamburger meat because that's precisely what it is.
  • Chocolate-covered cricket. This was mostly done to gross out my kid sister.
  • Sardines. This is the only thing that's ever made me almost throw up. I ate one in Argentina once and literally thought I was gonna chunder all over the table.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure some more will occur to me, so I might have to post a follow-up. So what's the nastiest thing you've ever tried?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Raw oysters.
It was my senior prom, and my date was a very good friend. He bet me that if I could eat it and keep it down, he'd pay for anything and everything I wanted for the whole night.
I couldn't do it - I spit it out into my linen napkin. I explained to the waitress why I needed a new napkin and apologized profusely, but she said "No worries - it happens all the time."

Michelle said...

um, i don't branch out at ALL. but your list made me throw up in my mouth a little.

i did accidently chew (a tiny bit) a scallop once; that tiny chew cemented my hatred of seafood. i spit it out in my napkin. yuck.