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[Bdthemag]

Well, i've had a fried twinkie. NEVER AGAIN, STOMACH PAINS FOR AN HOUR.

Pretty much never eat anything at a state fair in minnesota.

Arn't you supposed to coat a Twinkie in something or else you end up eating a lot of the frying oil as it soaks into the cake?

I can see why you had stomach pains.

I have no idea, but I never eat anything fried at a state fair if I am unlucky enough to have to go for one.

[LordBucket]

strange things you folks have eaten

Hmm. All the standard strange-but-isn't-strange-anymore-because-every-eats-sushi-now kind of things: eel, octopus and squid, both head and tentacles, snail, fish eggs, tripe (nasty), and cow tongue (also nasty). I've eaten raw horse meat. Kind of bland. And I've had bear meat, cooked. Very flavorful, but very fatty. Tasty the first few bites but then the fat becomes overpowering. I've had oyster shooters. Do those qualify as strange? Pluck out an oyster from its shell, drop it into a shot of tequila with a dash of tobasco sauce and shoot it. Kind of a dumb macho thing to impress people, but not very good. I don't recommend it.

Anyone who's been to a sushi bar might have had sea urchin, but I've eaten it fresh. By "fresh" I mean, remove from dive bag, (which is somewhat difficult because the spikes fit through the holes in the bag) crack it open, peel it out (it rolls out in strips) put it on a cracker, drip lemon juice on it, then eat. Eating like that was tastier than what I've had at a sushi bar, but not something I'd go out of my way for.

I've had shark. (Not very good.) And I've had ray fin. I don't recall if it was manta ray or bat ray. Very good, actually. I ordered it for the sheer movelty, but I'd definiately do that again. As "strange" foods go, ray was awesome.

A few things I haven't had: brain, whale, dog, snake or fish while still alive. I've never sucked out bone marrow. I've never had blowfish. Was offered fish eyeball once (like a big, inch and half wide eyeball) but declined. That's the only time I can think of that I actually got queasy watching someone eat something. And there are still a couple fairly standard things that I've never quite got around to like quail, pheasant and deer. I have had duck though. Duck is awesome. Try it if you have the chance.

Anyway, the whole question is kind of loaded anyway. If you ask me, the genuinely strangest foods are things so totally accepted in western cuisine that we don't even think about them: cheese, eggs, bread, beer etc. Think about it. Cheese is cow mammary secretions that have been deliberately allowed to mold for years until they become solid. Eggs are unfertilized chicken embryos. Bread and beer are both basically ground up wheat infested with bacteria. In the case of bread, it's heated and the explosions of the bacteria give off gasses that make the bread puffy, while in the case of beer the bacteria are allowed to grow for months or years, and it's actually their poisonous excrement that you're drinking.

If you think about it, traditional western food is way more gross than anything in the east, which is generally just "dead plant or animal."

[Flying Dice]

Also, in regard to the joys of Kentucky: Deep fried oreos over buttered popcorn.

[ein]

Bread and beer are both basically ground up wheat infested with bacteria. In the case of bread, it's heated and the explosions of the bacteria give off gasses that make the bread puffy, while in the case of beer the bacteria are allowed to grow for months or years, and it's actually their poisonous excrement that you're drinking.

Yeast is a fungus~
Also, you forgot yogurt~

Anyway, I've had the usual squid and octopus, which are really good, but yeah, not very strange~
I've also had bacon and cheese flavoured crickets, unflavoured crickets, fried mealworms, a live grub, and various ants~
The ants didn't really taste like anything, the crickets were good, but have an awkwardly offputting crunch~
The mealworms were fucking amazing though, like hashbrowns, but worms~
The grub didn't taste bad, but ugh, it was like biting into a large-cut fry that's not been cooked yet~
Just a nasty sludge of uncooked potato shooting into your mouth~
I guess if you LIKE mashed potatos, go for it, but fuck, that shit's nasty~

[SirAaronIII]

Isn't there like deep fried oil or butter or something in the South?

Anyway I think I lose in this thread. Probably the strangest thing I've eaten are weeds I picked while walking around the neighborhood. They were so sour.

[LordBucket]

Also, you forgot yogurt

Yes, yogurt. Also rather gross if you think about it.

The ants didn't really taste like anything

I've only had them coated in chocolate, and i remember them tasting like ammonia. Tasteless would have been much better.

I've had the usual squid and octopus, which are really good, but yeah, not very strange~

Yeah, that's a tough one because I remember both being very strange at one point. I used to be able to gross people out by saying I'd had squid, but now sushi is so common in california that I don't think I know anyone who hasn't had it.

[LordBucket]

Isn't there like deep fried oil or butter or something in the South?

Deep frying is basically boiling something in a vat of oil. Tends to make things crunchy.

Anyway I think I lose in this thread. Probably the strangest thing I've eaten are weeds I picked while walking around the neighborhood. They were so sour.

So go out and live a little. If you live near any metropolitan city in the US, probably most of the things we're talking about can be found within a few miles of you.

[ein]

Isn't there like deep fried oil or butter or something in the South?

Deep frying is basically boiling something in a vat of oil. Tends to make things crunchy.

Crunchy and delicious~
See: fried mealworms~

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I enjoy cheese dipped in ketchup, but more legitimate is the time I tried to drink spoiled milk that had been sitting out for a week. I was being stupid and hid my cup of milk and took a drink of it every morning as a kind of "experiment" (I was seven). Wanted to see what would happen. One day, the milk had turned to chunks. Horrible, horrible chunks.

[SirAaronIII]

Turns out what I was thinking of was deep fried butter balls. So delicious (or so I hear) yet so unhealthy.

Oh yeah, I remember. I ate cow intestines/other digestive organs once, I think they were intestines because of those little vili or whatever those little minitentacle bumpy things are.

[LordBucket]

Crunchy and delicious~
See: fried mealworms~

I've swallowed the worm in the bottle of a tequila bottle, but I think I'd have a tough time sitting down and munching on a bowl of crunchy worms. Though I suppose it would be better than munching ona  bowl of squishy worms. Either way, give me ray, or eel, or duck...you can have the worms.

One day, the milk had turned to chunks. Horrible, horrible chunks.

Personally I think milk is pretty gross to begin with. I like cheese, but milk is awful. Though to be fair, I've only ever had the horrible store-bought variety. Fresh milk might be better. Though I actually have had fresh human milk, and that was not spectacular. Would be curious to try human milk ice cream, but haven't had the opportunity yet.

[G-Flex]

Think about it. Cheese is cow mammary secretions that have been deliberately allowed to mold for years until they become solid.

Ehhh, that's a little misleading/untrue. First off, milk is probably the least weird food I can think of; how many other things do we eat that are expressly produced by the organism for the purpose of being ingested as nourishment? Also, the amount and type of fermentation involved is highly variable; some cheese isn't even fermented at all (you can make cheese like paneer or queso fresco in your own home in a very short amount of time using nothing but milk and a source of acidity) and others have very short periods of bacterial action or simply added enzymes.

Eggs are unfertilized chicken embryos. Bread and beer are both basically ground up wheat infested with bacteria. In the case of bread, it's heated and the explosions of the bacteria give off gasses that make the bread puffy, while in the case of beer the bacteria are allowed to grow for months or years, and it's actually their poisonous excrement that you're drinking.

You're thinking of yeast, not bacteria. For what it's worth, though, a lot of food is fermented that you really wouldn't expect, like chocolate and some sausages, and sauerkraut.

If you think about it, traditional western food is way more gross than anything in the east, which is generally just "dead plant or animal."

You have a very limited understanding of Eastern cuisine. There's a popular type of sauce in Thailand (and elsewhere in East Asia) made from fermented fish, for example.

Crunchy and delicious~
See: fried mealworms~

Stop doing that.

[ein]

Crunchy and delicious~
See: fried mealworms~

I've swallowed the worm in the bottle of a tequila bottle, but I think I'd have a tough time sitting down and munching on a bowl of crunchy worms. Though I suppose it would be better than munching ona  bowl of squishy worms. Either way, give me ray, or eel, or duck...you can have the worms.

Mealworms are technically beetle larvae~
I have, regrettably, never tried actual worms~

[G-Flex]

Supposedly, tequila bottles don't actually contain worms§ Mezcal does (or rather, some other forms of it), and only if they screw up the production process§ Those in particular aren't true "worms" either; they're larval moths§

At any rate: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1334/why-is-there-a-worm-in-bottles-of-tequila

[LordBucket]

how many other things do we eat that are expressly produced by the organism for the purpose of being ingested as nourishment?

But you miss the point. I'm not saying milk is strange, I'm saying cheese is. Cheese, yogurt, bread, alcohol...many things that we eat are the waste byproducts of microrganisms.

You can say that "some cheese isn't fermented" and yes, there are unleavened breads, but that doesn't make any less strange the ones that are. In my mind, deliberately letting something eat your food, and then eating its excrement...that seems a little strange to me.

There's a popular type of sauce in Thailand (and elsewhere in East Asia)
made from fermented fish, for example.

My statement of what generally is eastern food was obviously not intended to be an exhaustive list. In my experience the average westerner thinking of "strange and exotic eastern food" is thinking simply of meat from animals they don't happen to eat.

Asian staple foods are generally exactly what I said they are: dead plant or animal. Rice, fish, bird, vegetables. Dead plants and animals. Breads and cheese are staple western foods, and again, these things are made by infesting something with microorganisms as part of the process of making it.