What Is The Most Disgusting Thing You've Ever Ate?

[southendmd]

I love shopping at the Oriental markets, but there's one meat case that I have to tiptoe past with my eyes averted. I did the same with a couple of the posts here!! By the way, friend Paul, wintergreen IS a form of MINT!

Actually, wintergreen, as the name implies, is an evergreen shrub of the genus Gaultheria in the heath(!) family (Ericaceae) and not a mint at all .  Its oil, methyl salicylate, is related to aspirin.

I'm sure that my interest goes back to the memory that my father always had a roll of wint-o-green Lifesavers in his pocket.  

Mint is in the family Lamiaceae and includes basil, sage and oregano.  Most mint grows like a weed, and is gross.

[milomorris]

I've eaten quite a variety of foods that most Americans would consider "gross." Some of this is a by-product of my Southern heritage; some of this is because I'll eat anything once, twice if I like it...especially when I'm hungry.

- Chitlins are at the top of my "prefer not" list.
- I don't like runny eggs, but they're OK with blood pudding, head cheese, or scrapple.
- Hog's head cheese--and its relatives--are wonderful!!!! When I was about 5, I helped my great grandfather make some. It was an amazing experience. He brought the pig's head home from the butcher. It was wrapped in brown paper. Then he chased my brothers and me around the house with it. He handed me a boning knife, and instructed me to slice off anything that was not bone: skin, muscles, tendons & ligaments, eyes, ears (had to burn off the hair), nose, and tongue. I even sliced out the gums.Then we took hammers to the skull to break it down. He prepared a pressure-cooker with water, salt, and peppers. whole peppercorns, garlic and onions. I put all the flesh & bone into the pot, and we let it sit for a couple hours or so. Then we drained the mixture, and ran it through a meat grinfer several times. We poured the stuff into casserole dishes, put them in the fridge, and went to bed.

- Whenever I'm in a seafood restaurant, I ask which fish comes whole. I want the entire animal--head and tail included. People have gotten up and gone to the bathroom when I go after the eyes.
- Rattlesnake
- Opossum
- Raccoon
- Alligator
- Frog legs
- Black bear is damn good!!
- Tongue
- Fried cow brains over grits are great.
- Tripe
- Pan-seared kidneys with sautéed onions and green peppers over rice is one of my favorites. Same goes for chicken livers.
- Chicken gizzards
- Mountain oysters. Not bad, not great.
- Chicken feet a/k/a "scratchers" are great either deep-fried, or in a soup.
- Haggis
- Pork rinds!!! Domenicanos make the best. They're better than potato chips.

Someday I hope to go to Asia so I can try dog, cat, and deep-fried rat. Monkey brains are also a curiosity.

Of course, trailer trash is my favorite junk food.

[Penthesilea]

David, since you also asked for our least favorite food, here it is.  I know it's weird, but I DETEST mint in any food.  I find it overly strong and astringent.   It's tough because I like lamb, which is often contaminated with some kind of minty abomination.   I find I have to ask in restaurants about mint and tell them I'm "allergic".  I once had some Vietnamese beef thing that was studded with mint and, even though I tried to pick out the offending green stuff, I had to send it back.  YUK.  

Of course, in these times, every dessert sports a mint garnish that I humbly ask my dining companion to kindly remove from my plate so I don't have to touch it.  

Furthermore, I have fortunately discovered a wintergreen toothpaste that has no mint whatsoever.  Heaven.  

Another mint-hater (well hate is a too strong word, but in lack of a better one...)!
I really, really dislike mint and thus all toothpaste. I have a brand that is low on mint and I never use anything else since I was a kid. When I absolutely have to (forgot to take mine), it makes me literally gag when brushing my teeth.


Re lamb: you'll have to try lamb when you're in Germany. No mint whatsoever, the lamb/mint combo is not common here.

[Penthesilea]

Reminds me of that rural Pennsylvania German delicacy pig stomach. (I think that may be what Jed Clampett called hog maw.) Pig stomach is generally stuffed with diced potatoes and sausage, and the whole thing is roasted. The stuffing isn't bad. I could never get my grandmother to add diced celery to the mixture, however.

Only a couple of days ago, I had a conversation about pig stomach on the Bochum thread (or Lynne's Germany thread). I'm not at all surprised that your family would make pig stomach. It's a traditional dish in the Palatinate. Our former chancellor Helmut Kohl was (in)famous for serving it to high-ranking international state guests, and the rest of Germany shook its head over it, because it's considered to be provincial and disgusting.

I never thought I would try it, the mere thought was yuck to me. But one day a friend made it, and it didn't look bad and it smelled even good, so I tried it. Since then I like pig stomach.

[Lynne]

Only a couple of days ago, I had a conversation about pig stomach on the Bochum thread (or Lynne's Germany thread). I'm not at all surprised that your family would make pig stomach. It's a traditional dish in the Palatinate. Our former chancellor Helmut Kohl was (in)famous for serving it to high-ranking international state guests, and the rest of Germany shook its head over it, because it's considered to be provincial and disgusting.

I never thought I would try it, the mere thought was yuck to me. But one day a friend made it, and it didn't look bad and it smelled even good, so I tried it. Since then I like pig stomach.

Here's the post with the picture of Saumagen...

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,48857.msg604854.html#msg604854

and the conversation goes from there with Chrissi offering to make it, me feigning gross-ness, etc...I'm excited to try it - mainly because I figure if Chrissi likes it, it must be really good.

 

[Berit]

Oysters. Looks like something someone coffed up  Tastes salt water but feels disgusting in the mouth.
Svartsoppa. A dish from the south of Sweden made from goose blood. Yak.
Sillbullar. Another swedish traditional dish. Looks like a small burger but its made from pickeled herring. Absolutley disgusting.

[Monika]

Oysters. Looks like something someone coffed up  Tastes salt water but feels disgusting in the mouth.
Svartsoppa. A dish from the south of Sweden made from goose blood. Yak.
Sillbullar. Another swedish traditional dish. Looks like a small burger but its made from pickeled herring. Absolutley disgusting.

Yeah..oysters aren´t much fun...hehe
Have never tried Svartsoppa but...yuk!


btw - do you like surströmming? (living up north and all)

[Lynne]

Yeah..oysters aren´t much fun...hehe
...

I admit to my part in that, but it needs to be on the record that it was Paulie's idea!!  He was very upset he couldn't be off work to show you and Sophy around, so I was given pretty strict instructions about what to do with the two of you.

 

[Monika]

I admit to my part in that, but it needs to be on the record that it was Paulie's idea!!  He was very upset he couldn't be off work to show you and Sophy around, so I was given pretty strict instructions about what to do with the two of you.

 

Yes, let´s blame Paul for our near death experience!



 

[Lynne]

Yes, let´s blame Paul for our near death experience!



 

They were the freshest Boston has to offer - we were at least two or three microorganisms short of near death!