Are there any foreign animal delicacies you would not eat?

[HYHYBT]

Would this be a good place to bring up the sort of people who try to get you to eat things like this without your knowing until afterwards?

[Andara Bledin]

Would this be a good place to bring up the sort of people who try to get you to eat things like this without your knowing until afterwards?

Maybe make a companion thread about things you wouldn't have eaten had you not known about it, and subsequently bitching about them having done so?

[Ginger Tea]

As I do not have any dietary or religious reasons to not eat certain foods just moral or squick based (and not just prawns looking back at me, I cant stand the sight of custard now yet loved it as a child) I rarely look at the labels to see what has gone into the food I eat.
Edit: hate coconuts love Nice biscuits.

It led me to once find out that Scotch eggs were made from pork, I never knew this for 30+ years of my life and have had, although infrequently now, scotch eggs since I was a child. Sounds rather stupid and all, but I just happened to be reading the ingredients page whilst on break talking to a driver before he set off for London and two of the guys from the office were having a pre 9am coffee, the male of the two was Asian, it never occurred to me at the time that me saying I love eating pork based meals was a bad thing, mind you just because he had brown skin didn't automatically make him a muslim.

I only thought about it and how it might have come across when the woman said something to him quietly.

But a not always working post has a food thief ignore the owners pleas to not have a bite of his or her meal because it contained bacon and he was Jewish.
I can only assume he spat it out and gargled water and hissy fit for a while, if it was me I would have let him eat it then tell him.

But I would not hand someone a plate of dog meat (as in dog not food for dogs) for shits and giggles, even if I was OK with eating dog myself, which I've stated I am not.

[fireheart17]

One I would never eat: Balut.

Think chicken embryo.

[anakhouri]

If I was hungry enough, I'd eat just about anything.

Voluntarily, I would not eat balut (see above) and am disturbed by the thought of eating octopus because they are highly intelligent creatures.

While in Japan I was offered horse meat and couldn't make myself eat it either (what? I'm from Kentucky originally...)

Rainbow sherbet. I craved it while pregnant, ate gallons of the stuff, and to this day, 4 years later, I cannot even look at it without feeling slightly nauseous.

[Fire_on_High]

I think I'd be willing to try pretty much any herbivore normally hunted or farmed for meat, and some omnivores as well.

Nothing from Canidae or Felidae for moral reasons, nothing of the bug variety because I'm so put off by bugs in general that I have to force myself to pick up a squashed dead one with a kleenex.

I'll try just about any kind of seafood once, but it's hit or miss on what I like. I've had various seafood dishes that had my mother and husband staring in horror, but I loved, and then found certain things typically considered "good" to be rather bland, like salmon.

[Dreamstalker]

I'm generally pretty adventurous when it comes to food, but the following I Will Not Eat (at least not voluntarily):

Cat/dog/any pet-type animal. Especially if I care for said species.

Balut. Just NO.

Fugu. Intriguing, but I prefer not to eat anything that has death as a possible side effect. If I could see it being prepared and knew for certain it was done properly, then maybe.

I did, however, have rabbit as an appetizer. It's not an unusual dish in high-end restaurants, but I had never had it before because I love bunnies. It was delicious. Now I'm a bit torn.

When I was a wee pup, we stopped at the pet store before going shopping one day. I was in love with the bunnies...when we got to the grocery store, they had rabbit. My response: "Ooh can we have rabbit for dinner?" The butcher noticed mom's O_o reaction, so she gave him the backstory. Him: "Well now that's a healthy outlook."

[Andara Bledin]

It's funny where we draw our line between pet and food.

Because, when you get right down to it, pretty much every domesticated mammal has been a pet to someone, and most of them are more popular that a lot of people realize.

Pigs, for example, actually make pretty decent pets, though they can get to be on the large side. And yet, they're also incredibly good eating.

[SkullKing]

Balut

foie gras, I have nothing against killing animals for food, but what is done to the birds for foie grass is a bit too cruel for me.

[AccountingDrone]

When I was a wee pup, we stopped at the pet store before going shopping one day. I was in love with the bunnies...when we got to the grocery store, they had rabbit. My response: "Ooh can we have rabbit for dinner?" The butcher noticed mom's O_o reaction, so she gave him the backstory. Him: "Well now that's a healthy outlook."

I made bbq bunny for myself and a friend to take on a picnic, and put the leftovers in the fridge when we got back before heading out for the weekend. Came back monday evening after work to be told that the bbq *chicken* was good by my roomie Pam. After some comfusion I asked her if she meant my bbq *bunny*.... after she got done vomiting she told me to never make bunny again

I never understood vomiting 2 or 3 days after whatever was digested. Although one time when my kidneys were in the process of shutting down and I had been vomiting more or less straight for about 2 hours I swear I was vomiting stuff I ate a week before.

[anakhouri]

Even if I ate something that I wouldn't usually (because, like your roomie, I thought it was something else) I don't think I'd react so dramatically afterwards. I mean, I ate it, it was good, maybe I'll eat it in the future now I know it's not gross.

Except maybe human flesh. If I ate human without knowing it I might puke when I found out.

[Seshat]

After talking to an Australian friend, I would be more inclined to try kangaroo if given the chance, as in Australia they are not seen as cute or cuddly or pet-like, they are just pests that eat people's farms and gardens.

I can confirm this.

All feral exotic species are pests, and Kangaroos (and their relatives) are for the most part FAR from endangered. There are some subspecies that are, but the major species are doing really well.

We have a small amount of arable land for the size of the continent, so we need to farm a lot of marginally-arable land.
The most efficient way to provide human-edible food on marginal land is to grow native grasses, and convert those to human-food by means of some grazing animal or other.
Wide-mouthed ungulates such as cows, sheep and pigs pull native grasses out by the roots, killing them. Narrow-mouthed marsupials, such as kangaroos, nip the tops off.

Therefore, the most efficient way to produce human-food on marginal land is to farm kangaroos in native-grass pastures. (Yes, this is a generalisation; yes, some zones of marginal land are more suitable for <insert species here>. But there's plenty of 'roo country.)


Don't get me wrong: joey 'roos are cute. Adult 'roos who have been tamed (not domesticated!) can be very friendly and nice to be around. Adult 'roos can also be bloody nuisances that just want to eat your sandwich, or your vegetable garden.

So yes, I eat 'roo. And I feel just fine about it.



Things I won't eat:
* Anything that's on my list of allergies and 'intolerances'. (The allergies produce histamine reactions, the intolerances produce .. other reactions.)
* I probably won't willingly eat most insects; because exoskeletal things that people usually eat (eg shelled seafood) are in my 'no go' list.
* I won't willingly eat cetaceans. Sure, they're mammals, but they're smart.
* I won't willingly eat anything on an endangered species list.
* I try to go for minimum cruelty.

I'm stuck usually knowing which muscle I'm eating, if I'm eating anything even vaguely whole. Like most of us, I can't stand heads.

[telecom_goddess]

oh there are so many things I will not eat.

Bugs -- no way
Organ meat of any kind
"sweetbreads" of any kind
Rabbit -- I've had it and don't like
Deer -- had it don't like it
any wild game
Squid...I"ve had it and don't care for the texture
Octopus -- just no
haggis -- no fucking way

However I have eaten frog legs and liked them fine. And I will eat sashimi in a heartbeat. I haven't had steak tar tar but want to try try it.

[fireheart17]

oh there are so many things I will not eat.

Bugs -- no way
Organ meat of any kind
"sweetbreads" of any kind
Rabbit -- I've had it and don't like
Deer -- had it don't like it
any wild game
Squid...I"ve had it and don't care for the texture
Octopus -- just no
haggis -- no fucking way

However I have eaten frog legs and liked them fine. And I will eat sashimi in a heartbeat. I haven't had steak tar tar but want to try try it.

Technically I believe that sweetbreads are organ meats anyway.

Also haggis is another organ meat.

[patiokitty]

There is not a whole lot I won't eat - balut is definitely on the list of "Won't touch with a 10' pole" and fois gras isn't exactly on the menu, and neither is veal.

Other than that, you name it I've probably eaten it at least once. I used to live on a farm and eating animals I'd named was just a normal thing part of life. A friend of mine told me that was gross and I told her that they tasted better than anything from a store. I rather enjoyed the Wilbur ham steak, thank you very much. And same for the roasted Mister Goose. The very best soup I'd had was made with Fucktard the Vicious Rooster.

I've eaten shark, moose, deer, bear, kangaroo, rabbit, snake, and many other things. Sometimes without knowing exactly what it was, but I certainly never got grossed out when I was told. Not even when I was served prairie oysters. And I love me a proper feed of real haggis. As for my steaks, as long as it's warm all the way through I'm happy - so yes, that pretty much means virtually raw. I've eaten calimari steak but I prefer calimari rings, and octopus is just odd but I'll eat it again if it's cooked up right.

Oh, and pigeon isn't bad either...but you don't want to go for the wild city pigeon because they're garbage birds and full of who knows what. Tastes like chicken with a gamey overlay to it. And yes, I've eaten dog and cat...not exactly a favourite and not something I'll add to my personal menu, but if I'm somewhere this sort of meat is normal I'll eat it.