I am always up for trying new things and look for stuff on menus I have never had. Can’t say I don’t like it til I have tried it.

Again what "people" did not eat lobster? It appears that Native American "people" were eating lobster when Europeans arrived here. "People" in Japan have eaten sushi for a very long time. So what "people" are you referring to? Are they not people?

Foam garnish made an appearance around here a few years ago for a while. It’s faded now and we don’t see it in use even in the high end restaurants. It was used more as a garnish than anything else, so take it or leave it. I tried it a few times when it was served, found it unremarkable.

I must say that while I still think the foam looks like bug spit (dog puke was a good description too - dogs can really hark up the foam), the pearls posted by Olychick look wonderful.

As I mentioned earlier, I'd try the foam, but I think it looks gross. The pearls, on the other hand, I'd try in a heartbeat without any hesitation. Goes to show how important the visual component of food is, at least in my world.

Olychick, I am too lazy to type "Many people in the united States of America". So I just say "people". :-)

dcarch

For an adult to say "Eeww, that looks like cat puke"" is a good example.

I get your point, Elmer, but I suppose at some point, when someone goes out of their way to present something and is perhaps oblivious to what they’ve done, there’s a line to consider between narrow mindedness and honest criticism.

In the late 1800's, I think it was, shellfish of all types in the NE USA were looked down upon as "poor food". It was free food that could be had by anyone just for going looking along the shore. Probably also some biblical prohibition in there too, in the bad attitude toward it. Thinking too hard about bottom feeders and scavengers can be as revolting as Lucille's cat sick story. Oyster dressing started as a way of feasting on extra plentiful and free protein.

Olychick hit on the problem with foam. Garnish. That goes to the theory of plating that one subscribes to. Some people put all kinds of weird stuff on plates, including even the dishes themselves, for entertainment value. You have a hollowed out log with little plastic creatures crawling on it, and "foliage" that's your dinner, among rosemary sprigs, brown sugar "sand" and pansies, which last three are theoretically somewhat edible, but not actually part of the dish.

I come from the school of if it's not meant to be eaten, or a utensil for eating, it doesn't belong on your dish. Garnish is fine if there's a purpose to it. Even the once ubiquitous sprig of parsley could be torn up and sprinkled to accent the food, but was really there to chew afterward to freshen the mouth. A lettuce leaf used as as food doily is also edible even if it usually isn't eaten. I tolerate these, even though they're a bit wasteful. Better are the pickles and olives that make a nice counterpoint and are definitely meant to be eaten, or the semi-ubiquitous orange slices that are a more modern expression of the palate cleanser that the parsley once was. Best are the garnishes that are part of the dish themselves, like the bits of tomato that are severed on the side so they won't get sad from being too hot, and things like that.

So foam. It has less food value than parsley. It can add as much flavor, however, and when it makes the dish better, it's fine. The mouthfeel, when not greasy (which well done foam isn't but there are so many poor ones), is kind of like the foam of a head of beer, but not usually so pungent, and closer to body temperature than American beer chill. The purpose is supposed to be experience of flavor without texture. When it works, it's awesome. Otherwise, it's pointless.

"when someone goes out of their way to present something and is perhaps oblivious to what they’ve done"

Well, I don't know. In the hands of someone without common sense or cooking skills, any even basic technique isn't foolproof and could be something someone could be oblivious to concerning the outcome *. I would NEVER expect that to happen with food coming from a restaurant kitchen trying to do something "different" or unconventional. Would you?

* A story about a couple we know, former friends. Former for several reasons but this is one.

The male is an overly self-confident engineer who for many things in his life, believes that he can do anything if he sees someone else doing it once. Unfortunately, he once saw someone grilling steaks on direct heat and from that figured that's how you can cook anything - hot temperature, put the meat on, flip it in 4-5 minutes, done in another 4. They were overly frugal and so whenever having company over for a dinner, they always got chicken thighs. You can imagine what you have when you cook raw chicken thighs for something under 10 minutes. Yes, that's right, you still have raw chicken thighs. The first time, I offered to finish them myself, he couldn't understand why I took so long. The next time, both my wife and I said we weren't hungry and stuck to salad (while the hosts ate raw chicken). The next invitation, we declined. Former friends.

"When it works, it's awesome. Otherwise, it's pointless."

Isn't this true about almost everything under the sun? Food included.

OK, Elmer - I'll say you won this time if you can HONESTLY AND TRUTHFULLY say that you have actually eaten chittlin's. So anyway, I have never eaten them and hope to heaven I never have to. Same with something that looks like spit on a plate. But I do occasionally eat liver and that's something that a LOT OF PEOPLE have never eaten, don't plan to ever eat it and I don't look down on them or the community they live in because they would refuse to eat it.

I've eaten liver (chicken and beef), hearts, kidneys, calves' brains, sweetbreads (thymus glands), and lots of snails, as well as fried ants in Mexico City (used as a crunchy garnish - they had no taste). I've had the above-mentioned foams, but considered most a gimmick, and am glad the fad is over.

I've heard of chitlins but don't know what part of the animal they are. I'd be happy to try them. I'll try just about anything non-dangerous (i.e. no puffer fish for me, thanks) once.

Yes, I have, ritaweeda. I've been to the South a lot and I know I tried it once, maybe twice. In general, I don't like Southern cooking, too many fried things and too greasy for me.

As I said earlier, I'm always ready to try anything someone calls food, I decide after doing so if it's something I want to eat more of. Also as earlier, I'm not crazy about most organ dishes but I've tried many. Besides chittlins, I've had (several times) a Mexican soup called Menudo, made with something unspecified that I think is from a cow and isn't a muscle. Scottish haggis, which is a stuffed I'm not sure what from the organs of a sheep. A dish popular in France and Belgium is ris de veau, which again is something internal from a calf. Real steak and kidney pie has beef kidney inside, I'm not crazy about that.

Liver is about as far as I'll go. Chicken liver, calf's live, various other types of pate, liverwurst, etc, I like these very much. Pate de foie gras (fattened goose liver) is a rare treat for me but I love it.

On one visit to Japan, I was served a salty, crispy cocktail hour munchy in a dish that I'm certain were fried and salted guppies or tadpoles. Or some kind of very baby aquatic "things". Same size, same appearance. I didn't ask what they were. I enjoyed them very much.

Sushi and sashimi, it goes without saying. We enjoy it regularly (though not too often because of the mercury in large fish) . Maybe twice a month?

Foam makes no sense to me. The only time I tried it I felt like I was eating spit. Texture is just as important as flavor if you are going to froo froo food into being pretentious. Not a fan of froo froo food in general. I prefer food to look like what it is,although I appreciate an adventurous and creative nature in other people.

As for chittlins,no no and no no no. Not a fan of offal either. I am a picky eater. If thay makes me close minded,food wise, I'm okay with that. I am happy to let people like what they like and dislike what they dislike. One of my biggest pet peeves is people trying to convince me that I really DO love a food that I SAY I dislike, I just haven't had it cooked or seasoned right, or I haven't tried it from THIS place, or i need to try THEIR recipe or whatever. Or when I am told that if I cook it this way I will SWEAR it tastes like something else. (The main argument i get with deer. Everyone has a recipe that will make me SWEAR I am eating beef. So why cant i just eat a damn cow in peace and leave the deer to those who enjoy it?) It. Is. So. Annoying.

I also get annoyed when people are SO invested in nagging and picking on people who have different morals, food wise. I am referring to people making fun of or nagging people who may be vegan or vegetarian or have some other sort of restrictions in their diet by those who don't. And that goes both ways. I did not enjoy my interaction with an overzealous vegan.

Elmer, I believe menudo is made from tripe. Cow stomach.

E - You win in the sense that you have tried chittlin's. I'll give that to you. (I know, you couldn't care less.) But I still won't try spit on the plate (or chittlin's) and no-one can make me - LOL! And yes Menudo is tripe stew, when I lived in Tampa the Hispanic diner near me had it in the hot meal line and the local Hispanics went for it big-time. When I first got married my MIL who was German cooked beef tongue. I didn't want to eat it or try it but I did and it was delicious. But the next time she made it, we went early to her house and the raw tongue was laid out on the kitchen counter, not prepped yet. As much as I knew how good it was I could not eat it then or ever again. It's just the sight of it that gets me. The same with things like raw chicken feet and brains, etc. Just don't want to even try. I have to psych myself out to eat lobster which I LOVE but I also have to get the image out of my mind that they are actually nothing but a gigantic sea cockroach and I despise cockroaches. I almost ruined my sister's appetite once when she was just getting ready to tear into one and I mentioned that. I thought she was going to kill me. But I posted this subject out of curiosity to see if there were others who felt the same way as I do - not to judge anyone for their food preferences. If someone wants to eat spittle-looking food or raw seafood that's their choice and if they don't choose to eat the things I'll eat it's not something that I look down my nose at.

Lucille, I laughed out loud at your cat story.

I’ve got a human version I almost posted, but thought the better of it. ;)

Ritaweeds, when it comes to eating tongue, I always say "No, thanks. I don't want to be tasting something that's going to be tasting me back."

Oh my, foodonastump, the visual I'm getting is kinda icky!

Ya know, one of the beautiful things about being adults is that we all get to make our own food choices, we won't get sent to our rooms for refusing to eat something we think we won't like and we don't have to explain our food choices to anyone.

Ritaweeda, I've had tongue a couple of times. Thought it was quite tasty, except I swear I could feel the taste bud thingies with my own taste buds and that was it for me. Hubby, on the other hand, loves tacos de lengua.

Goat is another favorite, but it seems to be found mainly in ethnic restaurants and markets. Hasn't gone mainstream yet.

I think the foams are made with xanthan gum, but I've never tried to make a foam. I do use xanthan gum to stabilize sauces and, especially, salad dressing. It is an interesting tool to have in the refrigerator..

My in-laws wasted nothing from the farm, it may have had to do with being hungry some of the time before immigrating. They cooked among other things - tongue. DH likes it. I don't mind it, but I don't like to cook it AND eat it - it's one or the other but not both. In fact. DH got so he would take it to a friends and she would pressure cook it. (This was before I had a pressure cooker.) Then he'd leave some with her and bring the rest home for his sandwiches. By the time it came back to me, it looked like nothing other than lunch meat. It hasn't been a task in some time, we don't eat enough beef regularly to raise it any more so no fresh tongue available.

It's true that we eat with our eyes, but sometimes a little trust is in order. We went to a place where one of the amuse bouche was a spoon with a grey mound on it.....looked vile, but I thought, this is a Michelin starred place so have some faith. It was the most wonderful oyster sorbet.

Skimming over this thread, I note:

Refried beans look like a bad date with colitis if you go think about it... but I love them.

I've never tried foams, but would, even the one that looks like kitty saliva. (As long as it really WASN'T kitty or pooch saliva.)

The restaurants that all get "foamed" up tend to serve toddler-sized portions and charge in excess of $40 for such a small plate, which is why I am to date not conversant with the actual eating of said foams.

I try nearly everything once. I love most offal, and feel it a shame that so many people these days are repulsed by it, wasting highly nutritious protein sources - a hundred years ago tongue used to be a delicacy. I grew up with it - and am always bemused when friends... back away from me.

Addendum: I'd say one of my favorite types of meat is: Goat. It tastes to me somewhere between beef and lamb. I seriously wish I could find more of it!

Another awesome one is squirrel. I am serious.

"-----Another awesome one is squirrel. I am serious."

There are many critters I can trap in my garden, but I have not been willing to eat them. Everyone around here sprays all kinds of poison.

Now with Coronavirus around, for sure I will not take a chance. They don't really completely know which animals can carry the virus.

dcarch

Now with Coronavirus around, for sure I will not take a chance. They don't really completely know which animals can carry the virus.

I can be certain if you trap them now, you should be safe from Coronavirus I am assuming you don't live in Washington State or the areas of China or Korea or Italy in quarantine. Yes, I would CERTAINLY eat squirrel I could obtain fresh in the next few weeks.

Your neighbor poison sprays... I'd rate those sprays, and those neighbors, a set of NO GO;s.

Be aware and cautious about handling wild rabbits, squirrels, etc. They can carry Tularemia, (rabbit fever) an infectious bacteria that can actually kill you. I took a baby rabbit from my dog a few years ago. It was wounded and I guess I touched it. A neighbor said don't touch wild rabbits because they can make you really sick but it was too late. So I went in and disinfected my hands really well. So I forgot all about it until about 3 days later I woke up in the middle of the night with a pounding headache, very labored rapid breathing, shivering so hard from fever that my whole body shook and my muscles and bones actually hurt. It was so awful, I couldn't even get up or even call out to my husband in the bedroom, I had fallen asleep on the couch because I just didn't really feel well that evening. Anyway, I finally just closed my eyes and said to myself, "well I guess I'm just going to die". I don't remember anything else till the next morning, which surprisingly I was completely over it. I told the neighbor about it and they freaked out and said I was lucky I didn't die because it sounded like I had a bad case of it. This person had a friend that wound up in the emergency room because of it and they nearly died. I know there's a chance it wasn't really rabbit fever but I'd bet money on it.

I would eat the foam. After I smashed all the bubbles out of it. It's just sauce. But why go to all that extra work to make something look unappetizing to anyone who has ever had a pet and doesn't have a maid handy to clean up the barf? It's like having chocolate mousse on the menu but deciding to use a piping bag to make it look like poop. Why?? I suspect the staff who pushes this past the swinging doors is ROTFLTAS back in the kitchen. :-)

And I'm not a squeamish eater. Have eaten goat, rattlesnake, squirrel, quail, pheasant, rabbit, venison, wild turkey...not just eaten, but cleaned & butchered some of it. I catch & clean fish. Have eaten brains, liver, sweetbreads & tongue. Given a choice, I would pass on the first two but love sweetbreads & tongue.

Be aware and cautious about handling wild rabbits, squirrels, etc. They can carry Tularemia, (rabbit fever) an infectious bacteria that can actually kill you

Squirrel I've eaten has been well=cooked - either stewed or roasted.

Many of these photo shoots of chef plated meals look somewhere between something that the cat coughed up or what was meant for the compost bin.

Food that is beautiful is beautiful to anticipate eating, but I don't consider many of these plated meals to be my version of "beautiful food".

Little bits and smears of stuff on a plate? NO, thanks.

And, foam? NEVER. I have cleaned up too much cat barf in my days to ever want to eat anything that looks like it. It turns my stomach to even think about it.

Chef plated meals are a bit like a fashion walkway with the riduculous compositions that get paraded out. Who needs it? Most of it serves not for clothes or for food.

islay, oyster sorbet sounds as revolting as you said it looked. I simply cannot imagine such a thing.. They can keep their rarified oysters!!! For this people pay extraordinary prices?

I guess you have the taste and the money for it. You seem to have enjoyed it.

It makes me gag just to think of it.

Many old world cultures eat every part of the animal and find delicacies in that. I would rather eat some of the more obscure animal parts than many of these convoluted things that chefs come up with, especially anything rendered to look like cat barf. Some of these streaks of green or yellow look like bile on a plate. I would rather eat lamb cheeks or chicken feet rather than a lot of that chef inspired nonsense.

I think we are arguing about a first world problem.

We enjoy the inestimable gift of prosperity that allows all of us here to eat what we want and disdain what we don't (for whatever reason, good or bad).

There are a lot of people in this world right now who can't afford to be choosy. I'm sure we're all grateful we're not in that group.

Well said jakkom. Thank goodness we all have different tastes. Can you imagine how boring it would be if we all ate the same things.

dallasannie, have you tried any of the things you're so vehemently condemning?

I'm going to guess the answer is no. It's pretty silly to talk so strongly about foods and flavors you know nothing about.

I find oysters delicious but I know not everyone likes them. Especially in France, where I believe Islay lives. Oysters are quite popular there and a wide variety is available - different types, from different areas, with different flavors. Just like wine there or here or anywhere else.

Food of a particular type is only delicious to people who think it's delicious. Oysters are delicious to some and foul to others.

True, I changed the wording.

It's a head scratcher for me when people have strong opinions against things they have never encountered or experienced. It's hardly restricted to food. I think it's a way to self-justify a rigid and preset opinion.

Did anyone identify chitlins as being intestines? Sausages are stuffed into intestine. Haggis is a sausage with lots of oatmeal that is stuffed into the stomach or section of the large intestine. Some sausage uses the rectum of the cow. Natural casing. I once helped wash pig intestine for sausage at my Grannies. It was an awful smell but I managed. The small intestine has its own odor. Large intestine of pig? That is going to take some washing. I personally draw the line at bugs but I have eaten Robin which was good. I liked squirrel. My Grannie had a you kill it you eat it rule. My brother was learning to hunt. Tripe is usually cow stomach. Not a fan but it is perfectly edible protein. I do not like liver or kidneys but I do like chicken gizzards. I would eat foam but am hardly likely to pay the price of a meal that served foam. The fad passed me by. I do not care for brains but will eat head cheese-actually the head boiled till the meat falls off which is chopped and gelled with the broth. We were told as children we would not like it.

Dallasannie, you make judgements......we are not wealthy ...the meal was a gift.....but I do have a sense of adventure and like to try new things.

DallasAnnie, fried oysters are a common and delicious fare here in Texas, I love them. But any way one dresses up an oyster it is still an odd looking thing (but delicious).

No, Elmer, the only oysters I will eat are fried on a poboy with the other half fried shrimp. No fish sorbets no matter who is buying. I like them fried. Ate plenty of them when we lived in New Orleans. I could not choke down a raw oyster unless there was a knife at my throat.

I feel the same way about milk. I can't touch it or smell it. it makes me gag. But, do love cheeses and cultured foods.

Other than uncultured dairy and raw oysters, there is very little that I reject outright. I have my dislikes just as anyone else does. I enjoy all manner of foods from all over the world and love, love, love fusion cooking. I am not one of those people who doesn't like this and doesn't like that. You know those people, the ones who don't eat beans, or don't eat onions, or won't touch bread, or don't eat any vegetable unless it is raw. or balk at any thing that is seasoned with any other than salt or pepper. I am not that person. That is not me.

Not too fond of anything rendered into foam.

If food is beautiful that is a good place to start with enjoying it. But some of these things are revolting looking or just ridiculous.

We used to have a butcher in a small town where we lived and for some reason he had beef heart. We really grew to appreciate chili made with beef heart.

I do know a thing or two about foods, many different ones.

I do draw a line at eating fish eyeballs. My DIL who is from another part of the world loves to eat the whole fish with the eyeballs. Lamb cheeks, stewed ears, tongues, yes. Eyeballs? NO. I'll pass.

Please don't serve it on a plate dressed with kitty spittle or something that looks like the grass that the dog barfed up. I don't care how good it might actually taste. Why do that to it?

jakom, it really is a first world problem that we have the decision to make about what we have available to eat. Most of the world lives on simple fare of grains, beans, some dairy and something that swims, and small easily butchered animals, a few fruits and vegetables, also seeds and nuts and oil from them. In the old world they ate all bits and pieces of the animal.

Much of what we eat here in this affluent culture is highly convoluted and we eat "high on the hog" for sure.

We have a wonderful culture of fusion foods going on, too. I find that to be highly enjoyable.

"There is Nothing Anyone Could Do to Make Me Want to Eat This"

I have enough going on in my life, I don't want or need to take the time to convince others what to eat. When my kids were young they knew they could have a peanut butter sandwich if they did not care to eat what I had cooked.

I myself am quite happy to have never eaten fried spiders.

I am really happy to have never been in a situation where I would have to eat fried spiders.

Ditto on the spiders. I really don't like hairy foods. Crickets aren't bad.

Some people (without dairy issues) cannot abide cottage cheese. Such a simple, comforting food. It's hard for me to ken what's wrong with cottage cheese. Sometimes different brands are too goopy for me, but I often use anyway, and with a fork, one can fish out the curds and leave the goop. OTOH, I would never say they must try my cottage cheese because it's not goopy and it's so simple and delicious. To each their own. Maybe they don't like the texture(s). Maybe they don't like the sweetness of milk it has, or the salt, or the lumpy/goopy appearance.

What I dislike about foam is more cerebral. If you skip the cottage cheese and eat the veg, you'll be down a main source of protein, a small shot of carbs and fat and some good trace elements. If you skip the foam, you're out a weird experience, if well done a flavor component of the dish, and a completely negligible amount of protein, fat or chemical gelling agent. It's edible but there's no food there. That is, it's a condiment. That you're often supposed to consume separately from the the rest of the dish. When they (ugh!) smear parsnip puree (or better just put a spoonful down without making it into a skidmark) under the duck breast, it's there as a condiment rather than a vegetable, and tastes delicious with the duck, and you're supposed to eat them together. I think that's why the green foam up topic looks so much better. It looks like you're supposed to spread it around the cheese/tomato and it probably looks better than if they'd just dribbled basil goo around without foaming it. And it also doesn't look like cat spit, of course. :)

Speaking of spiders and other crawlies - they are quite popular in parts of Asia. I took these photos of a vendor's cart in Cambodia:

I watched a college kid try to eat snake on a stick. It looked like it was pretty tough and chewy. I thought about trying the grub worms, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe next time.

Worms and grubs are mostly muscle (meat). It's the little feet that get ya. :) And the hairs. Those big spiders look crunchy and not hairy. I'm not sure they look good enough to eat (unless one is desperately hungry) but much better than your average toasted tarantula. :)

Oh Lord. I would have to have gone without food for a month or more with no hope in the future. I would eat a snake just fine but I do not like spiders even when they are dead.

Another food choice I would have a hard time with is eating people. After all, it's just meat, and maybe I would appreciate my exes more if they were made into a tender curry and served over rice, but for some reason it is not something I would consider unless faced with starvation.

"Lucille

Another food choice I would have a hard time with is eating people---"

Hannibal Lecter : [on telephone] I do wish we could chat longer, but... I'm having an old friend for dinner. Bye.

dcarch :-)