Reindeer smoked sausage was great.

Fried ants, in Mexico City. They were a garnish on a soup, and didn't really have any flavor, just crunch. They just looked like little black balls, so not off-putting visually.

On the other hand, I was once given a gift of balut from a Filipino friend. I'm an adventurous eater and normally will try most anything, but I just couldn't bring myself to eat it.

Chopped liver, tongue, and pickled herring (not all together!) were staples of my childhood, and I still love them.

I had a goat curry with fried plantains recently and couldn’t stop saying how delicious it was. I’m guessing they may have slow cooked the meat.

I had turtle soup served to me in Mexico. There were ants on the top. I thought that was poor pest control. I didn't realize it was a planned part of the meal. I took a couple of bites and it was good, but I 18 and not going to make a meal of it.

My odd is other cultures norms. Living here in Houston, I have access to so many types of food. I feel like I try something new on a regular basis. I try what is popular so most fits within what I consider acceptable.

My family has eaten or tried some of the wild game when I was growing up. We ate deer, squirrel, etc. They were not regular meals for us. My grandparents had to eat possum to survive at one point in their life. I have never tried it. Armadillo is something my family would not try. Armadillos are said to carry leprosy.

Curious about where rutabagas are grown commercially, I came across this article. Answer: they're grown in Washington, Oregon, and in Canada (at least for the North American trade, I assume but don't know for sure). Two more fun facts (!): In Ithaca, New York, the International Rutabaga Curling Championship takes place annually (at the Farmer’s Market). The word “rutabaga” is also a specific mutation type in fruit flies (resulting in mental impairment).

Moose meat! Anyone else grow up eating moose meat? It's delicious! Caribou meat is really good, too.

Veal sweetbreads. Love them. I hadn't had them in years and ordered some from Dartagnan last year. Yum.

Rutabagas are common here and I always add them to my pot roast and beef stew.

Jackknife clams known locally as east coast razor clams are another one I love. On occaision I can get them through a local clam digger.

Kombucha - I had tried this several years ago and despised it. Recently I tried it again and discovered I really like it.

I had haggis in Fort Augustus, Scotland and blood pudding in Inverness. Common there but unusual here.

I grew up with halvah regularly in the house ( a nice slice which might last a week or two) so it wasn't unusual and I do like it. I rarely eat it but when I have shared with people unaccustomed, it is clear that it is an acquired taste. Somewhere I have a photo of a big stand that sold all kinds of halvah and it was halvah heaven...

My dad grew rutabags in Mass when I was a kid 69 years ago. They were commonly grown there. I have also grown them. I like them better than turnips.

I love baklava since I first had it over 45 years ago. Greek food is one of my favorites. I can't wait till the local Greek restaurant opens up again.

I have had haggis and blood pudding in Scotland. After trying it once, I gave it a pass after that.

I have tried different game meats but wouldn't go out of my way to eat them again. I have had shark at a local wharf restaurant. Not impressed and wouldn't order it again. I have had snake and again not impressed.

We use to go to all the different ethnic restaurants in the area and I like trying new things as long as it is not too weird looking.

Carnivore Restaurant, in Nairobi, was served zebra, crocodile, emu, and one other that I cannot remember. All served on skewers with dipping sauces.

I was at the biggest grocery store in town today, that prides themselves on stocking unusual fruits (its the only place I've ever seen a jackfruit in real life). No rutabagas, and no asian persimmons which I've been wanting to try.

No headcheese, anyone? I wonder if anyone ever makes it any more. A family tale is of me planning to make it, so put a pig's head in the big freezer. Well, we named her Claudia and everyone greeted her when they needed to get something out of the freezer. Never did get it made. And no one has had Rocky Mountain Oysters? Well, at that I would draw the line!

The best way to reliably get persimmons is from neighbors. For the last 20+ years we've gotten ours from a neighbor whose one tree produces far more than they use. You want 'em, you pick 'em is the practice.

They ripen this time of year - my wife was just over there picking some a few days ago.

Bulgogi and Bibimbap in South Korea. We have noticed more Korean food available in our part of the country so maybe not so unusual anymore as it was for us when we traveled there in 2007.

. About once a year we will notice lots of dead jellyfish wash on shore . Think it’s caused from a tidal change. They had been in front of our home about three weeks and I figured the tide would come in close enough to carry back out. One afternoon a group of folks came out with plastic gathering the dead jellyfish. I was walking on the beach , thought they were doing it to clean beach. Guy said they owned a restaurant and would use them for restaurant. What in the world could you make with 3 week old dead , stinky jellyfish. I didn’t ask the name of his restaurant.

A British drink called Shandy. It's a 50/50 mix of beer and lemonade or lemon soda. It is a popular noontime drink served in pubs that reduces alcohol intake.

Jemdandy, Leinenkugel's (Wisconsin brewery) makes a Summer Shandy. Seasonal. My son really likes it.

Shandy is also drunk in Germany where it’s called a Radler ie a cyclist. Certainly tastes good after a long, hot bike ride or summer walk. It’s served anytime of day. The bar staff make it up for you from draught beer and lemonade, although I believe you can buy it ready mixed in bottles. You specify the type of beer you want. It’s often the first alcoholic drink parents allow their kids.

The definition of ‘unusual’ is very subjective. Things I regard as ‘normal‘ (like shandy) probably sound odd to some of you. Conversely, some of the American recipes I read here sound curious to me.

A couple of interesting things I’ve enjoyed are wasabi ice cream in Japan, baby squid on a stick eaten like a lollipop (also in Japan), a Spanish cheese so mouldy it was virtually black, and banana flower salad in Vietnam. About the only thing I have found really hard to eat was durian, which looked like a giant slimy rabbit foetus and had the most disgusting texture I’ve ever come across. Strangely, it wasn’t the infamous stench which put me off. It was the appearance and texture. I managed one bite, just to say I’d tried it. In Japan we also sampled bees and crickets. Unobjectionable but not amazing. Same goes for the mice in Vietnam. They were mostly bones and not really worth the effort.

Is the 'lemonade' in Shandy more like 7-Up? You can make PImm's Cup with 7-Up.

chisue with the Shandy it would depend on who and where it was made. However while considered "invented" in the mid 1800s before 7-UP was invented. In old medical books it was called Shanty or some version of that with or without the "d". It was considered a strengthening beverage but was also available suggested for farm field work rather than straight beer or ale. My old 1800s household hints and medical help books got tossed when the basement flooded but I remember there were several versions.

We ate sweetbreads on a regular basis during my growing up years. Small town with a real butcher behind the meat case. Sweetbreads are delicious. Haven't eaten them in years. Never see them in a meat case available to buy, either. Same thing with turkey fries. Great eating but don't know where you can purchase them.

"Elmer, those sound a bit like rollmops. My dad use to eat it, sans bread. ."

The rollmops I've had were pickled herring rolled into a circle. Sometimes with something in the middle, sometimes not.

I like pickled herring but it has a different flavor than the raw herring in a broodje haring. Pickled herring, whether rolled or not, is raw herring that's been pickled in vinegar with onion and other seasonings. We always have a jar of it in the fridge.

Cold herring in any one of various flavors can be eaten as a first course in Germany, or with bread. I've experienced in Norway and Sweden that breakfast buffets in better hotels can be extensive but always includes good sized jars of several kinds of herring.

I remember once being in Norway on a business trip, gorging myself on herring for breakfast, and then returning to my room to brush my teeth for maybe 10 minutes to try to remove the fish and onion odors from my breath. I was only partially successful but I excused myself in advance at the business meeting that started my workday and that met with understanding smiles.

I’m not sure chisue, as I’ve never tasted 7 up, but I believe it has lime as well as lemon in it. I don't much like fizzy drinks. Except of course champagne! I even like the tonic in my G & T to be a bit flat. We use the word lemonade for two different drinks. The kind used in shandy is clear and carbonated, unlike real lemon lemonade. We would usually make both Pimms and shandy with lemonade. In a pub you can ask for the proportions you prefer.

This brand has been around since the 1840s.

Ps I forgot that in French speaking countries shandy is called a panaché

Thanks, floral_uk! DH mixes Pimm's with gin & orange juice -- a Pimm's Screwdriver? We can only get the gin cup, but I remember rum and other flavors of Pimm's.

Elmer! You got to *like* lutefisk? You like a little *lye* lingering upon the tongue? haha This is one of those foods that should have died out after we had refrigeration -- same as foods prepared to disguise spoilage.

Then there's the 'eat it or starve' group and things that serve only to convey another taste. Anyone prefer 'bare' snails -- no garlic butter? I'd guess the first oyster was consumed in desperation.

I'll buy a case of Leinenkugels' Summer Shandy every summer. I never drink more than one before switching over to beer or whiskey as too much lemon or lime gives me heartburn. But it is a very refreshing start to happy hour!

Balut is the nastiest thing I've ever eaten Maifleur. I'm surprised you went back for seconds. I did eat a lot of really good Filipino food when I worked in Manila for a few months back in the early 90s. They had a strange dessert with green mango, shredded ice, milk, and sweet corn but I can't remember what it was called. Lechon was one of my favorite Filipino meals.

Crikey, chisue, he adds gin? I’m surprised you can stand up after that. It’s already alcoholic. I’ve never had anything except Pimms No 1 which is gin based.

"Elmer! You got to *like* lutefisk? You like a little *lye* lingering upon the tongue? haha This is one of those foods that should have died out after we had refrigeration -- same as foods prepared to disguise spoilage."

That's a good point but some of these old preparations have become favorite foods and remain so. A good example of that is salt cod. Salting the cod after being caught was the way used to preserve it. (See Cod by Mark Kurlansky, an interesting book). Salt cod became a staple in Southern Europe, Portugal to Greece, and elsewhere too. It takes, I think, 24 hours or more of soaking in changes of water to remove the salt traces. What's left is delicious.

Salt cod was also a food used to feed slaves in the Caribbean. Ships would leave the Caribbean area with sugar and sugar products (molasses, rum) and go north to New England. They'd return with saltfish to feed the workers. Saltfish remains a favorite dish in places like Jamaica.

Pimm's is 25% alcohol. Gin is 40%. Not so different from my Manhattan, with 16% alcohol sweet vermouth and Jack Daniel's. (Neither drink is 50/50.)

A Dutch friend talks about 'herring stands' on the street. I picture a fish in hand...instead of an ice cream bar? Certainly healthier. Maybe sold with a breath mint?

I suppose it’s because we usually get through a fair few glasses of Pimms at a time that it seems alcoholic enough without additional booze.

I love all forms of pickled and smoked fish so none of these versions seem unusual to me. And oily fish is much better for one than a hotdog. Ever tried a soused mackerel?

There are little stands everywhere along the street and in squares. Here's a photo I found of one named Little Fish House at Herengracht, at the side of a bridge over one of Amsterdam's main canals.

Urgh ... unless I was really starving, hard pass on preserved fishes. More for ya'll that like them, you're welcome. ;-)

Hallngarden, I shudder at the thought of 'beach kill' jellyfishes being collected for a restaurant. If seagulls won't touch'em, how can they possibly be edible by humans?

Back to nice green vegetation ... does anyone know "lovage"? It's an herb that looks like gigantic parsely, but it's perennial, and easy to grow once established. It grows well in Virginia, not sure how much further south it would flourish. My grandparents grew it, so I associate it with mid-European foods. We only use it as seasoning, not as a vegetable on its own. It tastes very much like celery.

In looking for things for dinner I came across a package of IKEAs version of lox. I love all kinds of cured salmon. Not too fond of smoked salmon.

I've had fried grasshoppers on several occasions in Mexico and in Los Angeles, and I like them, mostly for the seasoning - lime and chili. They don't really have any flavor of their own, other than the grass or plants that they have eaten. Ants do, however, have a flavor of formic acid, which is quite disagreeable.

Chalk me up for lutefisk, as well. My daughter-in-law's family has it every Christmas, though they told me they put it on the table and "nobody" eats it. Well, they had Christmas dinner at our house once and brought the lutefisk. They also brought a butter sauce and a rich white sauce. One of the sauces was very garlicky --I don't recall which. But smothered in sauces, the lutefisk was good. I did prefer the pieces that had not lost all its fish texture. Where it had turned completely to gelatin, I liked it less.

Not too fond of smoked salmon

Everyone has and is entitled to their preferences, I certainly have mine. Yet.... if you ever get a chance to get just a tiny taste of Nova from Zabar's, please give it a try.

Lucille, Nova is similar to Lox in that it is cured. When I mentioned smoked salmon that is just what I am talking about. A piece of salmon that is smoked. Think of a piece of salmon that has been ran through the smoke of a wood fire with no seasoning other than that smoke and you will have the idea.

I think Zabar's Nova is cured but it is smoked as well. In any case, it is delicious!! (And expensive).

Lox is cured in salt. Nova is smoked. Here's a good piece on the differences:

https://www.eater.com/2019/9/14/20865463/whats-the-difference-between-lox-nova-smoked-salmon

Yes, the article says that Nova is both cured and smoked.

The weirdest fruit I've ever seen is something called a "buddha's hand". I've seen it at the food store a few times, and they are truly bizarre. Never tried it before, but I know it's a member of the citrus family.

Bookwoman did you notice this sentence in the article? "Hot-smoked salmon has a completely different texture — meaty and flaky, like cooked salmon.” This is the smoked salmon that I do not like.

I know just a tad about processed salmon, which includes:

Gravilox, or gravlax - salmon cured the Scandinavian way, always includes dill. Delicious with Dijon or sweet mustard. With or without bread or cracker

Smoked salmon- I've found Costco has two nice varieties, they taste quite different.

-Farmed smoked salmon is from Europe and has the taste typical of what you get in the British Isles or on the continent. Light in color with a sweet mild flavor, very tasty. We eat it as a cold appetizer at dinner.

-Wild Alaskan smoked salmon. A very good flavor, and a bit less oily than the preceding, not that that is a problem. Also an appetizer.

Hunk of smoked salmon- I think this may be hot smoked. Typically from the Pac. Northwest. Very rich and tasty, pick at it with a fork, put it on a cracker.

Bookwoman did you notice this sentence in the article? "Hot-smoked salmon has a completely different texture — meaty and flaky, like cooked salmon.” This is the smoked salmon that I do not like.

Yes. I know that as kippered salmon, and while I like it, it's nothing like the silky, mild, gossamer slices of nova that I think of when I hear 'smoked salmon'.

I don't care for lox, as I find it too salty. Now I'm dreaming of Zabar's or Russ&Daughters.... :-)

Sadly that chunk of smoked salmon that was showing up in various places was neither rich nor tasty. I do not know what process was used but was very dry and stringy. I have never found a smoked fish until this stuff started showing up that I did not like. It is supplied by the Seattle Fish Company who normally does good things with fish.

Our son lives in Alaska-so he has lots of wild-caught salmon. He does an amazing smoked salmon. Brines it, smokes it and then finishes it off with a glaze of Captain Morgans Spiced Rum! It is really good! Which reminds me--I still have a few packages in the freezer., I think I'll have some tonight!

Now I'm dreaming of Zabar's

A beautiful dream!

As long as we are dreaming, add cream cheese, bagels, chopped liver, a little sturgeon, a couple kinds of herring......:)

Amen!

I had a McRib yesterday, it is back. I have one a year usually.

Sue

I had chapulines (deep fried tiny grasshoppers) in Mexico and loved them. Crunchy, with a squeeze of lime, even better with hot sauce. I frankly found them a lot more appetizing than a lot of the crunchy preservative-laden American snack foods found in grocery stores.

As to baklava, my mom used to make Choclava, which was baklava made with orange juice and chocolate running through it. Rich, sweet, addictive. I loved it until the time I watched her make it and realized just how many sticks of melted butter went into every panful. There was butter heavily painted between every leaf of fila dough. Delicious, though.