What's the strangest/grossest thing you've eaten

vietnamese house special pho. it had tripe, squid tentacles, fish balls, pork skin, and probably some other stuff. i love sweatbreads and tongue, but those aren't strange or gross.

I love pho. I am a five minute walk to Chicago's Vietnamese neighborhood and I've had it at about 6 different places there. Usually the "weird" stuff in their standard pho is tripe, tendons, meat balls (of which meat I am unsure), and flank steak. I've never had it with squid or fish. I might have to try that next.

Good Pho is a hit or miss. I go to one that is actually run by Vietnamese, not Koreans, or Mexican cooks. But I live near LA, so it's easy to find an authentic Pho place. :drinker:

Cow's tongue. It was nasty.

Growing up, my grandmother from the east coast used to bring pickled cow tongue. They were like some sort of delicacy! now I gag just thinking about it!

I live in Chicago and can leave my front door and walk to Little Nam in less than five minutes. It's all Vietnamese people there. There are definitely some places that aren't as good as the others, but it's as authentic as it gets. We usually go to the places where only Vietnamese people go. Places where my boyfriend has to say things like, "no, we DO want the blood cubes" when we order certain dishes. They'll say to us, "Oh sorry! Haha. White people usually no like that."

I've been to Chicago twice (Arlington Heights area). One time was in March, and I could have used a hot bowl of Pho but did not see any Pho place near my hotel. :frown:

I've been to Chicago twice (Arlington Heights area). One time was in March, and I could have used a hot bowl of Pho but did not see any Pho place near my hotel. :frown:

Arlington Heights is not Chicago. :P Seriously though, if you ever come to the Chicago area again, let me know and I'll give you the low down on where to go. We've got it all. You name the country and we've got the restaurant.

So true!!
Love this city!! :happy:

Sheep's head - Just tasted the cheek and puked all the way

Haha, this is a fun topic!! Mine has to be blood pudding in Sweden. My grandma really likes it so I had to give it a try. I've had rocky mountain oysters, but blood pudding was way worse. It's really a shame though because it is a relatively cheap source of protein and iron.

Not really gross but the texture was bizarre, I had this weird chopped raw octopus tentacle marinated in a wasabi paste at a sushi restaurant once. It tasted really good but was mysteriously super slimy... I probably wouldn't order it again.

Oh! And I went to this Vietnamese place in China town in NY once and had some sort of red bean beverage... It was sweet as to be expected but really grainy and chewy. That was very interesting!

I also partake in goat meat curry from a local Indian place in STL which I suppose could be strange but it's actually quite tasty...

Rabbit, it was salty.
Funny reading some of these responses from women who eat and swallow various odd things like
cow tongue and mountain oysters...makes me wonder...ahh well nevermind.

LMFAO!!!!:laugh:

I know what you mean.....now I'm missing my ex!:blushing:

I don't eat gross crap....

Thanks for your valuable contribution.

I mean seriously. If it's gross-WHY EAT IT?

Duh.

"Bragging rights" are not worth it. Sorry.

I said "strange" OR "gross." I think if people don't try something unusual from time to time they are missing out. It's nice to expand your horizons. Enjoy other cultures from time to time by going out of your comfort zone. Don't be a food prude.

Actually we have 3 or 4 "exotic" foods every Thanksgiving & Musk Ox was just 1 more thing to try along with buffalo, elk, caribou etc & it was a total surprise that it was gross & disgusting as I thought it would be most like buffalo....the Merganser Duck was a young hunter's error but I've always liked teaching my gkids about where our food comes from so that they will respect both farmers & hunters so hopefully not be wasteful of anything edible eh!

pig's brains in hotpot (tasted like tofu, and now i eat it on a regular basis)
any organ meat (some people find it disgusting, but i love it!)
chicken or duck feet (duck's feet have more tasty bits, IMO)
sheep's eyes (ummm... weird texture)
smelly tofu (in beijing... soooo good!!!)
century eggs (yummy with tofu and chili oil)
chicken eggs with the baby chick inside (this i actually found gross)
stewed dog meat

ETA: the dog meat bit. it was really not very nice though...