It's entirely possible to be a vegetarian in Porkopolis. Pop culture reporter Lauren Bishop blogs about products, recipes and restaurants she's tried for others who eat meat-free. E-mail her at lbishop@enquirer.com.
Nicci King is an unabashed foodie and the Lifestyle/Food editor in The Enquirer's features department. She loves to discover new food faves, and she's on a daily quest to answer one burning question: What's for dinner? E-mail her at nking@enquirer.com.
Enquirer Weekend editor Julie Gaw tends to order the same dish every time she eats at a restaurant, but periodically ventures out to discover something new and fabulous. After living in China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Thailand for more than 8 years, she craves tasty Asian food. E-mail her at jgaw@enquirer.com.
Food/dining writer Polly Campbell loves every quirk and secret of Cincinnati's food personality, and is on a constant lookout for something good to eat. Keep an eye out for her restaurant picks, or see how she's progressing toward becoming famous for her apple pie. E-mail her at pcampbell@enquirer.com.
Communities reporter Rachel Richardson is on a mission to prove vegetarians eat more than lettuce. She shares both her graduate work on American food culture and food-related news.. E-mail her at rrichardson@enquirer.com.
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Adventures in eating
Do you consider yourself an adventurous eater? I think I am, relatively speaking. I love trying foods from other cultures and countries. I've tried snake, gator, eel, squid, boar, blood sausage, conch, etc... among others. But there are lots things I want to try, but probably can't because of my fear of retching - or even touching them, for that matter. I know a great deal of the fear is really just a cultural difference. People have been eating this stuff since the beginning of time.
Here are some of the things on my list of "I'm curious, but I don't think my mind would let me..."
Fugu (Can someone get poison control on line 1?)
Tsao-Doufu, or stinky tofu (Maybe this is one case where the food doesn't taste like it smells...)
Haggis (Oy... I wince at the smell of chitterlings, so I don't know how that would work out.)
Rocky Mountain Oysters (Enough said.)
Insects, at various stages of development - egg, larvae, adult (Did I mention that I am afraid of bugs? Gulp.)
Maybe Anthony Bourdain will let me ride along with him the next time he's throwing back some odd little delicacies. Love that show... What odd eats have you tried?Labels: adventure, eating, weird food
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Post a Comment*When I was in Korea, I kept a list of new (and strange) foods.
Among them: quail's eggs, jellyfish, sea cucumber, sea urchin, squid ink bread, fermented everything, pig's feet (totally different than the versions here), still-squirming squid (squid still moves for a few hours after you kill it. It will wrap itself around your chopstick -- or finger!)... not to mention all the interesting mountain vegetables I ate (bellflower root, mugwort, bracken ferns, etc.).
In Europe, I've tried: horse sausage (I didn't know that's what it was until AFTER I ate it), sweetbreads, escargots, countless varieties of pate and spreads, and rabbit.
These days, I don't get much more adventurous than sushi.
Devoutly pescatarian as am, I'm still interested in trying strange new foods when I travel.
Anthony Bourdain is nothing... you should watch Bizarre Foods and see the stuff Andrew Zimmern puts down.
He'll try anything, and I'm always surprised that he likes 90% of it. There are very few things he just can't stomach... stinky tofu was one of them. And based on the descriptions of some personal acquaintances, I have the impression that it's the ultimate food dare.
Strangely that makes me want to try it even more.
Unusual foods I've tried are alligator, snails, squid, octopus, urchin. I didn't like urchin.
So my husband and I are trying to adhere to the Paleo diet for Athletes. Basically, the premise is you eat the food our ancestors the cavemen/women did. The diet encourages lean meats, game, vegetables, nuts, fruits and discourages processed foods such as pasta, rice, bread, high GI foods, like white potatoes, etc. One thing I am going to attempt to try to make this week is rabbit. I plan to purchase it from Jungle Jims, and probably roast it or make a stew. Any suggestions?
I've had alligator, goat, kangaroo and horse. I didn't know I was eating horse until I saw the labels from the meat packages later ("paarden lappen" - which is Dutch for horse filets). It was was the one time I wish I hadn't learned the language.
Carla
WestEnder, I'm watching it as I type. I fell in love with that show a month or so ago. But did you ever notice that he rarely chews? He tends to swallow things just about whole! At any rate, there is nothing better than food excursions... In this show, he's in the U.S. gulf coast (turducken... mmm...), up next he's going to Taiwan (rooster's testicles... errr...). Talk about a cool job.
CinTwin1: You have to keep me posted about the Paleo approach to eating. It absolutely makes sense to me and seems like a very clean way to eat. Like all game meat, rabbit is best cooked in a liquid. Try the slowcooker to guarantee tender, flavorful results. I love RecipeZaar, and here is a link to some of the recipes there: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/rabbit
Let us know how it turns out!
But did you ever notice that he rarely chews?
Hahaha! Yes, I have noticed that and it always makes me chuckle. I don't know what's up with that. He takes little chomps like a squirrel.
Rabbit, from what I remember, is pretty good. It's not very gamey, and tastes like chicken. My host mother in France fed us rabbit a few times before my housemate and I realized what we were eating. I only figured it out because I noticed, while eating what I thought was a chicken thigh, that that particular chicken had quite a sturdy femur. (I think I'd been in denial; she kept the rabbits in a hatch in the backyard and her great-granddaughters liked to feed the rabbits our leftover salad.)
She made it in a dish similar to coq au vin, lapin cacciatore and a few other ways. try Joy of Cooking. That book has EVERYTHING!!! p.s. an interesting tip: In France, they sell rabbits whole, with the ears and head still attached. (Though the heads are skinned.) I was told this is because cats and rabbits are so anatomically similar. After the World Wars, butchers had to assure their patrons that they were in fact selling le lapin and not le chat.
I am not planning on "prepping" the rabbit in anyway. I want it to come already for me to throw in the crockpot, skillet, or dutch oven. Raw chicken, beef, pork, I have no issues handling, a rabbit though may take time. My mother bought me the Bon Appetit cookbook for Christmas last year and there are a few recipes there for rabbit. Next on the Paleo list to try is elk or buffalo. I have had venison before and wasn't a big fan.
Hey did anyone hear that White Castle has 5 cent coffee today and $0.80 sliders? I know we could talk about the ramificatios of eating fast food but this is a bargain!
CinTwin1, I understand what you mean about handling the rabbit. Believe it or not, I couldn't handle raw chicken, beef, pork, etc... until I was about 14-15. Before that I would CRY when my mom would tell me to thaw out something for dinner! Ha! Even now, I don't like to handle it. I just sort of block it out.
About White Castle: The coffee thing sounds like a good deal, but aren't the sliders usually like 50 cents each?! :-)
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