This shouldn't even be edible/on a menu/or sold in the grocery store/meat market

[carnation]

Geoducks.

[I Phi 1963]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

I loved when my grandmother made cow tongue as a kid. I didn't even think twice. As an adult, I won't prepare it or eat it because I realized it is a cow tongue which is just too close to making think about the cute furry animal it used to be attached to. I have no problem eating meat; I just don't want to think about it.

I think that's what a lot of it is, though. We might taste something, like it, but when we find out what it is, we automatically think it's nasty as hell. That happened to me with raccoon. My mom made it and at first, I was eating it like it was steak. I thought it was roast beef, but when she told me what it was, I was mad as hell, and didn't want to finish it.

[Tulip86]

Century Egg.

Yuk.

[Tulip86]

I get the "snout to tail" approach, and why those dishes came to be: people ate what they could, because the alternative was not to eat at all.

I do eat things others would think are "gross" like haggis, insects, organs, weird spices and exotic meats, and other local dishes when travelling. I'll try most foods (except the ones I'm allergic to obviously).

The foods that gross me out most are the ones that take foods and turn it into something truly vile for no obvious purpose. I get the pickling of veggies, salting or drying of fish and meat to keep them edible, but some things are just really taking it one step too far.

[I Phi 1963]

Originally Posted by KillarneyRose

I Phi, I have something that I like but I don't think anyone else would. Underwood Deviled Ham. It's...how can I put this...smooshed up meat and fat and who knows what else and put into a can. I'm sure it's terrible for me but every once in awhile I treat myself to some of it on Wonder Bread slathered in mayonnaise. Yumm!

I could see this, though. It's still ham and I would consider that to be "normal" food no matter how it's prepared. I was talking about things that don't even sound normal. Brains, assholes, shit like that LOL.

Originally Posted by MysticCat

People who couldn't afford to waste any part of an animal.

I feel you. This makes sense. But how it got spread like it did is what I'm trippin off of.

[AGDee]

Pigs feet

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Pigs feet

I used to buy my daddy a jar of pigs feet every Father's Day.

A sister worked at a grocery store one summer in the meat department and she said "If you knew what was in ham salad, you'd never eat it again." I can imagine, but I don't care. I love it anyway.

[ADPi95]

Yum Yum! I grew up eating barbacoa (head of cattle) in South Texas. It's such a specialty, that it's only sold on Sundays! For the best taste, you really should cook it in a pit. And no, it's not the same kind of barbacoa sold at Chipotle... that's just regular beef, not the head, but same principle.

I also love sweet bread, which is the thymus gland or pancreas of a young animal (lamb, calf, etc). When it's fried and served with a nice jus or creme sauce, it's delicious!!

And of course, you can never go wrong with foie gras (duck/goose liver), or pâté.

I grew up eating all kinds of "delicacies" like this as I grew up on a ranch, because we never waste a part of an animal, but now that I'm married to a chef trained in french cuisine, he appreciates my "sophisticated" palate!

[PrettyBoy]

I'll try almost anything once, and I generally like what I've tried so far, with the exception of a couple of things.

I tried frog legs, and loved the taste. It tasted just like fried chicken, like people I know have said. However, I just couldn't get past the look of them. Long, linky, frog legs. I couldn't get past that, and because of that, it changed the taste entirely. Since frog legs are psychological for me, maybe if they were cut in small pieces on a plate, and I wasn't told what it was, then I would like them, I guess.

I wish I could like raw oysters, because I love them steamed. My uncle makes them look so good when he eats them raw. He puts hot sauce on them, and lets it slide down. I tried it, made an attempt to chew, and I gagged because of the slime. Then I tried another, and attempted to let it slide down, but that was worse. I want to like them because they look good when I see other people eat them. I guess it's just an acquired taste.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by I Phi 1963

I feel you. This makes sense. But how it got spread like it did is what I'm trippin off of.

It spread because until 100 or so years ago, pretty much everyone except the very rich fell into the category of people who couldn't afford to waste any of the animal. And lots of those people had to sell (or pay as rent) the "desirable" parts, so all they had left was the organ meats and the like. Sometimes I wonder if modern American disdain for organ meats is really rooted in an association of those foods with poverty. We shun them because we've risen above them to the middle class. (Well, that and we've lost a real understanding of where our foods come from and what's involved in getting to our tables.)

Otherwise, ditto what Low C Sharp said.

Originally Posted by ADPi95

And of course, you can never go wrong with foie gras (duck/goose liver), or pâté.

Sorry, but blech.

Seriously, I love calf's liver. I love haggis. But I've never understood how anyone can think that foie gras (which isn't just duck or goose liver -- it's the liver of a goose or duck that had been force fed corn to make it fatter) or pâté tastes anything approaching good. I know many people sincerely like them, but I wonder if for some the opposite of what I described above is going on -- these foods are considered delicacies and are foods of the rich, so we should like them. But I just can't take the flavor or the texture.

[adpiucf]

Originally Posted by ADPi95

And of course, you can never go wrong with foie gras (duck/goose liver), or pâté.

I have a serious ethical problem with foie gras, and it has even been banned in California. The preparation is incredibly inhumane, and I don't think any animal should have to suffer to that degree to become my appetizer.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

I have a serious ethical problem with foie gras, and it has even been banned in California. The preparation is incredibly inhumane, and I don't think any animal should have to suffer to that degree to become my appetizer.

The ducks don't suffer to make foie. They even walk up to get fed. I read US abdomens all day and diagnose humans with foie gras...hepatic steatosis. It's fatty liver. The ducks are fed a large amount of food through funnels, but no one holds them down to do it... they walk up with their mouths open.

I love foie. I love beef tongue and sweet breads. Tripe is not my thing unless it's shredded on a bowl of Pho. Chicken hearts are the best thing in the world when you're in Brazil at a churrascaria. I don't like blood sausage or brains. Chicken and cow liver are gross. Gizzards give me bad memories of childhood. Fried soft roe is pretty tasty.

[I Phi 1963]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

Who decided to make it food? Someone that killed an animal and thought it was important to get back all the value they put into raising or hunting the animal. Someone hungry. And/or someone who thought about food logically. If there's nutritional value in it, why SHOULDN'T you try eating it and seeing if you can cook it in a way that you enjoy? How stupid would it be to throw nutritious material away without seeing whether you could use it?

I am always amazed at the idea that chitlins are gross but when you stuff them with hot dog filling the grossness disappears. They're the same thing. Deal with the truth of what you're eating.

If you don't like a food, cool. Don't eat it. But it's pretty ignorant to imagine there's a distinction between things that you don't like and things that are objectively so gross that they shouldn't even be sold. Your preferences are just that and don't count more than anyone else's.

Here we go, another GCer turning a fun, laughable thread into a shit talking one. I see your point to some degree, but to turn around and call somebody "ignorant" because they choose not to fuck with certain foods is an "ignorant" comment in itself. If you want to call folks on here "ignorant" for having thoughts you disagree with, add yourself to the mix, because everybody (you included) has ignorant thoughts on different topics every day.

Originally Posted by MysticCat

It spread because until 100 or so years ago, pretty much everyone except the very rich fell into the category of people who couldn't afford to waste any of the animal. And lots of those people had to sell (or pay as rent) the "desirable" parts, so all they had left was the organ meats and the like. Sometimes I wonder if modern American disdain for organ meats is really rooted in an association of those foods with poverty. We shun them because we've risen above them to the middle class. (Well, that and we've lost a real understanding of where our foods come from and what's involved in getting to our tables.)

I took an African American history class in summer school when I was an undergrad, and my instructor was basically saying something similar to what you said here. He was talking about how the same thing happened during slavery.

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

I am always amazed at the idea that chitlins are gross but when you stuff them with hot dog filling the grossness disappears. They're the same thing. Deal with the truth of what you're eating.

And why are you so "amazed" with this? I've tried chitlins and they don't taste all that great. They would be better if it weren't for the smell. I've also tried other foods that most folks would consider "normal" but don't taste all that good unless I add something to it. chitlins stink, hot dogs don't. I'm not putting anything in my mouth that smells like shit. Point blank.

[KillarneyRose]

Originally Posted by ADPi95

Yum Yum! I grew up eating barbacoa (head of cattle) in South Texas. It's such a specialty, that it's only sold on Sundays! For the best taste, you really should cook it in a pit. And no, it's not the same kind of barbacoa sold at Chipotle... that's just regular beef, not the head, but same principle.

Thank you for that disclaimer because I think I almost had a heart attack when I started reading your post!

[ADPi95]

Originally Posted by KillarneyRose

Thank you for that disclaimer because I think I almost had a heart attack when I started reading your post!

LOL yeah, I had to add it or folks would think twice before ordering at Chipotle!