Exotic Cuisine

[Timerover51]

While going through the FASA booklet ACTION ABOARD: Adventures on the King Richard, I noticed that the ship's purser is always visiting the major restaurants in the ports of call, checking out for new spices, flavors, and recipes for the luxury liner. That got me to thinking (always quite dangerous) about some of the various things that I have tried over the years. Generally, my rule is I will try anything that is not out to eat me, and I will try anything that is out to eat me if I can eat if first. Note, I will try it to determine if I wish to have a second, third, or fourth bite, add it to my list of eatables, or to my list of those foods not eat without massive compulsion. So, while this is not a poll per se, it does represent an attempt to determine how wide a cuisine is represented by the various forum members, and how willing are people to try new and different things.

Over the years, I have had the following items, in no particular order.

Haggis, neaps, and tatties: I like haggis, and have been eating neaps and tatties since I was a kid. Look up definitions if needed.

Alligator: Not bad, but availability limited to Florida.

Muktuk: Once was sufficient to satisfy my curiosity.

Calamari, a.k.a. Squid: Like it and enjoy it when I can.

Bear: Again not bad, but not easily available. Ostrich is good as well, and Bison excellent.

Venison: Moose, Caribou, Deer are all liked, but again, not easily obtained.

Gyros: Invented by the Greeks, and one of their better culinary efforts.

Chicken Feet: My son is a bit mad at me for liking these. My new daughter-in-law is on his case about it.

Jellyfish: Add a touch of soy sauce and well worth the second helping.

Durian Fruit: See comment on Chicken Feet. Read definition if needed.

Abalone and Raw Oyster: Definitely not high on my list, but if desperate or have to be polite, will consume. Have yet to try octopus, suspect new daughter-in-law will remedy that soon.

Coconut Milk Fish Soup: Note, this is not made with coconut milk fish, but the base is a couple of cups of coconut milk, tastes best when coconut is one-half hour off of the tree. If made with Unicorn Tang, quite good.

English Concept of Chicago-style Pizza: A for Effort and Inventiveness, B+ for palatability. There was a good Pizza Place across the Street from Victoria Station.

Indian Tandoori-style Cooking: Great as a change of pace, best followed with some vanilla ice cream.

Pickled Brussels Sprouts: Love them, but not on my wife's list of eatables. Same with Pickled Herring.

 

[Spinward Scout]

If made with Unicorn Tang...

Not sure I want to know what Unicorn Tang is. Unless it's what the astronauts on the secret base on the dark side of the moon drink.

I think of Abalone to be a mix of Tuna and Cod.

Snipe is probably one of the worst things I've tried. Not flavor-wise, tho. I think it's where the phrase 'chewing the fat' comes from.

 

[BlackBat242]

Alligator: Not bad, but availability limited to Florida.

I've had deep-fried alligator on a skewer in Houston, TX several times (on visits 2008 and 2011), and noticed it on restaurant menus there (in several forms of preparation).

I even had some at the air show at Hill AFB, UT last June!


Kimchee (once, in Pusan, SK, a "winter" variety) - won't have it again - at least not chased with several bottles of Oscar beer. :CoW:

Balut - never had it, never will! http://eatyourworld.com/destinations/asia/philippines/manila/what_to_eat/balut

 

[BlackBat242]

Not sure I want to know what Unicorn Tang is.

Don't worry - it is a variety of surgeonfish, often sold for aquariums (big ones, as they can reach 24" in length).

 

[Whipsnade]

I did a job just outside Sorong in Irian many years ago. We lived in bungalows which looked like they were straight out of some Dorothy Lamour movie complete with houseboys, laundresses, sweepers, flycatchers, etc. A gaggle of little old ladies with betel nut teeth did all the cooking in a nearby open air kitchen. Everyone right down to the preteens smoked like chimneys.

The food was good, but I'm glad I never asked what exactly it was.

I suspect we could choke down quite a number of different foods if we take care to never ask just what we're chewing!

 

[Xenon]

had frog legs not too long ago at a french restaurant.... okay, but not enough meat to be worth the effort.

have had ground bison (wasnt too exciting), and rabbit (the sausage served with it was too spicy to eat)

quail is a personal favorite, but ive only had it 3 times. two of those were excellent, the third was sadly overcooked (all the flavoring was in the breading which broke off in large rigid chunks)- that restaurant tried to be fancy but the chef wasnt as good as what they were charging.

love sushi, and i find that mackerel has a strong distinct flavor as a coldwater fish. octopush/squid can be okay, but tends to be too chewy some days. my pet peeve is places where the chef puts wasabi between the fish and rice, as that distracts from the flavor. avoid the fried egg sushi, its cold (fancy pattern, though).

i find that brussel sprouts are excellent when baked. steaming/boiling is bad for them.

my choices are sometimes limited by my allergy to nuts. way too many things that get poisoned that way, sadly.

 

[Timerover51]

Don't worry - it is a variety of surgeonfish, often sold for aquariums (big ones, as they can reach 24" in length).

The ones on sale in the Fish Market at Gizo were about 24 inches or so. The locals loved to eat it. I have a picture of one in my slide show on the Solomon Islands. It is quite impressive.

 

[Timerover51]

The ones on sale in the Fish Market at Gizo were about 24 inches or so. The locals loved to eat it. I have a picture of one in my slide show on the Solomon Islands. It is quite impressive.

Oh, I did forget one thing in my list.

VEGEMITE: Spread thick on toast with butter underneath. Great addition to breakfast. Our Aussie cooks thought I was crazy for eating so much of it.

There was a restaurant near me for a while that had frog legs on the buffet menu, so I grew to like them. But there is not that much meat on them per leg.

 

[Garnfellow]

Oh, I did forget one thing in my list.

VEGEMITE: Spread thick on toast with butter underneath. Great addition to breakfast. Our Aussie cooks thought I was crazy for eating so much of.

I once ran an Interstellar Wars game where Vegemite was the only Terran food that Vilani could stand.

 

[Condottiere]

So it wasn't a war crime?

 

[MThompson016]

Another one for you:

Lutefisk: The most feared food in the Norwegian American kitchen, this preparation of dried whitefish soaked in lye is specifically noted as not a Toxic Substance in Wisconsin. The rest of the nation begs to differ. (This is a good one to get from the Swordies)

Another range of products would be cheeses. How many different varieties of cheese are there in many places on our world? I'm quite sure there will be varieties of cheese that will be come famous or infamous around the world.

 

[Garnfellow]

So it wasn't a war crime?

Prevented a diplomatic incident. I assumed that Vilani tastes run towards bitter, sour, pungent and funky -- and are repelled by most sweets. A formal dinner featuring the best of Terran foods: Norwegian salmon, New Zealand lamb, Japanese whisky, was a disaster when the guests refused to eat such insipid fare. All was saved by a stray jar of Vegemite.

The PCs seriously considered becoming exporters of such delights as kimchee, sauerkraut, and slivovitz.

Lutefisk wasn't on their radar but would have been a good choice too.

 

[aramis]

Prevented a diplomatic incident. I assumed that Vilani tastes run towards bitter, sour, pungent and funky -- and are repelled by most sweets.

That would require major shifts in genetics - almost all primates have a sweet receptor, specifically because the generic primate is a fructivore with meat and insects as protein supplements. We still have a strong inborn preference for sweets, one of the few things that is almost universally present in the human diet. Now, confections are another matter, but the use of sweets, including honey and fruits, is near universal. (I've never seen a reference to a culture without something sweet in the diet. Even the Eskimo eat berries.)

Essentially, H. sapiens is able to survive on nothing but fruits and nuts, but to thrive requires additional protein sources.

 

[Condottiere]

And alcohol.

 

[flykiller]

and chocolate.

 

[Garnfellow]

That would require major shifts in genetics.

I don't think there is anything that says the Ancients did or didn't genetically alter the archaic humans they deposited on Vland. And besides -- 300,000 years is a LONG time to live in a completely alien biome, relying on fermentation for all of your food. A little genetic drift, a lot of culture . . . doesn't seem at all hard to imagine a people with remarkably limited sweet tooth.

 

[aramis]

I don't think there is anything that says the Ancients did or didn't genetically alter the archaic humans they deposited on Vland. And besides -- 300,000 years is a LONG time to live in a completely alien biome, relying on fermentation for all of your food. A little genetic drift, a lot of culture . . . doesn't seem at all hard to imagine a people with remarkably limited sweet tooth.

Other than Sugar is, essentially, the single most important dietary element - it's the fuel for everything.

And, quite likely, it's what you're fermenting OUT of various local goodies - converting local indigestible sugars into human digestable compounds that break down to sugars.

Salt's equally as important to human metabolism.

For sugar or salt sensation to be missing would require damned near incompatible biochem to justify it as anything but perverse experimentation.

 

[Condottiere]

Chocolate may kill Vargrs.

 

[Timerover51]

Chocolate may kill Vargrs.

I would almost say that Chocolate will kill Vargrs, but I am not sure we know enough about the metabolism of the Dire Wolf. One source I have indicates tendencies for carrion scavenging.

Have a friend that makes Lutefisk every Christmas, and there is a restaurant in Door County, Wisconsin where you can get it. I figure I have to try it one of these days.

I am working on a recipe for Roast K'kree though.

 

[aramis]

I've had Akutak, Muktuk, Sheefish in seal oil, Walrus, Seal, Moose, Grizzly Bear, salmon in seal oil, and several other native "delicacies"...

I'll pass on Akutak - fresh snow, seal oil, berries, or if in town, frappe ice, crisco, and berries...

The muktuk I had was as fresh as could be - 10 minutes earlier it was in the whale. I won't repeat that error in judgement.

I've had walrus a half-dozen ways. I would rather not eat than eat walrus - it tastes like rancid beef soaked in rancid seal oil, and that's when fresh... native "canning" is to preserve it frozen in seal oil or walrus oil.

Salmon in seal oil isn't bad, but it's a REALLY strong taste. Combine with REALLY strong coffee or tea, and pilot bread... and, assuming the salmon is fresh and the seal oil not rancid, it's pretty tasty.

Grizzly varies widely by what it's been eating. You can taste the salmon if it's been eating them.