How hungry would you have to be to eat _____ ?

[HelenWheels]

I'd have to be pretty doggone near starvation before I'd eat"

- an egg that wasn't scrambled

- organ meat (liver, heart, gizzard, brains, chitterlings, kidney, lung), sweetbreads or odd animal parts (chicken feet, chicken combs, egg sacs)

- scrapple, headcheese... any jellied-meat

- raw fat (blubber)

- some types of fish (sardines, anchovies, herring, eel, lutefisk, etc)

- rat, mouse, dog, cat, horse meat

- worms, grubs and various other insects

I gotta stop - I'm grossing myself out...

[mash]

[scrappy]

Heh.  Of the things you list, I've eaten:

- raw eggs
- liver, heart, gizzard, brain, kidney
- chicken feet
- scrapple, headcheese
- sardines, anchovies, herring, eel
- horse
- witchetty grubs

I don't like kidney.  I used to put raw eggs in a glass of milk for breakfast.  And there are very few things better than a pizza with anchovies.  Mmmmm.  I tried to get dog meat in China, but was told it was out of season.  They only eat dog in the winter, I was there in the middle of the summer.

I've also eaten sea slugs, jellyfish, whole baby octopus (their heads pop most unpleasantly when you bite into them), rotten salmon, durian (a fruit that the people of Malaysia and Thailand prize, but which smells like sewage), and probably some other stuff that will continue to gross you out.

I am almost always hungry enough to try new foods. 

[Sister Wolf]

Oh, Helen.  You simply MUST try Unagi (eel sushi).  It is the BESTEST EVER food.  it's like dessert and barbequed ribs all in one.  making my mouth water just thinking about it.

On your list, I would eat: rat, mouse, dog, cat, horse meat, organ meat, and eggs that are definitely not scambled (I'm too particular about the way they MUST be scrambled.  I usually don't like scrambled eggs.  However, over-easy eggs?  OMG).

Things I would never, ever, ever eat, even if I was dying:  Balut.  Balut.  Balut, and also Balut.

That has got to be the most disgusting thing that people eat without dying that exists.  And I'm not convinced that the people who eat it don't die shortly afterward.  I think it's a conspiracy.

[Morning Sunshine]

Things I would never, ever, ever eat, even if I was dying:  Balut.  Balut.  Balut, and also Balut.

That has got to be the most disgusting thing that people eat without dying that exists.  And I'm not convinced that the people who eat it don't die shortly afterward.  I think it's a conspiracy.

I had to look this up.  I think I agree.  golly, I cannot even kill baby mice that we catch in our house.  Mature mice, no prob, but babies I cannot do.  Balut seems to me to be on the same vein.

[TwoBluesMama]

Still LMAO -  ok I can type now. All you have to do is hang around this forum for some good laughs from TSP'ers. OMGosh Mash - too funny -thanks!

HW you grossed me out (and I mean that in the sweetest way possible).

Unless my house burns to the ground (always possible); is swept up in a tornado (highly unlikely but slightly possible where we live); is smashed to smithereens by a derailed train (more probable than the tornado) or we are evacuated and I am not allowed to take my to go preps (this will never happen!!!!!) I am eating food from my house. And if the house goes we can always eat the chickens.  I've hung out with DH for a long time (a very, very long time) and he knows I'll do a lot of things more "earthy" than most women but I don't do eating bugs, gross animal parts and mice/rats.  Or the neighborhood squirrels.  Yes I know I've been told squirrel is very good by hundreds of wonderful folk but I'm not changing my mind - they to me are just rats with bushy tails and good PR. Their beedy little eyes freak me out and I send my blue dogs to chase them out of my yard - the little guy is gonna get one soon!
I know I'm gonna hear five hundred and fifty reasons to eat squirrel along with recipes. Still won't change my mind.    TBM 

[mousemommy]

Chicken feet make the best broth (remove them before eating of course) - we always save some when we butcher chickens.  Raw eggs with raw milk, vanilla, sugar, nutmeg - voila - egg nog!!

[HelenWheels]

I won't eat eggs in ANY way except scrambled.

The thought of fried eggs, poached eggs, hard-boiled eggs, egg salad, eggs in a salad... yak.

Cooked egg whites make me gag. Slimy raw eggs make me gag.

Ick.

[sarahluker]

I just read a book that had the main character feeding the chicken feet in her soup to her cat.

[mamabear]

Things I would never, ever, ever eat, even if I was dying:  Balut.  Balut.  Balut, and also Balut.

That has got to be the most disgusting thing that people eat without dying that exists.  And I'm not convinced that the people who eat it don't die shortly afterward.  I think it's a conspiracy.

uugghh, oh my, you're right that has to be one of the most icky disgusting things ever. Kinda makes me wish I had not just eaten breakfast. Oh yuck, yuck yuck. And yuck. How did you even find that out? I sure would never have searched that online. Would not have thought any sane person could eat something like that.

I am with you gals. No chicken feet for me, I might try organ meat if I was feeling adventurous (and super hungry) that day. Eggs do not bother me, even raw eggs, especially if they are in a dessert.

TBM, I don't know if I could eat squirrel or not. They are kinda cute in a rat-y sort of way. And I sure could not eat mouse or rat. I would just keep thinking of all the nasty diseases and such that they carry and spread. Probably I could get over that with squirrels though.

And I don't eat anything that swims or glides or creeps or anything else in water. I have a problem eating anything that swims and breathes in the same water it sh**s and fornicates in.

[liftsboxes]

an egg that wasn't scrambled  Yum, I love eggs ... poached, boiled, raw, over easy, or scrambled.

organ meat (liver, heart, gizzard, brains, chitterlings, kidney, lung), sweetbreads or odd animal parts (chicken feet, chicken combs, egg sacs)  Double yum, pickled deer heart is a tasty treat.  When in doubt, fry these items up with a liberal dose of Tabasco sauce.

scrapple, headcheese... any jellied-meat - raw fat (blubber)  Not my favorite, but in pinch I'd eat them.  Cooked up with some fresh greens, beans, or collards these could be pretty good.

some types of fish (sardines, anchovies, herring, eel, lutefisk, etc) Yum.

rat, mouse, dog, cat, horse meat More nutritious than the scrapple / blubber option ... you gotta feed the machine.  I'd eat these things.

worms, grubs and various other insects More nutritious than the scrapple / blubber option ... you gotta feed the machine.  I'd eat these things.  I'd practice preparing them with spices even.

[Sister Wolf]

uugghh, oh my, you're right that has to be one of the most icky disgusting things ever. Kinda makes me wish I had not just eaten breakfast. Oh yuck, yuck yuck. And yuck. How did you even find that out? I sure would never have searched that online. Would not have thought any sane person could eat something like that.

I found it out in two different ways.  First - my mom used to be a really big fan of the TV show "Survivor".  So she made us watch it this one season, and we fell in love with one of the characters.  The next season (or maybe it was a couple seasons later, I don't remember now), they were doing this challenge, and Balut was one of the things they had to eat.  I was like "OMG."... We haven't watched Survivor since that season ended.

Then the second way - after we saw that episode of Survivor, we were out visiting with one of my younger brothers, and his family.  He married a Cambodian girl, and so I just HAD to ask if they ate Balut in Cambodia too.  Little brother was all, "Oh yeah, it's SOOOOO delicious!"

I haven't given him a kiss since then.  

[mamabear]

The next season (or maybe it was a couple seasons later, I don't remember now), they were doing this challenge, and Balut was one of the things they had to eat.  I was like "OMG."... We haven't watched Survivor since that season ended.

Then the second way - after we saw that episode of Survivor, we were out visiting with one of my younger brothers, and his family.  He married a Cambodian girl, and so I just HAD to ask if they ate Balut in Cambodia too.  Little brother was all, "Oh yeah, it's SOOOOO delicious!"

I haven't given him a kiss since then.  

That is precisely why I don't watch those shows. Years ago I watched Fear Factor until they had to eat something gross. Never watched it again.
And you are so right, no more kisses for Balut eaters.

[donaldj]

These are all gross:

http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_6-most-terrifying-foods-in-world.html

Balut made it on there

[PistolWhipped]

I'd have to be pretty doggone near starvation before I'd eat"

- an egg that wasn't scrambled

- organ meat (liver, heart, gizzard, brains, chitterlings, kidney, lung), sweetbreads or odd animal parts (chicken feet, chicken combs, egg sacs)

- scrapple, headcheese... any jellied-meat

- raw fat (blubber)

- some types of fish (sardines, anchovies, herring, eel, lutefisk, etc)

- rat, mouse, dog, cat, horse meat

- worms, grubs and various other insects

I gotta stop - I'm grossing myself out...

Is it a bad sign that almost none of that bothers me particularly . . .

And on Balut . . . hell I might try it.  You only live once, right?  I'd need the chilli and vinegar to eat it with though.

. . . durian (a fruit that the people of Malaysia and Thailand prize, but which smells like sewage), and probably some other stuff that will continue to gross you out.

Heh, I picked up a durian at a local Asian market and left it under my step sisters bed as a prank once.  Reeked up that whole half of the house.

And baby octopi are chewy.  Makes a nice ceviche.

Yeah, I eats . . . pretty much anything thinking about it.

Oh, Helen.  You simply MUST try Unagi (eel sushi).  It is the BESTEST EVER food.  it's like dessert and barbequed ribs all in one.  making my mouth water just thinking about it.

Unagi is GREAT!  Between Unagi, Kani (crab) and Tobiko (flying fish roe)  I spend way too much at the local sushi joint.

[mamabear]

These are all gross:

http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_6-most-terrifying-foods-in-world.html

Balut made it on there

Okay that totally needs a warning of some kind.   Excuse me while I go throw up.

[Sister Wolf]

Unagi is GREAT!  Between Unagi, Kani (crab) and Tobiko (flying fish roe)  I spend way too much at the local sushi joint.

I know, right?!!!!!!  Unagi is like candy.  Sometimes I get a craving for it that just won't stop until I go to a sushi place and order 4 plates of it. 

[Sister Wolf]

And you are so right, no more kisses for Balut eaters.

Exactly.  Brothers are so gross. 

[endurance]

And I don't eat anything that swims or glides or creeps or anything else in water. I have a problem eating anything that swims and breathes in the same water it sh**s and fornicates in.

LMAO, so I guess you don't like breakfast in bed, huh?

[donaldj]

LMAO, so I guess you don't like breakfast in bed, huh?

So much for OpSec... I laughed so hard at this that people came over to see what was funny, then what site this was, then if I really prep, etc etc etc..

Oddly, no one was surprised that I did...   

[Who...me?]

Well I will eat and have eaten most of the things mentioned.  Not the bugs but I would if I was going to die.  The Balut...um...no...no...I can't see eating anything that I know is going to end up on the floor.

I will admit that it is very likely that I have eaten cat.  When I worked in the city one of our favorite lunch places was this Chinese takeout up the street.  One day they got busted with a pile of cat carcasses by the health dept.  So all I can say was that I never noticed a difference from chicken.

[Who...me?]

P.S. exept ANY of the crap on that web site...yuck.   We need a barf emocon.

[KYdoomer]

Yeah I wouldn't eat bugs but I have eaten octopus both raw and cooked (in Japan) as well as raw shrimp and eel (unagi, right Sis Wolf?)  but I prefer Toro or Maguro.

Things I've eaten:

Horse
Rattlesnake
Gator
Organ meat (really??  Love chicken livers)
Raw eggs

Would never eat bugs unless I had to and definitely would not eat Balut.  No way ever.  Other than that, nothing is off limits.  I really want to try stuff from ancestral homeland (Norway).

J

[TwoBluesMama]

You know when I started reading this thread my stomach wasn't feeling so hot. I thought it was all this nasty stuff but now I realize I have some sort of flu or stomach virus so I'm gonna make my comments and not come back here for a while since it makes me want to, well you know, even more.

I gotta admit I didn't know what Balut was so I wiki'd it.  That is beyond disgusting (gagging) that didn't help my rolling tummy.

I will say I have eaten elk, deer and antelope liver and heart.  I just cooked an antelope heart a while back and turned it into Philly Cheese steak's - meat shaved very thin - it was awesome.  I think heart meat is very tasty and if cooked properly so very tender.  Animal organ meat (depending on the animal) is good cooked - wouldn't ever try it raw - the thought makes me gag. Well every thing makes me gag right now - you all have fun I have to leave now.

[Pathfinder]

These are all gross:

http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_6-most-terrifying-foods-in-world.html

Balut made it on there

So did lutefisk! Wow, local fame.

A friend owned a grocery store, and every year at this time the lutefisk is delivered - in wooden half kegs with a cover and rope handles - real old world stuff. I could always tell from the fragrant wafting of lutefisk stench through the store. But the Norwegians up here adore the stuff.

[Bad_Synergy]

It is funny how culture can get in the way of what we perceive as good food.  For example, I spent a bit of time in rural south China a few years ago and although most of what I ate there on a regular basis is mentioned above, correctly prepared, almost all of it tasted great.   

If ever the SHTF to a degree that I, or more importantly my family, is going hungry and we have to compete with society for scarce food resources, I will certainly keep in mind some of the things I have happily eaten before, which are not on other people’s sustenance wish lists.

[fratermus]

I'd have to be pretty doggone near starvation before I'd eat"

- an egg that wasn't scrambled
- organ meat (liver, heart, gizzard, brains, chitterlings, kidney, lung), sweetbreads or odd animal parts (chicken feet, chicken combs, egg sacs)
- scrapple, headcheese... any jellied-meat
- raw fat (blubber)
- some types of fish (sardines, anchovies, herring, eel, lutefisk, etc)
- rat, mouse, dog, cat, horse meat
- worms, grubs and various other insects
I gotta stop - I'm grossing myself out...

If we call a squirrel a rat I've eaten, intentionally or otherwise, all those categories but blubber in the last 7 days. 

[scrappy]

Few other things I've eaten that I forgot about:

Blutwurst - ya, even I found that disgusting
cuttlefish - über-yummy
haggis - despite its reputation, is fantastic
fish eyes
Kanagaroo
Camel
Crocodile
Alligator
squirrel
rattle snake
snails
 

[Sister Wolf]

Are you kidding me?  Alligator is one of the most delicious meats out there!

[scrappy]

Oh, sure - Alligator is great.  So are a number of the other things that I've eaten that people, for some reason, find objectionable.  Eel, as you've mentioned, is terrific, but it grosses a lot of people out.  I first approached haggis with trepidation, as I'd heard repeatedly how horrible it is.  But it was great.  Jellyfish - actually, the first time I had it I could barely choke it down.  Still, I tried again, and the second time it was good.  I was in a Chinese restaurant in New York that had jellyfish on the menu.  I ordered it, but they refused to sell it to me.  They said white people don't like jellyfish - it was only for the Chinese.

Oh ya I've eaten pickled tripe, too.  And some freaky Mexican thing, but I can't remember what it was.  No, not tequila.