Weird and/or disgusting food and drinks you've tried

[Claptree]

I had a discussion with my brother over Easter about trying surströmming, the Swedish delicacy of fermented herring. This got me thinking about what weird foods there are, and what I had tried.

A friend gave me a shot of beaver booze, which is basically vodka flavoured with castoreum. It was foul, very foul, and the taste lingered for a long time. Even after I ran down to the lake, put my head under water and gargled. I ended up drinking it twice more, once because I'd forgotten and once on a dare. It's apparently a sort of hunter macho thing.

My dear Icelandic friend who posts here as Borisch gave me hákarl, fermented shark. One small bite and I'd had quite enough, thankyouverymuch. Again, the taste just wouldn't go away. I learned after eating the stuff that I should have numbed my taste buds by taking the shot before eating. Obviously.

Right, share your horrendous experiences.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

I'm not what you call a picky eater, and have cheerfully joined in eating raw meat of various kinds when visiting Inuit. I must say, though, that I can't develop any fondness for muktuk, or whale blubber, although it approaches "not too vile" when deep-fried and served with soy sauce.

[Cluricaun]

Vodka flavored with beaver anal gland secretions? Holy shit.

Do you guys export that stuff? Imagine the practical jokes!

[jali]

I tried Head Cheese. Vile stuff.

[garygnu]

50/50 mix of milk and Coke.
Don’t try it.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

50/50 mix of milk and Coke.
Don’t try it.

Don't think you needed to include the warning, my friend.

[Batman]

Chocolate covered ants. They were like tiny, spicy, rice crispies.

[Claptree]

I tried Head Cheese. Vile stuff.

I was wondering what it was, but it turned out it was just sylta. That's nothing. And lutefisk was a disappointment too, but I believe that's because I've not tried it made from cod, only from pollock. Apparently cod smells quite bad, but the stuff I had was possibly the dullest food I've ever tried. About as exciting as white bread.

Cluricaun, I doubt there's enough produced to export. I have seen a bottle in a bar once, but the label was clearly homemade. I've never heard of commercial production.

A much nicer drink, which many people find disgusting is Bäsk (bitter, acrid, like the taste). It might be possible to import, but to get the good stuff you have to do it yourself.

Ingredients:
Wormwood, dried. Lots of it.
Vodka or other unflavoured alcohol, 40% or better
Whisky - not the really good stuff
Honey

Pour a layer of vodka into a fireproof baking tin, about half a centimeter deep. Scrape leaves and flowers off the wormwood twigs into the tin. Set fire to it and watch it burn, beautifully. You'll see a change in colour where the wormwood has burned. Once all the wormwood has changed colour, cover the tin with a wet towel to extinguish the fire.
Pour the mixture through a coffee filter to remove particles. Repeat until a clear yellow liquid is left. Remember to squeeze the good stuff out of the coffee filter - you don't want to waste any. Sniff your hands and delight in the wonderful wormwood aroma.
Add a little bit of honey and a few squirts of whisky, how much depends on your preferences. You now have a bäsk extract. Dilute with unflavoured alcohol until content; I usually do 1 part extract to 8-12 parts vodka. Shake to mix.
Drink and enjoy!

That reminds me, I have to go get more wormwood.

[Cluricaun]

What is this beaver juice called in it's native tongue?

[Claptree]

The actual beaver booze I've heard referred to as bäverbrännvin or bäverhojt (beaver snaps) or bävergäll, which is just the Swedish word for castoreum.

If you're referring to the wormwood snaps, it's just called bäsk or besk. I know only two Swedish brands, Bäska Droppar and Piratens Bäsk. I do have a vague recollection of finding an American site that listed some bäsks produced in the States, presumably around the great lakes. Can't find it now, though. Here's a review of some Swedish snaps, including Bäska Droppar.

[Wheresgeorge04]

A friend gave me a shot of beaver booze,

Heh. Beaver liquor.

Joe

[Wheresgeorge04]

50/50 mix of milk and Coke.
Don’t try it.

While it's not exactly great, i was inspired by Laverne and Shirley to try milk and Pepsi. Not terrible.

Joe

[AllWalker]

There's a drink I invented called Colo - half Coke, half orange juice. It probably exists elsewhere (I've heard rumours of a similar beverage from Germany) but in Australia it is unheard of. And no one else likes it. But it's a thing of beauty - it really varies depending on the type of juice you use. Try to use pulp free, though, unless you don't mind drinking what looks like shit in a glass (which I don't, but I try to be courteous).

Add vodka to Colo = Colovsky. Fantastic.

Also, people outside Australia think it's weird we eat kangaroo. It's good red meat, it's not endangered (in fact, in some areas it's considered a pest) and it cooks really easily. Yum.

Another wonder recipe of mine - yogurt + lemon juice. Can't convince anyone that it's deliciously sweet. "But wont it curdle?" Not if you add it slowly while mixing. Add dragonfruit to add colour and take an edge off the sweetness.

These aren't too weird, I know, but they are close enough to home to seem strange to some people. Beaver glands are exotic - my ingredients aren't.

[MsPurlMcKnittington]

I drank a White Russian made with skim milk once, as there was no more cream.

Not recommended, at all.

[BiblioCat]

Eww, that sounds awful. I've had them with 2% milk, and that's okay, but skim milk would be really bad.
I prefer Kahlua and cream (no vodka, thanks) to be made with whole milk rather than cream. The cream makes it too rich for me.

[MsPurlMcKnittington]

It was perfectly wretched. I hadn't realized how much the cream adds to a White Russian until it was not there. And you only add like a tablespoon, too.

[sublight]

There's a drink I invented called Colo - half Coke, half orange juice. It probably exists elsewhere (I've heard rumours of a similar beverage from Germany) but in Australia it is unheard of. And no one else likes it. But it's a thing of beauty - it really varies depending on the type of juice you use. Try to use pulp free, though, unless you don't mind drinking what looks like shit in a glass (which I don't, but I try to be courteous).

Add vodka to Colo = Colovsky. Fantastic.

I used to drink coke with orange juice all the time, and thought it was great. Lemon juice (though not half-and-half) is also yummy. The vodka idea sounds fantastic.

I had some disgusting (in concept) food just last night: sumibiyaki nankotsu. Basically it's grilled chicken cartilage doused in charcoal soot. It tasted good, but I can't see it as anything but a food substitute, like putting mustard on cardboard.

[Angua]

I didn't think this was strange, but everyone else I've described this too thinks it is -- mulled beer with a cranberry confiture. It is delicious; but everyone else thinks its weird or I'm making shit up.

[ivan astikov]

I don't ever want to put a piece of river trout in my mouth again.

Luckily, my brain has already blanked the experience, so I can't even describe the taste.

[Kaspar Hauser]

I'm not what you call a picky eater, and have cheerfully joined in eating raw meat of various kinds when visiting Inuit. I must say, though, that I can't develop any fondness for muktuk, or whale blubber, although it approaches "not too vile" when deep-fried and served with soy sauce.

I've tried whale blubber as well - raw. Can't recommend it. The same thing goes for the hákarl claptree mentioned.
I have had weird-but-good experiences too, like lukewarm kymyz - fermented mare's milk. Not as bad as it sounds and pretty good on a hot day in the Kirgiz mountains (my girlfriend hated it, though). Anyway it's much better than the warm, raw sheep fat I was offered by a very, very drunk Kirgiz man as a snack to go with his horrible, cheap (and probably dangerous) vodka.
I like strong, black liquorice, pickled herring, bjæsk (old Danish name for the spirits claptree calls bäsk), head cheese (what an odd name), black pudding, etc. I've never tried surströmning but I would love to give it a go.
And AllWalker, I think the German drink you're referring to could be Mezzo Mix. Pretty good.

[lust4life]

I've eaten Head Cheese,didn't mind it too much but in the U.K. we also eat a lot of offal and must admit I just love pigs kidneys and lambs heart plus black pudding(Though not all at the same time.)

I've eaten dog and it was disgusting,didn't know it was dog until afterwards so it wasn't a case of being psyched out,it just genuinnly tastes disgusting.

Roasted snake is alright but boiled in seawater its pretty unpleasant.

Insects and spiders eaten raw I dont particulary recommend and suggest that you pull the legs off of spiders in particular before you swallow them as they tickle the throat.

But the most disgusting taste of anything I've ever eaten is Marzipan I totally loathe it.

[jali]

I've eaten Head Cheese,didn't mind it too much but in the U.K. we also eat a lot of offal and must admit I just love pigs kidneys and lambs heart plus black pudding(Though not all at the same time.)

I've eaten dog and it was disgusting,didn't know it was dog until afterwards so it wasn't a case of being psyched out,it just genuinnly tastes disgusting.

Roasted snake is alright but boiled in seawater its pretty unpleasant.

Insects and spiders eaten raw I dont particulary recommend and suggest that you pull the legs off of spiders in particular before you swallow them as they tickle the throat.

But the most disgusting taste of anything I've ever eaten is Marzipan I totally loathe it.

Hi. I don't like Marzipan, but it's surprising tom me that live spiders are better than Marzipan in your book.
Oh BTW, I read your sig.

[Hatshepsut]

Living in Asia, I have an opportunity to sample all kinds of stuff.

I enjoy whole dried fish, ranging in size from a staple to a cigarette. Fish sounds pretty tame, I know, but not everyone would eat fish heads (especially eyes), intestines, etc. In fact, sometimes when the tiniest fish are mixed with rice, the eyes fall out and get scattered through the rice. So your rice looks at you while you eat it.

I ate some cow hoof recently, because it came automatically on the tray of food I ordered. Nothing I would choose, but harmless stuff, just a spongey mass that gets flavored with the sauce it is in.

Turtle blood jelly is pretty good - it is quite bitter, but you eat it with honey on top, and the contrast is nice.

Of course, I eat (video). It's absolutely heavenly.

One of the local restaurants serves lung (from sheep, I guess - not sure what animal). That, I skip.

[krisolov]

shake and bake squirrel was rather gamey/rancid tasting. Unless I was starving, I wouldn't recommend it.

Fresh rabbit blood tastes salty. (duh). I did not care for it at "body temperature", but it wasn't horrible.

Vodka flavored with buffalo grass tastes like ass.

[jali]

shake and bake squirrel was rather gamey/rancid tasting. Unless I was starving, I wouldn't recommend it.

Fresh rabbit blood tastes salty. (duh). I did not care for it at "body temperature", but it wasn't horrible.

Vodka flavored with buffalo grass tastes like ass.

Fresh rabbit blood. Was this part of an Easter celebration?

[krisolov]

Fresh rabbit blood. Was this part of an Easter celebration?

If only this had been a week ago, I'dve had a much more interesting Easter this year!

it was survival training. We cooked Fluffy too; very yummy actually!

[Scumpup]

I had dog, once. It wasn't offensive, but neither was it anything remarkable. It was kind of stringy.
I've eaten all manner of innards from various game and domestic animals. Chitterlings, tripe, heart, livers, lights, kidneys, sweetbreads, tongues.
Some of these were better than others. I've no love for kidney at all.
Blood sausage, or kishka as we call it, is actually quite tasty.
Raw meat doesn't bother me. Nor does cured but uncooked meat or fat. Salo is some wonderful stuff.
My first wife worked in a laboratory where they made extensive use of lab rats. Once, we ate a control group rat. He'd been raised in a sterile environment and fed on nothing but purified water and a flavorless liquid nutrient solution. After processing and cooking, he was indistinguishable from rabbit.
Maybe the foulest thing I ever ate was a goat cheese from Sweden. A college friend's father was from Sweden; she'd been raised eating the stuff and considered it a wonderful treat when some was sent from home. One bite did me in. It had a horrid, rancid flavor that I couldn't cleanse from my mouth. Even a shot of liquor and a cigarette wouldn't get rid of it.