kwigibo

we had a japanese exchange student living with us a couple of years ago. While she was here, her boyfriend came to visit, and she offered him some vegemite, saying it tasted just like chocolate. He took a mouthful

My mother was right, women are the devil

Harumi

I think I mean differently.

I meant when it comes to exotic foods, such as strange organs, or strange parts of animals and the like.

I have yet to meet an American who is willing to touch them.

Rich foods however...most Asian foods are actually pretty mild and not rich at all. I wouldn't call that weak, just too healthy.

Claudia

I would not eat insects or terresrial arthropods (except for earth crabs). But I like crabs, schrimps (to be eaten with the shell, just remove head and tail), lobster, crayfish...
Love most seashell, raw or cooked.
Not very interested in trying sea cucumbers.

About meat: I find brain disgusting.When I was a kid and I was learning the cow stomach at school, I always tried to recognise the 4 parts of it in the tripes. Always liked it.
I do not like mammal liver, (but I like chicken or duck liver) but I can eat it in small amounts.
Chitterlings... it depend on preparation. Try "andouille de Gu�m�n�" if ever you come in France.
I have occasionally eaten beef heart too... eatable, but no great interest. I like bone marrow...
Stinking cheese: Munster, Maroilles, Livarot, Epoisse, well done Brie... and a lot more... pure delicacies. But for cheese it is the golden rule: never smell before eating.
I like snails, frog is OK, but the sauce is the more important... I have eaten bullfrog once, and it was very good. I like black pudding, but as for chitterlings proper preparation is very important. French one is not served by slices, but as an entire (smaller) saussage. "Boudin antillais" is the spicy version from Carribbean islands.
Vegetables: I am quite touchy about the quality of preparation. Some I didn't like sometimes ago but that I eat now were salsifies.
I never tried reptilians, but a part for the endangered species it would not pose me a problem.
I am not fond of vegemite, but I can eat it.

KoopaFanatic

Well, most I know will try anything at least once. Heck, a bunch of my friends piled in a car and drove up to Toronto just so they could get first-rate tripe. Plus, remember, it was Europeans who invented haggis. Maybe it's just the fact that my family's Scottish, but I've never thought it was particularly repulsive. (It smells bad when you're preparing it, but that's something completely different.)

Admittedly my experience in feeding non-Americans is pretty limited (Japanese and Brazilians), but there was stuff we'd eat that neither group would touch. Bagels, for instance. Chitlins (never been a fan myself, but we decided to torture them with the full range of American cuisine). Cream of wheat. The Japanese kids thought marinated olives were downright disgusting, and both groups balked at the concept of throwing live lobsters into boiling water

Oh, and I have a Chinese friend whose mother won't touch my marinara sauce -- it's "not right" to eat that much tomato. So I've got to agree with Vorkosigan, too.

Harumi

That's really strange, considering that the other way would be throwing live lobsters directly into the frying pan.

Asians tend to be very afraid of sweet things though. Even I am, well a bit. Things that are too sweet make me sweet for some reason.

It must be me then, since all the Americans at my school find the concept of organs or other exotic seafood cuisine to be utterly disgusting. I guess we have a fairly hardy stock of Americans posting at these boards.

Born Free

Peanut butter and Jam it's seriously disgusting.

KoopaFanatic

Well, I've always thought people from Detroit were real wusses

oriecat

Bagels?! How can anyone not wanna try bagels?!

wonkothesane

Uck! I heard about this on NPR...it's like fish that canned with a wee bit of salt, but not enough to stop it from fermenting...it's supposed to be ready to eat when the can actually swells up!

It's supposed to smell (and taste) like...well...rotting fish...

Gawd! The things that some people will eat...

How are some of these things thought up anyway? I think that ludefisk happened about when ancient fishermen didn't have enough salt (it used to be a rare and valuable commodity) to completely preserve the fish that they caught...but what about Haggis...who ever thought that stuffing a sheep's stomach with the rest of it's guts would be a good idea??? Probably the same person who invented the Bagpipe..."I want something that sounds like a cat being dragged into a vaccum cleaner!" (Just kidding...apologies to the Scotish folks on this board...)

- bryce

lisarea

I want to hear a credible explanation for thousand year old eggs.

There are people in this world who think cheese is disgusting, but who will happily eat ROTTEN EGGS.