2006-02-26

Having grown up eating various strange foodstuffs, my tolerance level for what is considered �weird� by North American standards is quite high. (This is what happens when a large part of your childhood diet is comprised of traditional Asian dishes. After you�ve eaten beef tripe, bone marrow soup, chicken hearts, durian, and sea cucumber, nothing much can faze you.) In fact, as I write this, my mother (I am visiting my parents) is cooking a nice snack for me made up of ikan bilis (tiny whole fish), tamarind paste, and roasted peanuts. Mmmm!

However, despite this fairly laid-back attitude towards food, there are some things that even I find beyond the pale. I realize it�s purely subjective and probably hypocritical, given some of the things I�ve eaten, but I can freely admit that the idea of eating these dishes makes me gag.

Here are some links for your entertainment.

WeirdMeat.com

"WeirdMeat.com documents experiences eating strange food, as I travel around the world. In the end, what is weird to one, is normal to another. I want to find out why. Includes articles, travel stories, photos, pictures, video."

Steve, Don't Eat It! "Join me in saying F YOU to my taste buds."

McSweeney's R E V I E W S O F N E W F O O D. From a review of Jolly Time Kettle Corn, submitted by Konstantine Simakis: "Imagine if popcorn blew a dope line of snow and you'll begin to understand the addictive allure of kettle corn, a fatty snack that's a lot like normal popcorn except, what the hell? It tastes like candy, and leaves you with a sugary postnasal drip. And don't even try to figure out how they get it to do that. Trust me, I've tried."

KookyChow.com "All the food products featured are real. Most were purchased in the strange food section of the supermarket, ethnic groceries, or at the dollar store. We here at KookyChow.com know that many of you probably eat some of the food items featured here. The intent is not to dissuade you from eating them, or to make fun of those of you who do. Hey, we've been known to serve stew over cheese puffs in the KookyChow cafeteria. There�s nothing wrong with eating food that other people find absurd. In fact, there�s a big difference between absurd food, and bad food. Absurd food is a good thing. Bad food is, well..., not good."

WeirdFood.com "Nearly every culture invents a food that is weird or disgusting to outsiders. These strange foods from around the world are cultural markers to show who's a member (insiders like it) and who's not a member (outsiders hate it). . . . Foods don't make it onto this list just because they are unpopular. Some people hate broccoli. So what? Weird foods get on this list because they are cultural markers. There's stuff you like (such as hakarl) (and you think is normal) that other people refuse to even allow in their house."

And one more: The Museum of Food Anomalies. See horrific aberrations of nature in this collection of photographs depicting common food items that have distorted into something more sinister than words can describe." For example: "A most pained piece of lettuce found on this dinner plate. What horrible lettuce catastrophe has befallen this green visage? One must wonder."

[this post was inspired by various Metafilter threads]

Posted by polarcanuck at 5:14 p.m.

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