I was always a very finicky eater. That is probably why at one point in my life, I was 5'3" and weighed 96 pounds.
Needless to say, that is not the case anymore. And I can't blame it all on metabolism, having gone through "The Change" (Jaws music cue) or getting older. Most of it is because I've eaten crappy food. I like all that greasy, gooey, fatty, breaded, sweet food. There was a time when I couldn't pass a KFC without my car automatically navigating the drive-through. Original recipe. Don't forget the mashed potatoes and cole slaw.
And a big Coke.
So, as much as it may seem at times that I am not what anyone would call a flag-waving pro-American, the truth is that I love American food!
Cheeseburgers, French fries, milk shakes, steak, baked potatoes (with chives and sour cream), fried chicken, ambrosia, BBQ ribs ~ all of it. Every bit of it. I love it!
Well, the truth is that I have had to give up my beloved American food. The weight simply isn't coming off so I made the decision to go back to a Thai diet ~ meaning the stuff I ate when I was in Northern Thailand. The only fat people I ever saw there were farangs (foreigners) and Thai people who spent too much time and money at McDonald's and KFC. When I was there, I lost quite a bit of weight which I've regained here. And the fat cells brought all their friends and relatives.
Real Thai food is not the stuff you find at the local Ting Tong Thai Restaurant!
It's hard getting the "unusual" food here but if I go to South Sacramento, there are quite a few Asian markets. It's not impossible. More time consuming than anything and not too pleasant for my housemates. No matter how you slice it, fish sauce is repulsive. It absolutely stinks!
When I was there, I ate grasshoppers, locusts, and beetles. I ate catfish and very small mud crabs that were caught locally and grilled over an open fire. These crabs were not shelled or gutted. We also ate small lizards, ants and other things I never identified. I once found a tadpole in my papaya salad but one of the strangest things I ever tried was larb [pork mince with garlic,coriander and heaps of chilis]. It was actually quite good but many people ate it raw. Needless to say if I'd tried that, I would have been in the restroom for two days!
Mostly, I stick to rice and fruit, rice and a little bit of meat, rice and [insert whatever happens to be in the fridge].
I'm losing weight.
This got me to thinking though. In your various travels, what is some of the weirdest food you've ever eaten?
~*
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Strange food....
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I tried a dish in Swaziland that they consider to be a delicacy, I can't remember the name of it as it has been 15 years now, but it was basically a bowl of spoiled curdled milk! I don't know how I kept it down.
I don't think anything can beat the items you just listed, Chani, but when I was living in France, I sampled horse meat, something that (from my understanding) is considered a delicacy. I really would rather not have, but the situation was such that it felt extremely rude to decline.
P.S. It didn't taste like chicken.
I can't think of anything that I've encountered that was really unusual, but I just saw a few minutes of a program on TV last night which was about this very topic. The man was attempting to eat something called stinky tofu. It was quite disgusting to watch him try to control his gag reflex (probably he was playing it up quite a bit), so I navigated away.
Okay, so I'm not really answering your question, but I wanted to say how much brown rice will change your diet for the better. Also, I find that you don't even need fish sauce or exotic seasonings when you have a nice small piece of white fish and some fresh vegetables. But, I'm sort of a diet nut, so don't get me started... :)
Fish eyes, apparently a treat for some Eskimo children.
Good for you, Chani (as I sit here munching on a cookie, GAH)!
"I like all that greasy, gooey, fatty, breaded, sweet food."
I like all of the bad stuff too.
Well, one less farang for Thailand. Call me closed-minded, but I do not care to eat grasshoppers, locusts, beetles, lizards, ants or raw pork.
Nor do I consume greasy fried gooey fatty American fast food.
Despite my immense former capacity for self-destruction, I have always been naturally drawn to foods which are healthy.
I can't think of the weirdest thing I've ever eaten, but do not care for octopus, fish eyes, caviar, or copious mayonnaise on anything.
um, pickles and hot sauce....
Not sure about weirdest food...weirdest word is quinoa I think. :)
I do agree that the simpler I eat the better my weight is. It needs to be a priority. Keeps slipping down though because it's so easy to lower the priority of eating the best, so easy to eat quickly instead.
Julie
Using My Words
Hmmm. I am boring. I can't think of one strange thing I have eaten. I like trying foods of different ethnicity but, as you point out, the Thai food we get here isn't all that authentic.
My husband almost got me to try a bite of his steak tartar (sp?) once but then I thought to myself, "Hey! That's just raw hamburger with a fancy name. No thanks."
There is no place within a reasonable driving distance which makes Sushi. I miss it! I'm more into the smoked salmon than the completely raw fish though.
I used to go to a place in Adelaide called the Sushi Train. These little plates went round in circles and you could choose what you wanted.
Other than that, no weird foods for me. :)
Cheers!
Snoskred
Just rattlesnake, frog's legs and snails. I mean escargot. Sounds much more pleasant when it's said that way. Rattlesnake and frogs legs both taste kind of like chicken.
Hm. The strangest thing I have tried were chicken feet at a Chinese wedding. Not on my travels.
Middle age has wreaked havoc on my once speedy metabolism. plus I have no self control.
anything strange I ate was because someone dared me...ususally- rattlesnake- BBQ- ( rubbery)...and then the worm out of a Tequila bottle ( never again...).,...and I love sushi...and ANYTHING with wasabi (sp) on it...I crave horseradish and wasabi...Because of Heart stuff I had to give up all the GOOD salty stuff like KFC...sigh...but there are alot of nights that I dream about that Original Reciepe..sigh..I love this post and you are so brave that you tried all of those things...
( I gave up all food with perservatiives- the salts were too much...and that also means ALL cooked goods- breads and frozens....it works..weight does leave....but I am still hungry ;-)
wow! I love foods and I love to eat and try different dishes.
The one that was shown on the photo above was Onigiri a japanese rice wrap in dried sea weed known as Nori and the red one inside the rice was Umeboshi. One of my favorite food here in Japan.
Anyway, the weirdest food I have ever tried was Nato. It is compiled of soy beans that are fermented. It looks like beans in caramel and has the same consistency. But it sure gives you the very opposite of what you expect it to be. I just don't know if its just me..But I really can't find myself to eat it the second time around after I tried eating it.
i ate termites. i think dog once, but i'll never be able to really verify.
good for you, this diet. i need to get my butt in gear too.
Protein and rice and veggie/fruit is an amazing diet. I could live off it if I could make a tastey satay sauce. mmmmmm. I do love satay. I think the weirdest thing I've ever eaten? Nothing. I'm not adventurous with my food at all. I did try poi in Hawaii though.
wow. nothing even remotely that odd. i did try an ant once - my dad was famous for eating them at camp to entertain the kids, so I gave it a try.
One of the best odd things I have ever had was tejate in Oaxaca. It is a drink made of a bunch of stuff including flowers of the mamey sapote tree...it looks like wet cement but is just the most delicate, lovely thing.
LOL, now you know why Thai's use so much PET in their food. You have to kill your taste buds to eat it. I havent tried the tad poles yet.
DAGO
I'd be interested to hear some traditional Thai recipes.
very cool! i think we should all try to get away from the american diet, at least a few days out of the week if nothing else.
I would be okay eating those things, as long as i didnt know what they were
i've had larb and actually quite liked it, but couldn't ever get my mind around the insects. my partner once tried the fried cockroaches from the open wok at a Thai rest stop outside Bangkok, going east, but my mental walls in that regard are fifty feet high and i couldn't do it. same went for the sauteed silkworm larvae that are a common delicacy in Korea - he ate them all the time, me...nope.
i have had caribou and muskox, when i lived in Canada's Arctic...but once again, it was my partner who was willing to eat the larvae from under the hide that the kids swear taste like milk. and both of us were a bit squeamed out by the eyeballs, though they're a delicacy.
I can't do weird foods. Organ meats, intestines, strange animals...nope. But sushi is a different story.
I used to eat dog biscuits. That is, meant for, not made of.
some people think crawdads and frog legs are wierd but I grew up eating them so I guess that would be it.
muskrat. with plum sauce.
and this was in virginia!
I like all that greasy, gooey, fatty, breaded, sweet food."
I like all of the bad stuff too.
Good for you, Chani! I haven't traveled enough to eat weird food, unfortunately, but my mom said she ate stuffed sea welk once, and I thought that sounded positively nasty. (Not a big fan of seafood or fish, unfortunately, as well.) Best wishes on your goal!
I try 'in Rome to do as the Romans do', which isn't that much of an ordeal, since I love Italian food. Fattening as it may be. Actually, your Thai food diet wouldn't be so much of an ordeal, as I love Thai -- and Vietnamese, and Malay, and Indonesian, and Indian and virtually anything from SE Asia
Ironically, when we were living in Grenoble last year, our favorite restaurant was an Indian one.
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