nieceandtowsWhat is the most exotic meat you've eaten? How was your experience?
JeenaDog, it was chewie and not tasty at all, no wonder most people don’t eat it.
I wonder if it’s because it’s a carnivore. Are there any other carnivores people generally eat? Hmm…
Chicken
lots of kinds of fish. most other carnivores are not cost effective to be eaten regularly.
I heard something somilar about why cat doesn’t taste good.
Bears supposedly have very distinct tastes depending on whether they’ve been eating meat and fish or fruits and honey.
FireTowerThink you meant to reply to the other guy.
Bear. I’ve never had it but I’m told it’s super greasy
Where dogs are eaten they are usually omnivores. Lots of scraps mixed with rice, at least in Southeast Asia.
It can be really good, though undeniably gamey.
What’s your favorite breed?🙂
I have no idea, as far as I know there are specific meat dog breeds.
Horse. A friend of mine brought some from Iceland and was kind enough to share. Its somewhere between pork and beef to me.
The fermented shark he brought back on the other hand, was the worst thing I have ever tasted. The smell alone cleared the room, and as one chef instructor said, “it smells like dirty pussy”.
You have to chase hákarl with brennivin. Although brennivin itself makes me gag.
What is brennivin? To be honest I’d try it again if theres a better way to eat it
It’s a particularly gross Icelandic liquor. Some people enjoy it apparently. Wikipedia says that it has hints of the flavor of fresh rye bread. I strongly disagree.
I also ate horse in Japan and didn’t enjoy it
I had horse steak from the UK, it was superbly tender and a lovely mellow taste. I was quite surprised.
davefischerJellyfish. A bit… enh?
Ostrich is delicious. I’ve eaten it in a restaurant once and cooked it myself two or three times. It tastes like a red meat, but cooks like white meat, so you have to be careful because it can overlook in a snap.
The Bard in GreenI had a roommate who used to make ostrich chili all the time. It was pretty good. Still prefer beef though.
magnetosphere100% agree. I was at a festival, saw a stand selling “ostrich steak” sandwiches, which I’d never heard of before. I figured I’d try it. The meat, which was served on a hoagie roll, looked and tasted like London broil. Good stuff! I’m surprised it’s not more common!
Years ago, we got a huge case of Slim Jim’s that said they were made with ostrich, instead of the usual beef and pork. Tasted like Slim Jim’s. So there’s that.
BlueÆtherAll sorts:
- Cat & Dog in SE Asia
- Horse, Donkey, Zebra, Crocodile, Sheep’s brain in Europe
- Kangaroo, Emu, Ostrich, Possom, Rabbit, Cricket, Goat, Huhu grub, almost all offal? etc in New Zealand
Russia was probably just pork offal. It tends to be most of their mystery meat.
AndreiAgain corny
Something I have no idea what it was in Russia
Here in Russia we eat very simple food because… because of the climate. I don’t even remember anything unusual; the rest is imported from abroad, countries with a favorable climate.
As the other poster said it may have been pork offal, It was from a street vender in one of the large markets
Very low end: goat. There was an Indian restaurant near a museum we visited, and I saw it as an option and figured why not. Turns out it’s mostly like lamb. Quelle surprise.
Haven’t had it since. It’s hard enough finding anywhere that serves lamb, in the US. It’s just not on our radar. I think everywhere I’ve seen it is either some kind of ethnic cuisine (mostly Indian and Greek, since a few years in Bavaria had quite an impact on my palette) or some upscale restaurant treating it as exotic. Otherwise you have to buy a shoulder and slow-cook it yourself.
As an Indian myself, thinking of goat as exotic feels funny. I guess in a sense it’s true though.
Like I said, it’s not exactly bizarre. America’s just cow-pig-chicken country. We do turkey once a year. Duck only exists in east-Asian restaurants.
My dad’s fairly midwest parents had a beloved recipe for mock fried chicken. It includes veal.
ChetzemokaAs an American raised in West Virginia, thinking of goat as exotic feels funny as well lol. When I was a kid, my mom had a goat to eat the grass on the hill that was too steep to mow.
when I was a kid Heh Side note: I want to try goat mowing.
Now I’m mad that I didn’t even make that pun on purpose lol
deegeeseI love lamb but every time I try goat I’m disappointed that it’s tougher and bonier.
It’s definitely ‘exotic’ in the US but I don’t see the appeal.
sunbrrnslapperMoose and reindeer.
I forgot that I have had both of these in Northern Europe, mostly as they don’t seem that exotic when you grow up eating ‘wild meat’
ThalestrBison steak. I’m not a steak person so it was likely wasted on me.
Fresh fried Moose heart. It was drenched in butter and seasoning and was actually pretty good. Little chewy though.
Also, smoked turkey gizzard. Fucking disgusting.
I had antelope tacos once. Tasted like taco meat
For me it’s ostrich. I’ve eaten a lot of elk and bison, but they’re so easy to get in my area, I don’t seem exotic (my mom’s freezer is always full of bison hot dogs). I’ve eaten a lot of ostrich too. I had a roommate for several years who loved it and would cook with it all the time (mostly chilli, but he’d also make meatballs and other stuff with it).
My exwife and I once watched some people get served live shrimp at a fancy sushi restaurant. They were squirming around, trying to escape. They (the people) couldn’t figure out what they were supposed to do with them. They asked the chef to demonstrate how to eat them, but he either misunderstood or was just like “lol, white people” and took them back, chopped their heads off, shucked their shells and returned them to the people.
growing up in back country Montana I had a lot of things. hunting/trapping/fishing is still a way of life for folks, less so now but growing up I had bison, squirrel, gopher, wild turkey, grouse, beaver, bear, deer, elk, moose, antelope once when we visited the other side of the state, basically all species of fish, even snake a few times.
I think the most exotic of all of it was probably the beaver tail. it’s really fatty/oily. it wasnt bad but I wouldnt eat very often even if it was readily available. venison or bison is more my style, or smoked brook trout.
The_Jewish_Cuban [he/him]Squirrel is tasty and the bastards should be eaten more often
Rattlesnake
Sea Urchin
Reindeer Hamburger
Abalone
NegativeLookBehindCamel, crocodile, kangaroo, horse, whale, puffin…
Your ellipses make me think you have tasted an entire zoo. What part of whale did you eat?
Not sure what part it was, but it was very blubbery, and I don’t recommend it. I had it in Iceland. Horse and puffin are delicious though!
Rattlesnake. Not bad, but totally unremarkable - tasted like chicken. Still, I’d recommend it, because the best thing about it is getting to say you’ve eaten rattlesnake.
ChozoNot bad, but totally unremarkable
Pretty much sums up my experience with rattlesnake, as well. The novelty of it was the most interesting part, really.
Though that really applies to just about every "exotic" meat I've had. They all taste like a slightly worse version of other, more conventional meats, and it's immediately made clear why it's not more popular in the first place.
I think I had grilled blow snake once. I was camping with a bunch of other kids and somebody caught the thing. You’re right it tasted like chicken.
rhythmisaprancerI don't know if you are looking for meat analogues, but I got to eat hand made seitan once. Really great texture. It isn't something I see anywhere in places I tend to be so it was exotic to me. It was pretty labor intensitto make, I thought. It took a lot of water!
∟⊔⊤∦∣≶I used to make this myself. It was a mission to make.
Indeed. I used to have friends who would make tempeh but I don't remember ever having theirs and it is more available anyway.
That’s very interesting. I had no idea this existed.
I don’t use facebook anymore but iirc there is a group called the seitan society which tries the most ridiculous recipees with seitan. just the images alone were stunning.
Just don’t say it’s new to the religionists No Gluten, Glutng Poison, etc. My grandfather passed through Berlin during World War II, thanks to a crust of bread.
If you can find this, it’s really good. I have never met someone who did not like it. Rinse it off, marinate it, throw it in curry, whatever. My ex used it, or real duck in fresh spring rolls. Available at many Asian markets.
It’s rooted in a Chinese Taoist vegetarian festival called ‘the Nine Emperor Gods’. It has become quite big in Thailand.
CurlyWurlies4AllSeitan is soooo good. I had it in a curry in London and loved it. Haven’t had anything as good since.
I think l so, the two people making it referred to "vital wheat gluten" and it was the primary ingredient by far. There were other ingredients, too. I think they used some nooch and tamari. Unsure on seasoning.
RedhotkurtAlligator. Chewier than chicken. Tasted kinda like chicken. Would try again, I guess.
Also had ostrich burgers a couple of times. I'm told I was shitfaced and enjoyed them immensely, but I couldn't tell you for sure, for I was shitfaced.