Writer's Block: Leftovers of leftovers

[tabular_rasa]

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I'm not sure which of these would be considered most unusual: sea urchin, eel, jellyfish, tongue, or tripe. I tried all of them for the first time on my first trip to Japan, when I was 16. (And with the rising popularity of sushi in the US, these do not sound nearly as scary as they did to people when I first told people about them at the time).



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With all of them, I followed the rule I've set in place for myself when trying new foreign foods: Taste first, ask later. This rule has served me very well. I enjoyed eel and tongue a lot before I was told what they were, and it only added to my enjoyment that I liked something that was stereotyped to be unusual or nasty. I thought sea urchin and tripe were pretty repulsive (I was at a cook-your-own Yakiniku place and thought the tripe was raw chicken until it wouldn't go opaque on the hibachi), and so I was only vindicated to find out they were something that sounded weird as well. I don't fret when I find out I've eaten something unusual-- and I certainly don't *get sick*-- because I've already tried it. I've already tasted, chewed, and swallowed it without a problem, and I might even have enjoyed it. I know how gross (or un-gross) it was to eat, and so why would I be affected by a formerly-held conception of how gross I imagined it to be?

The only thing I would be upset to find out someone had served to me is fugu, or pufferfish. While only restaurants with licensed chefs trained to properly remove the poison are legally allowed to serve it, accidents can happen. Amusingly enough, I live in the region of Japan famous for pufferfish-- and knowing how much everyone enjoys a good game of Let's Feed Weird Things To The Foreigner, the likelihood of a sample showing up at a business party or something is actually pretty high.

Edit (5:50 pm): Reading other people's responses to this post has made me realize how subjective weird is. I didn't even think to count squid or octopus, mussels, whole grilled fish served with the head and eyes, or the little dried fish so popular in Japanese snack packs. I've had all of those.

. . . and avocado, and onion. WTF is weird about avocados and onions? And meat, but they were a psychovegetarian. It takes all kinds . . .

Comments

[scorpiuspro.livejournal.com]

I had my first tongue sandwich last summer when I visited friends in New York. Them being all Jewish took me to the famous Katz's Deli (where they filmed the infamous orgasm scene from When Harry Met Sally). In there, they promised I would love a tongue sandwich. Being very hungry at that point and adventurous (possibly from some beer I drunk prior), I went for it. Cow tongue on whole wheat with mustard. And you know what? It was great! That classic Jewish delicacy was pretty incredible not to mention the crazy fact that I'm eating a cow's tongue.

[tabular-rasa.livejournal.com]

Tongue is good, man. I don't even know why it has the bad rap that it does.

[just-you-wait.livejournal.com]

Because it's like making out with a cow?

(I've had pig tongue)

And I absolutely love dried shredded squid.

[tabular-rasa.livejournal.com]

But is that any worse than sucking on pig entrails when you eat a sausage? People usually don't flip over hot dogs.

Squid is good. Sometimes it gets too chewy and I get fed up with it, but most of the time it's yummy.

[hauntedtonight.livejournal.com]

Lol, I loved all of the pictures you used, especially the cow and his tongue =P

I'm not big on fishy stuff but if I ever get to go to Japan I will definitely be trying all of those things (maybe with the exception of tripe). The jellyfish looks really good to me.

[tabular-rasa.livejournal.com]

The cow picture rocked my socks; I definitely had to use that one above all the others.

Jellyfish was so subtle! I was barely aware I'd even eaten it until someone told me I'd had kurage sarada. (Japanese word for jellyfish is "kurage," btw). And eel doesn't taste all that fishy to me, actually. It's very tender, and they usually serve it with a sweet sauce.

[scorpiuspro.livejournal.com]

I rotfl imagining the sound that cow is making in that pic.

[jenny_evergreen]

Interesting that, of your list, I find tongue the most subconsciously nauseating...but from what you say, I'd definitely never eat tripe!
(One of the up sides of being a vegetarian is having a good reason NOT to try some things. :P)

[eternitat.livejournal.com]

Weirdest is jellyfish.

Least safe is tripe.

Very glad to be a vegetarian here as well.

[eternitat.livejournal.com]

I love onions, but avocados I absolutely refuse to eat. While nowadays it is a trigger, the aversion has always been there for unrelated reasons.

[tabular-rasa.livejournal.com]

I just thought it was odd avocados (and onions) are considered an "unusual food" by this person. Disliking is another story entirely. I mean, I hate canned peaches (and canned peaches are a very strange thing for me to hate)-- but canned peaches as a food are not in any way unusual. People don't go, "Whoa, you ate canned peaches? Where on earth did you find a place that serves THOSE?" And as far as I'm aware, they don't typically do so for avocados or onions, either. Personal preference based on what you've tried is difference from a social expectation about something you haven't.

I love onions. I'm fine with avocados, too-- but I frankly don't understand how so many people hate onions so much. Yeah, they make your breath stink, but so does garlic. I love onions and garlic! Lol.

[eternitat.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love everything in the allilic family. However, I do know that some religions frown upon them due to their being so odoriferous.

Avocado being found unusual or objectionable I had not heard. I thought it was just a personal aversion. I do know that it is poisonous to some birds, but regarding humans I thought it was just me.

Canned peaches/fruit in general are fine with me.

[silverfyre.livejournal.com]

You know, while I usually don't get (a lot of) people's aversion to certain textures, I might put onions in that category. I occasionally don't mind onions, and sometimes I don't like them at all, it depends more on what mood I'm in than anything else it seems. I'm more likely to eat them if they are cooked in something, like a soup, though, as opposed to onion rings or something.

[orgasmicpsyduck.livejournal.com]

If you've had roe sushi, that automatically counts as the most unusual (and also nastiest) thing you've eaten. BLECH.