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29 September 2005

Food pansies. So, one of the ten things you now know about me is that I'm taking a cooking class, and in last night's class, there was in interesting divide amongst the students... →[More:]
Someone asked a question about tasting a sauce when (horrors!) the meat in it might not yet be 100% absolutely par-boiled in to total submission.

About half the class was all "ewwww" and one of the instructor-chefs pointed out that when she makes pate she to taste it before they cook it so she is essentially eating raw liver and the same half of the class was all "EWWWWWWW!" Well, what about steak tartarre? "EWWWW!" Sushi? "EWWWW!"

Now me, I'm more of the nietzschian school of thought re: food, and that a really good meal might just be worth dying for (or at least risking food poisoning for), furthermore, after recently reading some Anthony Bourdain, I'm pretty much ready to try raw antelope testicles.

So, where are you on the food pansy continium?

post by: Capn at: 10:56 | 31 comments

Honestly I do most of my sauce tasting by smell, at least until the very end. However, I love sushi, have eaten steak tartar without qualms, lived through not quite cooked campfire chicken more than once and you're taking my real caesar salad with the raw egg on top away only when you pry it from my cold dead fingers. If those fingers died of salmonella, well, so be it. And I take deviled eggs to picnics and leave sandwiches made with mayonnaise in brown paper bags under my desk for four hours before I eat them. Ha!

posted by mygothlaundry 29 September | 11:03

I'm getting bolder as I get older. I'd say no to raw liver just because I hate liver. But steak tartarre, hell yes. Sushi? You betcha.

The last two things I ate that took some working up of the courage were raw oysters at Coney Island and baked grasshoppers in Oaxaca. The oysters were more of a consistency thing, especially since they were quite large. The grasshoppers were actually sort of tasty (especially with chili powder and lime), but they are actually whole grasshoppers and unfortunately look like whole grasshoppers.

Anthony Bourdain is the Chuck Yeager of trying any food. I would try most foods once, but he seems absolutely fearless. Did you see him eat the birds nest soup with saliva? Ugh.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 29 September | 11:08

I will eat just about anything, in any state of rawness or doneness. There are things that I have an instinctive revulsion for but I can almost always over come that. Tripe is one of those things, certain other organ meats as well.

Other than that, fucking set em up and I'll knock em down.

Last night I had cockles, carpaccio and braised pork shoulder at a resturant where I have also eaten a fried pigs tail (it straightens out when fried and kind of looks like a car phone antenna)

posted by Divine_Wino 29 September | 11:11

I heard that the acidity of mayo actually prevents it from spoiling... I think from Alten Brown.

I'm pretty adventureous food-wise. I'd love to eat one of the meals from Iron Chef - original or American.

I've had insects (chocolate covered ants) and I love sushi. I'll try almost anything once as long as it isn't still crawling or it doesn't have the flavor and consistancy of vomit.

I'm pretty careful about salmonella and meat though. But I like a rarish steak and I love runny eggs on hashbrowns. OMFG.

However, at home I'm pretty boring. I know what I like and I like simple, fresh and hearty food.

posted by loquacious 29 September | 11:13

I've eaten huhu grubs (moth larvae) both fried and wiggling.

Sushi goes without saying, as does steak tartare. They are positively mainstream. Happily eat raw eggs. The only things I will. not. eat. are brains (just can't), tripe and liver (unless in pate). However, I have tasted the latter two, I just don't like them.

posted by gaspode 29 September | 11:21

I used to love liver & onions. Then, I made the mistake ofwatching a documentary about people that do unpleasant jobs. One of those unpleasant jobs was mortuary attendant. My second mistake was watching the programme whilst eating the aforementioned liver & onions. I still remember, years later, the nasty sensation of chewing whilst looking at the liver of a week-dead corpse being dropped into the weighing scales.

I feel ill just thinking about it.

posted by veedubya 29 September | 11:23

I got dysentery from a dodgy falafel at an East Jerusalem food cart.

I got regular old food poisoning from a dodgy falafel at a suburban Maryland mall. I thought it odd that there was a baby in a stroller behind the counter; now I'm sure they changed diapers where or while they prepared my food.

Raw, gross, slimy: I'll eat it. Living? Not too keen on it.

I'm lactose intolerant now, or I'd describe myself as willing to eat anything.

At times I've kept kosher, vegetarian, and vegan. I've been served raw chicken. Didn't taste as good as cooked chicken.

I'll eat dirt. I draw the line at shit.

posted by Hugh Janus 29 September | 11:42

"dodgy falafel" would be a good MeCha sock-puppet account name

posted by Capn 29 September | 11:51

I'm pretty strong-stomached. There are few things I won't try once. Raw meat does not scare me.

posted by me3dia 29 September | 12:15

I've had elk, moose, snake, alligator, conch, steak tartare, brains, sweetbreads, sushi, squid, oysters and octopus. The last four many, many, many times.

I hate liver (though I do like pâté), brussels sprouts, and cooked cauliflower, and I'm not wild about okra - that's about the extent of my food icks. I don't do worms or insects though, like gaspode's grubs. No grubs for this girl. This is a grub-free zone.

posted by taz 29 September | 12:40

fried, they taste just like yams....

(NZ yams, not those things that look like sweet potatoes)

posted by gaspode 29 September | 12:52

Out of sheer curiosity, I'm willing to try just about anything. Interestingly enough the only time I've ever gotten food poisoning was a week and half ago on fresh meat from a reputable grocer. I now know what trying to forcibly eject my toes from body tastes like and I do not look forward to repeating it.

posted by Frisbee Girl 29 September | 12:54

That's why we have antibiotics.

posted by caddis 29 September | 13:04

I know a microbiologist who was served raw chicken in Japan. Imagine that, a microbiologist staring at a serving of raw chicken. It tasted great.

posted by caddis 29 September | 13:07

That's where I ate raw chicken, too. A real pricey joint that specialized in, surprise, raw chicken.

It was a little tinny tasting. Served with a raw egg. Not all that substantial, and I didn't want a second helping.

I also had this stuff, yamaimo (mountain potato) that was served with grilled beef tongue (yum!). At a restaurant that specialized in, get this, grilled beef tongue and yamaimo. Yamaimo is grated and steamed, I think, and it gives you a rash if it touches your skin. So you have to be careful bringing it to your mouth.

Tasted alright, but made me itchy.

posted by Hugh Janus 29 September | 13:16

I've been trying to find a place that will sell me heart (actually I found one, but calf heart would be a special order—then some guy on egullet sent me a recipe for pig's heart, so I might just do that). Heart is the most tractable organ meat, I figure, in that it's just another muscle and doesn't need to be cleaned of shit or urine before being palatable.

posted by kenko 29 September | 13:23

I'm not particularly squeamish either, though I do enjoy making those who are squirm. For example my cousin, who won't eat sushi with me anymore after the shrimp head incident.

posted by cali 29 September | 13:34

Mmmm, tongue (lengua) burrito....

posted by me3dia 29 September | 13:45

Am I the only one here who has ever eaten whale meat? (In my defense, I didn't know what it was when I ordered it. My grasp of the Norwegian language didn't include "whale."

posted by leftcoastbob 29 September | 14:10

I eat a lengua taco from time to time, but it's so far outshone by the carnitas tacos at the same place that I don't go for it that often.

I'll eat just about anything, although not necessairly lustily.

Also:
I eat my peas with honey,
I've done it all my life.
It may taste kind of funny
But it keeps them on my knife.

posted by omiewise 29 September | 14:15

I'll try practically anything at least once and I usually don't shy away from tasting raw foods. I am extremely fussy about freshness though.

posted by LeeJay 29 September | 14:36

Am I the only one here who has ever eaten whale meat?

Would you like that with a side of spotted owl and a snail darter sauce.

posted by caddis 29 September | 14:37

I now hate dairy except for cheese. Since I can't smell things prior to eating them, I have to just rely on the fact that what I am eating is not spoiled. Been burned a few times on various dairy things and just don't want to take the chance any more.

posted by DeepFriedTwinkies 29 September | 14:43

What about a boiled owl smeared with mayonaise or braised ivy or an eel fighting a fox suspended is aspic?

You know, English food.

posted by Divine_Wino 29 September | 14:52

Raw rarely phases me. Though, I did once bite into a soft-shell crab sandwich that included a very undercooked crab that made my stomach turn. Of course, crabs are not meant to be consumed raw as they are rife with bacteria.

anyhow, I got a bit of a lecture from a microbiologist (or maybe he was a bacteriologist) on a train in Austria. He was making fun of people for being afraid to eat warm yogurt, old cheese, eggs, milk, and well, he went through a whole list of things (including raw stuff) that pretty much get tossed in the trash by most denizens of the modern world that really wouldn't harm you or your digestive system one bit if imbibed.

I'm paranoid about eating out-of-date food at home, but will gladly eat from road-side stalls and dodgy living room restaurants in most foreign countries.

I had emu pate in Australia. And Kangaroo. Of course, the roo was cooked. Ate a ton of things (in addition to sushi) in Japan that I have no idea what they were. Most were good and at least some were cooked. I don't do tongue, raw or cooked. Probably wouldn't do dog meat either, given the option.

posted by shoepal 29 September | 15:17

I did have horse sashimi in Japan; I was only told what it was afterwards and would probably not go for it again. And I had goat's head soup once (i.e. a large pan of broth with a goat's head bobbing about in it), in Kashmir.

posted by carter 29 September | 16:44

I'm a total food pansy.

posted by deborah 29 September | 16:44

I make kibbeh nyah all the time. (Raw lamb) I'll eat raw beef. (Assuming here that both are organically raised and I know the ranch from which they came. Factory farmed animals are not safe to eat raw. Hell, they're probably not safe to eat, period.)

Pretty much, I'm not that picky of an eater. I don't really eat sushi often, but that's because I don't much care for seafood. When I do eat seafood, I generally want sushi or salmon.

I don't really do internal organs, cooked or raw...except for pate foi gras. I lurve me some goose liver.

I prefer natural cheeses, fresh milk and veggies grown without pesticides...but ya know, I'll eat a Big Mac too...so I'm obviously not a purist. Hee.

posted by PsychoKitty 29 September | 16:47

an eel fighting a fox suspended is aspic

That was the working title of the Emerson, Lake and Palmer album that eventually became Tarkus.

posted by PinkStainlessTail 29 September | 17:17

I stole it from achewood, too good!

posted by Divine_Wino 29 September | 17:20

Oh, maybe that was where I heard it before.

Still, Tarkus. Bad luck to own a copy of that, yeah?

posted by PinkStainlessTail 29 September | 18:10

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