Exceptionally Weird Foods
Welcome back food lovers!! Andrew Zimmern’s Field Guide to Exceptionally Weird Foods is a very easy and fun read. He shares a love for trying weird foods. Below are some of the most unusual foods on his list. It’s definitely not for the
faint of heart. Would you try?
- Cow’s blood. It can keep you strong and warm on a cool day. If you
can overcome the psychological hurdle, try drinking snake, duck, lamb and pig’s
blood too. Very rich in protein! - Animal brains. Would you dare to try a penguin, monkey or squirrel's brain? Zimmern tried calves’ brain and small roasted baby bird’s brains from hummingbirds. Again, lots of proteins and vitamins!
- Coachroaches. Theses creepy crawlers are delicious when it's deep fried according to Zimmern. You can find these in Asian countries on skewers.
- Durian. It's crowned to be the “king of fruits” in Asia. It is spiky
outside with a foul-smell. Some say it smells like fart, rotten garbage or dirty
socks. Yet, it tastes delicious. - Dancing shrimp. Can you imagaine a Thai shrimp salad made with live shrimp? Apparen'tly,
the acidity in lime juice makes the shrimp “dance” on the plate and into your
mouth. You just have to be an aggressive chewer to stop the shrimp from wiggling
around your mouth. - Garlic ice cream. It is a savoury
instead of sweet dessert found in United States. Even though Zimmern tasted octopus ice cream before in Japan, he tells us to stay away from this one. He admits he’s not a garlic fan.
Read his book to see what other weird foods he'd eaten.
What were the weirdest foods you have ever tried?
43 thoughts on “Exceptionally Weird Foods”
Of the above, I’ve already tried cow’s blood, animal brains and durian. When cow’s blood or pig’s blood is cooked, it becomes semi-solid, like jello. I use it in curry by chopping up the blood into inch by inch squares. I think it has a lot of protein and it’s pretty good actually.
Brains aren’t so bad either. I’m hoping that doesn’t make me a zombie. I’ve tried crab brains, chicken brains, bird brains and pig brains. It’s not so bad once you’ve tried them.
As for durian, I almost can’t smell them. Well, I said almost. They are fantastic dessert fruits.
As for other weird foods, I suppose Kimchee (it’s so good), century eggs, balut, bird’s nest soup and tuna eyes/fish eyes (they are also pretty good).
I might try durian and the dancing shrimp. Nothing more.
I wouldn’t mind trying cow’s blood-my friend who loves to travel with her paren’ts have tried it before, and they say it actually tastes good. It’s healthy and it’s edible, why not?
Brains aren’t that bad, I’ve tried fish brains before, and I doubt the others are THAT different.
I don’t mind most things that are healthy, but I would only eat them if they’re cooked.
oh my gosh – what was the balut (fertilized duck egg) like? I just learned about it.
You sound like an adventurous eater. Have you always been that way? What tips would you give to others to encourage them to try new food?
Very daring choices indeed!!
Thanks, Cathy. Fortunately, I’ve probably always been the adventurous type and I’ve always charged in, head on, with new foods. Not to say that I’m still scared of eating raw mushrooms, because that’s probably pretty scary. I’m still scared of trying new things, but once you move on to the next thing, at least you can say, “Hey, I’ve done worse.” The first time I actually felt scared was when I was told to eat whole baby cuttlefish. Eventually, I came around to eating them. I can’thank my mother for putting those fish into all the dishes she made.
As for encouraging the trying of new foods, I’ll just have to say plug your nose and just down the dish. Don’t look back (especially don’t look at what you’re eating if you get scared of the appearance) and just do it. If you like it, somewhat, after eating it several times, you’ll get around to liking it. If you hate it, well, at least you tried it!
I want to this fancy restaurant in Banff, Alberta once when I was younger and they served samples of exotic meats. I had buffalo, rattlesnake, frog’s legs, shark fin and cow tongue. They were all very good in my opinion, especially the buffalo!
Just imagine a buffalo sandwich, that would be soooo good!
Also, in West Newfoundland they’re big on moose meat. When I visited, I had a moose burger, moose sub and moose lasagna. Those were all really good too!
I can’t help my LOL at your reaction. It’s not as bad as you think. Once you get comfortable eating unborn baby chicks in their egg shells (I still haven’t, trust me) the balut tastes decent. Inside is the yolk and the chick.
I’m more comfortable with eating the yolk – it tastes just like the yolk of regular boiled eggs. I’m still uncomfortable with eating the chick, but I do it in one go. It tastes like papery cartilage with raw meat. I’m not trying to scare you off of course. Maybe you’ll come around to them.
They are easy to find in Asian supermarkets and they don’t cost that much. Once boiled (30 minutes or more), you can’try it with some seasoning made of lemon juice, pepper and salt. I can honestly tell you to give it a try! Do make a post when you do, I’m looking forwards to it 😉
I applaud your bravery! Shark fin is somewhat tasty. I can’t say I liked trying the frog legs though – too many veins and webbing. Sooo much moose!
Yeah frog legs aren’t the greatest. I’ve had them deep-fried at chinese restaurants since then, and liked them a lot more (everything’s better deep-fried, right?), but for some it’s definitely an acquired taste
wow. thanks for the how-to-try-weird foods tips. I can’t say that I’ll be going out and buying some balut soon, but now I know what to do with it! Your description really had my throat in knots – love it.
If anyone gets to try squirrel – it’s very delicious! All dark meat, you need about 1 large squirrel per person.
I once tried tripe which isn’t weird to me now but was a the time. Also I thought that calamari was pretty scary when I was younger but I love it now!I’ve also had quail!
Has anyone else seen Andrew Zimmern’s TV show where he eats nothing but weird exotic foods? The things he eats on that show can be frightening! He is probably one of teh bravest culinary people I’ve ever seen.
Surprisingly, I wasn’t grossed out by most of these interesting meals. Food is food. As long as it’s cooked, doesn’t move, and isn’t a bug I’ll eat it. I haven’t really eaten much weird stuff in my life, but I do remember eating grass as a child because I wanted to transform into a horse.
WOW, I wonder how much such foods rank in nutritional value?
You ate grass? That’s unusual. At least you increased your veggie intake…Andrew Zimmern also ate cheese with maggots still alive. Would you try that?
Do you eat food for taste or nutritional value? How important is nutritional value if it tastes good?
I saw his show and totally agree. He is really wild. Nothing is off limits for him. You’ve tried quail? How about qual eggs? I did and it was very tasty.
Where did you have the chance to try squirrel, Ray? How was it cooked?
Some people say frog legs taste like chicken, is this true?
Great tips!! I guess you’re a natural with food. Would you try cheese with live maggots?
Really that seems like something very interesting to try
Grass is nothing, I once ate green paint because I thought it would taste minty (It didn’t) and it left me with a green tongue and a really bad taste.
It wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I first tried it (it tasted more fish-y to me), but I did think that when it was fried it tasted quite like chicken. It really depends on how it’s prepared I think
Durian….(shudder), bad experiences, bad smell, bad memories. I can’t believe my dad eats that stuff.
I think yes…I would like to try that. I don’t think that maggots are a danger risk food, and I just love cheese. The only thing I would do before eating it is probably plug my nose, close my eyes and ignore the wrigglies in my mouth. Daring, you think?
The squirrel was from the countryside. I’ve had it in a roast and in a cassserole.
I tried garlic flavoured Ice-cream.
it tasted like a whole different dish
certainly, not like ice-cream
The Dancing Shrimp would be something interesting to try. I haven’t tried Durian but from what I have heard, once you get past the odour, you will definitely enjoy this fruit. Those are a few I would definitely try… for now. I have tried Balut though, it tastes just like your average egg. I have also tried Barbecued Chicken Intestines, looks and is just like barbecue.
Out of the list of the unusual food, I have tried durian before as well as animal blood (but definitely not raw) and fish brains (I’m not a zombie…). But the weirdest thing I eat was probably frogs and eels….horribly nasty to watch the cooking process…especially since they were all alive when bought home.
Lol. my dad loves them too. The whole house stinks up when he cuts one open. I’ll pass on durian myself.
Does it still have a creamy ice cream texture at least? Andrew Zimmern said there’s octopus ice-cream in Japan. Do you like the sound of that?
The most unusual food I’ve ever tried was octopus testicles at Guu restaurant in downtown Toronto: http://guu-izakaya.com/toronto/
Apparen’tly they are quite the delicacy in Japan. The taste wasn’t all that bad, but I found I was more disgusted by the concept of what I was eating than anything!
live frogs?? eek. you must be traumatized to see it alive prior to eating. A friend of mine became a vegetarian after seeing the cooking process of a lobster.
Animal organs are also weird foods! I’ve tried chicken hearts and pig intestines…both too rubbery for me. Let us know how you like dancing shrimps.
Thanks for sharing, James. Didn’t know that existed right here in Toronto. So unusual- love it!
I once had chicken feet and tripe served with black pepper and ginger at a dim sum restaurant. Both really good!
The whole time I was reading your post, my face was frozen in horror. I guess it can’t be all that bad if you think about it…I probably wouldn’t be able to identify it if it was severed to me at a restaurant (I’ll be sure to read the menu carefully so this doesn’t happen).
Really? My mom’s friend is a butcher and his son is now vegetarian. So much for continue the family tradition.
Did you have to call poison control? I almost freaked out when I accidentally licked glue. I just spat everything in sight and go through two bottles of water from rinsing my mouth.
All of those things sound dreadful.