Friday, November 25, 2011

Weird Eats

We ran away from Thanksgiving this year and spent it in sunny, beautiful Orlando instead.

Ate gator.

They told me it would taste like chicken.

Um, no.  Maybe a dark meat, grisly piece at best.

Still, I ate it and if you knew how unadventurous I was about meat you'd be impressed.

Tell me, what is the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

22 comments:

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Eeks, gator! Not going there. I'm not too adventurous, either. Once I tried octopus. Not a fan.

Tess said...

Tricia: my 12 year old tried octopus on this very trip last week - he said he could "feel the tiny suction cups with his tongue"

ick.

how have you been my sunny Calif. writer pal?

Megan Bostic said...

I've eaten kangaroo and skate. The kangaroo I'd ordered for an Australian dinner we hosted. Apparently it was gamey (I had no idea since I'd never really eaten game meat.

The skate was, fishy. Kind of slimy.

Tess said...

Megan: you get the prize, girl! Kangaroo? Skate? I had to look up skate because I didn't even know what it was. And the kangaroo made me a little sad since we just got back from Disney World and I was loving the Winnie the Pooh ride with sweet little Roo in it :o.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Hi again, Tess. I felt those little suction cups, too. Totally ick.
I'm happy to report it is sunny here yesterday and today--absolutely gorgeous. And at night I'm in heaven because I'm reading With a Name Like Love and am comletely in love with it. Will be posting on Goodreads and my blog soon. Tess, you've really written a keeper.

Tess said...

Tricia: I've so enjoyed your writing on your blog so this complement means so much ... I'm thrilled you are enjoying it.

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

Intestines. By accident.

Tess said...

Amy: you can NOT leave it at that...how does a person eat intesines by accident?

Martin Willoughby said...

Suaerkraut. Now I know why the Germans have no sense of humour.

Mary Aalgaard said...

Way to Play off the Page and be adventurous with food! We had pheasant with our turkey this year. I enjoy a good buffalo burger when I'm out west. Other than that, I typically play it safe. If I want a food that "tastes like chicken," I'll order the chicken.

I finally started reading "With a Name Like Love" last night. I'll be writing about it when I finish it. Great start!

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

LOL!

Okay, I was in Hong Kong as a kid, getting off the public bus from school and I bought some food from a hawker that I thought was dumplings, but as I was trying to eat it I found it much chewier than dumplings ... and it turned out to be intestines. I don't know from what animal.

Yes, be careful for Asian street food. I also ate tongue without realizing it, either. My mom told me afterward. Blaaghh.

Anna Staniszewski said...

My father ate gator once and told me it tasted like shoe leather. :-)

DL Hammons said...

I've had to swallow my PRIDE more than a few times. Talk about tough going down! :)

Tess said...

Martin: suaerkraut? I'm not a fan but my hubby gets in on his hot dogs at the ball game from time to time.

Mary: Ha! I'm totally stealing that line :D. and, hope you like the novel...

Anna: exactly!

DL: ah, clever you.

dellgirl said...

You are so brave! Gator? Never! Glad you shared the experience, now I will definitely NEVER try it.

I’m just dropping in to say thanks for all your support. Hope your day is a good one. I’m wandering around visiting, saying hi and hello.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

I've had gator before. I thought it tasted like chicken but had the texture of fish... Not my favorite, but like you, I tried it.

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss tess! mostly i didnt eat anything way strange. i could like to try gator. i ate octopus and squid and lamb kidneys and cows tongue and chocolate ants one time. my brother sebi ate boa constrictor stew and raw snake gall bladder and a bunch of other wierd stuff when he was in china and other places in asia. ack!!!
...smiles from lenny

Mary Aalgaard said...

I just this minute finished reading "With a Name like Love," and my eyes are wet with tears from the tenderness in this story and the lovely characters you created. I will be writing a review of it and posting it on my blog next Friday, 12/9. Maybe we could do a short email interview and I could use a bit of our exchange on my blog.
Congratulations on a book that is such a joy to read!

Tess said...

dellgirl: hello back! hope you are well

Sharon: my gator cohort :)

Lenny: hello Lenny! those are some crazy eats.

Mary: really?!? How very wonderful to hear you enjoyed it - I'd love to do an interview on your blog! I'm at tess(at)tesshilmo(dot)com.

Joseph S. Ramirez said...

'Solomon' soup, from a delightfully crazy Jamaican woman I was friends with. 'Solomon' was her pronunciation of 'Salmon'. She left the vertebrae of the fish in. It had been boiled long enough to leave it soft - it crushed like wet sand between my tongue and the roof of my mouth. I smiled and ate it. :) The soup wasn't bad.

Joseph S. Ramirez said...

Oh, and the same woman fed me pig's feet once. I had a friend with me and he made the mistake of looking at it.
"It still has the hairs on it," he said, in a moment when she was out of earshot.
"Don't look at it, just eat it," I said.

Tess said...

oh, Joseph - nothing tops pig feet with hair on them. I'm queasy just thinking about it. What a good pal you are to dive in and eat it... you clearly have an adventerous spirit!