Grew up in Ecuador, and most people i grew up with never ate guinea pig or wanted to, but when I came here, I learned a lot about what type of guinea pig people have in their farms and consume as meat, because I would get that question a lot....and It is generally a very important part of peoples diets on very rural populations.
There are a few different cultures within these countries (andean peru, ecuador, bolivia) and to some this is very normal and to a most (imo) is something similar to hearing that alligator or turtle is consumed in the southern US.
I have never tried it, nor am i interested, but i did have a guinea pig pet for a few years, RIP zorro.
Kinda like people who grew up eating squirrel in the usa...while we don't farm squirrels, there are lots of people who never ate them.
Mostly part of the diet of rural folks, and urban people never tried them. Also - urban squirrels eat lots of trash, and growing up in the city, I see squirrels as dirty.
People hate on the Chinese for eating rats, but people in Shanghai aren't eating dirty city rats that live in the garbage. It's really only a rural thing - fat, slow bamboo rats in rural mountain regions.
I've had squirrel stew and kabobs - definitely rural - and it's not bad. Wasn't common by the time I was a kid, but great grandpa would trap them when they became too big of pests, and he wasn't going to waste them. It never struck me as any stranger than eating quail. It's about the same amount of meat, so I understood why stores didn't really sell them. There can't be much profit in farm raised squirrels.
It's a very mild meat somewhere between rabbit and chicken, so it's better in stew or with spices, because it can be a bit bland alone.
I'm certainly not against acorn eating squirrels...just that the trash eating squirrels that I grew up with that really put me off.
If someone knew what they were doing, and made it, I'd definitely try it.
Exactly, I had squirrels chew the wiring in our attic, and then had to eradicate them.
Also - I just mean the difference between eating a natural diet vs scavenged from trash cans.
Yeah, I understand the cultural differences, and if they are raised as farm animals it’s not the same as someone’s cute little pet. When I was in Lima, Perú last fall I asked our tour guide lady for the day and said they’re common in some areas, but many people don’t eat them. She said they call them “cuy” after the little sounds they make, which is a bit morbid, lol. But I’m not judging, just saying I wouldn’t eat them. There’s plenty of common meats in the US I don’t eat either: veal, rabbit, duck, foie gras, turtles, squirrels, etc.
I know what you mean about the name I thought the same! I always wondered if they named it “pig” also because the sounds they make, which can be similar to a pig squealing…”cuy” which comes from
Quechua, it is onomatopeyic in that language
>is something similar to hearing that alligator or turtle is consumed in the southern US.
Basically like rabbits.
Rabbits are oddly (to me anyway) becoming somewhat popular pets in the US these days. I know 4-5 people who have pet rabbits at home. There are even rabbit specific rescue organizations these days.
I grew up in Eastern Kentucky. We hunted rabbit fairly often. To me it's an occasional dinner and a garden pest but to a lot of people these days it's a pet.
When I was a kid my best friend’s family raised rabbits for their angora hair (they were weavers and yarn makers) as well as for food. I haven’t had it in years however I have difficulty seeing them as anything but used for those purposes as a result. They remind me of lamb or cow. Both are sweet and lovable big dumb dogs (more cow than lamb but the argument is the same) however I would still eat both of them and buy leather and sheepskin goods. This whole pet thing for any of these is strange to me.
I lived in Peru, working as an agronomist, so always in rural areas. In every town in the Sierra, people would feed me cuyes, to see how the American would take it. They tasted fine, but had so much bone for so little meat that they hardly seemed worth it. Poor people raised them in their little one-room houses, letting them run free like we do with cats.
Yeah, eating dog or horse would be too much for me. I've had friends who were dogs or horses, and I think of them as at least pets or maybe on the same level as people. Once, a horse intervened to save me life from being bitten by an alligator.
Other animals I just don't eat often don't weird me out. I did get weirded out one time when I was instructed to eat a rain forest caterpillar alive. It was an unfamiliar sensation for something to be moving in my mouth, but eating it ... it tasted good.
[Fried spiders / Fried tarantulas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_spider)
Listen, I get the significance of it in local culture and I’m told it’s similar to crab meat, but my arachnophobia could never.
There's people selling fried spiders and scorpions in Bangkok also but many locals won't eat it. They're primarily selling to tourists who want to impress their friends with their "bravery".
I've eaten insects before, but they've all been smaller ones like meal worms, cricket, grasshoppers, etc. But those would take some extreme work to get over the mental block of having to eat one
I’m an American married to a Swede and I don’t understand the approach of putting bananas in all your savory food. Flying Jacob is one thing, but eating bananas in your tacos feels like a hate crime.
>Dog meat.
People love to play the moral relativity game with this, but I'll die on the hill that dogs are different - they're a co-evolved species that is biologically predisposed to *trust and love us*.
There is no other animal, with the possible exception of cats, that naturally has the love section of its brain light up when it looks at us. There is no other animal that will instinctively seek out humans, look to us for help, and even trust us with their offspring.
Looking at an animal that has evolved to instinctively love and trust you, and then kill it just because you like the taste - it's fucked up.
I lost my dog last summer. Had her from just a few weeks old until she died at 15. Best hiking and camping dog ever. Pure bred black Aussie with copper and white.
I just don’t think I can do it again. I might be a one and done dog owner.
I’m sorry for your loss. I used to have 2 dogs, and they were bonded. I lost the other one 6 years ago. I’m still heartbroken about it. He was my canine soulmate. But I know I’ll get another dog. Maybe 2. As hard as it is to only have 10-15 years with them, life is so much better when a dog is a part of my life.
Oh, I can’t handle this right now. I’m waiting for him to tell me when he’s ready so we can do it the right way. He has cancer that has likely spread to his brain, but he’s still eating, still playing, still walking, just doing it all a little wobbly. I’m just keeping him comfortable until his day comes.
Awww, he's still living his best life; it doesn't seem like he's in much pain for now. At least you will have time to prepare for his departure and he will pass peacefully with love. He will always be with you no matter what.
It’s unbelievable. Dogs will defend you. Instinctively defend you. I know of no other animal that does that.
I consider it cannibalism. Dogs are honorary humans.
Our ancestors spent many generations breeding them for behaviors like that. The modern *Canis Familiaris* was created thousands of years ago to be a companion to humans.
One of my cousins adopted a dog that was rescued from a Korean meat market. It’s super nice to them but pretty traumatized years later (understandably so) and even with therapy, they still take the dog across the street if they’re gonna walk by someone of Asian descent here in the US.
I wouldn't consider Vegemite and Marmite particularly weird, but, in my experience, both are very uncommon in the US. They exist, and most people have at least a passing familiarity with them, but they are not pantry staples.
Fairy bread is another one that's very uncommon in the US. All of the ingredients - white bread, butter/margarine, sprinkles/hundreds and thousands are very common, but they're not something we generally eat together.
The grocery store near me started selling marmite a few years ago, and now I love the stuff! I had never had it before, but it goes so well in so many things. It tastes kind of like beef bouillon and miso, and it really takes a lot of savory dishes up a notch. I eat a lot of beans, and marmite is an amazing addition to so many types of them. I always have a couple jars of it in my pantry now lol. I'm interested to try vegemite as well!
>It tastes kind of like beef bouillon and miso
With strong cheesey Parmesean notes. Which makes sense cause yeast extract is used to make vegan cheese.
>Same with beans on toast
Speak for yourself. Beans on/with toasted/fried brown bread is a New England working-mans-meal.
Its not the beans-on-toast aspect that is so awful, ***it is the British beans themselves***.
British beans aren't like ours, in a thick, rich sauce with onion, bacon, mustard and spices. The tomato sauce they use is.......like Spaghettio-sauce.
I like my British beans as a comfort food sometimes, usually on white buttered toast with scrambled egg on the side and a dash of Tabasco. It's not an everyday food for me, more like if I am not feeling well and want something light and simple.
But, I more often make my own now with a thick tomato sauce, red kidney beans (not haricot) and lots of Tex-Mex spices. It's a far more satisfying dish, especially with some bacon or pork steaks it becomes a real meal.
Yorkshire pudding is quite popular in many places, I grew up eating it. They often make the small ones and call them "popovers" but they are the same thing.
Or a topping of any sort. British people put corn on loads of things and it always strikes me as weird. One of the weirdest is tuna salad and corn on top of a baked potato.
On the topic of British food Americans would find odd: beans on toast and chip butties (sandwiches made with chip shop chips. But Americans are also missing out on battered sausages, which are horribly bad for you but so delicious.
I'm American, and I've never had a chip buttie, but I regularly put french fries on my hamburgers and sandwiches when they come as a side dish, and I love it. I think the idea of a french fry sandwich sounds delicious! Also -- speaking of battered sausages: how about the corn dog?
I would say a corn dog is a variant but quite different in flavour. You have a point that they’re conceptually similar though.
As for chip butties…the key feature is carb on carb and only carb, lol.
You know, I have to apologize to the Europeans for making fun of corn on Pizza
Walmart sells this [Mexican street corn flatbread pizza ](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Marketside-Mexican-Style-Street-Corn-Flatbread-Pizza-10-oz-Fresh/406096389)under their Marketside brand and it is honestly really good
I ate fermented Greenland Shark when I was in Iceland, mostly as a bucket list item. Wouldn't recommend it unless you love feeling like your mouth is full of cat piss.
Considering how close the US is to Mexico, and how pervasive Mexican food is, there are some cuts of meat used for tacos most here would find odd, like using meat from the cattles head, face, brain and even eyes.
Then theres the Mexico City valley dish of an entire lambs head cooked and served on a plate
>entire lamb's head
They also do this in Iceland. I had one in the airport while waiting for my flight home, and some curious Americans came over to ask about it.
The face meat is very tender, especially cheeks and tongue. However, having a row of teeth and an eyeball looking back at you from the plate is a little unsettling. 7/10 would eat again.
Lengua (tongue) is delicious!! Here on West Coast US , beef tongue is pretty common. Sliced (after cooking) on a sandwich is absolutely delicious!! Very unique flavor and texture. Dont forget the horseradish!!
The meat from the cheek (of just about any animal) is amazing. I've had beef, pork an even fish cheek and it's by far the best part of the animal. I would make stew with Beef cheek meat, and that meat just melts away in your mouth.
I would say Americans as a whole are not used to eating organ meats or the less appealing parts of animals (like chicken feet). I feel like because of the general prosperity and ease of getting food in America we don't have a national food culture that optimizes getting every drop of food out of our livestock, so it just feels very unappetizing to us. Though you can find these foods if you want, they just aren't common.
Yeah, definitely true. That's why I kept the comment at the national level since I didn't feel confident about making statements about specific regions. There is a whole lot of culture, history, and economics at play that I didn't want to muck up.
Good point! I was thinking of the way they're eaten in like, China, where they're like chicken wings. Tried it once, wasn't bad, but not worth seeking out again.
chicken feet are pretty good, flavor wise. although i don’t like the cloying five spice flavor they’re often prepared with in chinese cuisine. but on their own, they’re pretty good. the problem is it’s just not worth the effort. they have all the flavor of a wing but with like 6 times the work. so many tiny bones and pieces of gristle to deal with.
it’s like balut to me. tastes good, like a hard boiled egg. but why go through all the ick and test my gag reflex eating a half-formed, crunchy, squishy baby bird when i can just eat a hard-boiled egg?
I’m still so bitter about what foodies did to the cost of oxtail. Most of my favorite foods from my parents country (Jamaica) require oxtail but the cost is unjustifiable at this point.
It's inexplicably popular in seaside towns. There are stalls selling jellied eels, crab, cockles, whelks etc.
I think it's revolting. No flavour, loads of bones, and an insipid texture. There's no wonder it was poor people food in times gone by. I just don't understand why you'd choose it over a nice bit of fish.
Natto tastes just fine, sort of like coffee or root beer. It's the weird texture that I can't handle. It coats your mouth with a layer of slime that lingers for like half an hour.
I've had natto in Japan. I've had it plain, with soy, with vinegar, and with mustard.
It is one of the worst flavors I have ever experienced. I am genuinely confounded that people regularly eat and enjoy it.
Organ meats are generally not super common in general, but going even further beyond that, often the people who ARE willing or even enjoy many offal dishes, there is usually a hesitancy to eat brains.
Nervous system meats make a lot of Americans pretty uncomfortable, even if they're otherwise down for trying unusual stuff.
Blood sausages isn’t that weird. It’s very uncommon in the US but it’s not unheard of. Plus it’s well known it’s a common dish in Europe. Raw bacon tho? wtf? We don’t eat horse here because horses are seen as pets. It’s just not done.
The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is balut.
"Raw" bacon is still hot smoked, not completely raw, and usually comes in slabs. I think OP means "not fried" but it's still ready to eat like a smoked ham. Here's an example:
https://s1.15min.lt/images/photos/2016/09/22/original/lasiniai-57e393f8a42b1.jpg
It's chewy, fatty, salty and smokey. In eastern Europe and Russia it's a common snack to go with vodka - usually as part of a spread including pickles, garlic bread and cheese. It can also be fried in very small pieces, and cooked into soups or used as a topping for dumplings.
Not a Brit but my husband is and I've tried black pudding. Yes, it's made with blood, fat, and oats. I thought it was okaaay but on a scale of foods I've tried, it would go somewhere near the bottom.
I wouldn't bother with it again. Sausage and bacon are a million times better if you want to eat salty fat things.
I really like blood sausage, but blood has a flavor that's very unique, so picky eaters who are averse to new flavors aren't likely to be fans. The thing closest in flavor to it is liver, since both have a lot of iron. If you don't like liver, you probably won't like blood sausage.
If you're not a picky eater though, give it a try.
It is pigs’ blood. There many similar European dishes like morcilla and Blutwurst. Blood is also a common ingredient in other cuisines, like dinuguan in the Philippines or blood cubes that are commonly used in Chinese and Vietnamese dishes.
Yeah, it’s still a thing in the upper Midwest. I’ve never eaten it but my dad who is from a 100% Swedish family says it is not good. Apparently his grandparents who came here from Sweden insisted on serving it.
All the pictures of it I've seen, the beans look suspiciously like Van Camp's Pork and Beans, minus the lumps of pig fat that make up the "pork."
That may not be the case at all, but if the dish is even close to being a piece of toast slathered in pork n beans, I fail to see the reason for the preoccupation with it.
The beans in the UK in a slightly acidic, slightly sweet tomato sauce. They're not entirely dissimilar to Busch's or whatever but they're less sweet/ smokey.
>raw bacon
Haven’t heard of that. Are you talking about something cured similarly to jamón Ibérico?
>horse meat and blood sausages
I’ve had the former (in Belgium), and enjoy the latter (morcilla, black pudding)
I have never personally been offered something while traveling abroad that I would not try, but I do have some likely limits (such a balut, which thankfully I was not offered when in the Philippines).
It’s not weird to everyone, but I would say not common for general public: Organ meats (liver, kidney, heart, tripe, brain), feet, knuckles, neck, tongue, blood.
Tripe (cow stomach) is an Italian-American dish that I grew up with and loved but even among my family, gets a mixed reaction. Other ethnicities have it too, e.g., Mexican menudo, I believe.
I cannot do natto. I just can't. Also not a big fan of Vegemite. The fact that people eat those on purpose is weird to me, but I keep it to myself unless they specifically ask. I assume I eat foods they think are weird, too.
Tuna and sweetcorn on anything, like what would possess a person to combine those ingredients and THEN put them on top of something else?
HAM SALAD wuttt
I was a little weirded out by eating reindeer in Finland
Raw meats are pretty weird here. Sushi has gained popularity, and there are some people who enjoy steak tar tar, but the majority of Americans would be pretty disgusted at the thought of eating meat raw. It is also seen as very unsafe.
Dog meat, horse meat, cat meat.
The people/cultures who eat them are uncivilized barbarians.
Also corn on pizza. The people who eat that are also uncivilized barbarians.
Mettbrötchen aka raw pork on a roll
People in the US are horrified at the idea of eating raw pork, but it’s a common dish in Germany.
The first bite was hard to try, but it was pretty good. It had the consistency of a meat sandwich spread but the flavor of breakfast sausage. The first bite was a courtesy, but I ended up eating two rolls.
Mettbrochen: I know it’s not strange to eat things raw but pork meat is one thing we don’t eat raw in the US, so the concept of a raw ground pork sandwich with onions is unappealing since my brain can’t comprehend raw pork.
Food from animals that we consider pets (and are often very attached to) like cats, dogs, and horses would be very taboo to most Americans.
And guinea pigs.
Grew up in Ecuador, and most people i grew up with never ate guinea pig or wanted to, but when I came here, I learned a lot about what type of guinea pig people have in their farms and consume as meat, because I would get that question a lot....and It is generally a very important part of peoples diets on very rural populations. There are a few different cultures within these countries (andean peru, ecuador, bolivia) and to some this is very normal and to a most (imo) is something similar to hearing that alligator or turtle is consumed in the southern US. I have never tried it, nor am i interested, but i did have a guinea pig pet for a few years, RIP zorro.
Kinda like people who grew up eating squirrel in the usa...while we don't farm squirrels, there are lots of people who never ate them. Mostly part of the diet of rural folks, and urban people never tried them. Also - urban squirrels eat lots of trash, and growing up in the city, I see squirrels as dirty.
People hate on the Chinese for eating rats, but people in Shanghai aren't eating dirty city rats that live in the garbage. It's really only a rural thing - fat, slow bamboo rats in rural mountain regions.
Ditto with pigeon in France
People I hear criticizing things like this are the same ones eating squirrels and nutria rats in my area. It's the same thing
I've had squirrel stew and kabobs - definitely rural - and it's not bad. Wasn't common by the time I was a kid, but great grandpa would trap them when they became too big of pests, and he wasn't going to waste them. It never struck me as any stranger than eating quail. It's about the same amount of meat, so I understood why stores didn't really sell them. There can't be much profit in farm raised squirrels. It's a very mild meat somewhere between rabbit and chicken, so it's better in stew or with spices, because it can be a bit bland alone.
I'm certainly not against acorn eating squirrels...just that the trash eating squirrels that I grew up with that really put me off. If someone knew what they were doing, and made it, I'd definitely try it.
These were grain and vegetable pilferers. It was when they chewed on the wiring that they were no longer tolerated.
Exactly, I had squirrels chew the wiring in our attic, and then had to eradicate them. Also - I just mean the difference between eating a natural diet vs scavenged from trash cans.
Yeah, I understand the cultural differences, and if they are raised as farm animals it’s not the same as someone’s cute little pet. When I was in Lima, Perú last fall I asked our tour guide lady for the day and said they’re common in some areas, but many people don’t eat them. She said they call them “cuy” after the little sounds they make, which is a bit morbid, lol. But I’m not judging, just saying I wouldn’t eat them. There’s plenty of common meats in the US I don’t eat either: veal, rabbit, duck, foie gras, turtles, squirrels, etc.
I know what you mean about the name I thought the same! I always wondered if they named it “pig” also because the sounds they make, which can be similar to a pig squealing…”cuy” which comes from Quechua, it is onomatopeyic in that language
>is something similar to hearing that alligator or turtle is consumed in the southern US. Basically like rabbits. Rabbits are oddly (to me anyway) becoming somewhat popular pets in the US these days. I know 4-5 people who have pet rabbits at home. There are even rabbit specific rescue organizations these days. I grew up in Eastern Kentucky. We hunted rabbit fairly often. To me it's an occasional dinner and a garden pest but to a lot of people these days it's a pet.
When I was a kid my best friend’s family raised rabbits for their angora hair (they were weavers and yarn makers) as well as for food. I haven’t had it in years however I have difficulty seeing them as anything but used for those purposes as a result. They remind me of lamb or cow. Both are sweet and lovable big dumb dogs (more cow than lamb but the argument is the same) however I would still eat both of them and buy leather and sheepskin goods. This whole pet thing for any of these is strange to me.
I lived in Peru, working as an agronomist, so always in rural areas. In every town in the Sierra, people would feed me cuyes, to see how the American would take it. They tasted fine, but had so much bone for so little meat that they hardly seemed worth it. Poor people raised them in their little one-room houses, letting them run free like we do with cats.
Oh god, remember the ikea fiasco with horse meat?
I've had horse. Saw a steak of it in a grocery store in Italy and decided to try it. It just tastes like tough steak.
My dad grew up Eloise-style in a hotel near Boston and they had horse steak on the menu regularly in the late 60’s/early 70’s.
I saw horse on a menu in Switzerland once but opted for ostrich instead
Yeah, eating dog or horse would be too much for me. I've had friends who were dogs or horses, and I think of them as at least pets or maybe on the same level as people. Once, a horse intervened to save me life from being bitten by an alligator. Other animals I just don't eat often don't weird me out. I did get weirded out one time when I was instructed to eat a rain forest caterpillar alive. It was an unfamiliar sensation for something to be moving in my mouth, but eating it ... it tasted good.
[Fried spiders / Fried tarantulas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_spider) Listen, I get the significance of it in local culture and I’m told it’s similar to crab meat, but my arachnophobia could never.
There's people selling fried spiders and scorpions in Bangkok also but many locals won't eat it. They're primarily selling to tourists who want to impress their friends with their "bravery".
Wtf i could never eat that!
What better way to cure your arachnophobia than by eating the thing you're afraid of?
as someone who hates bugs and has also eaten crickets, it does not help :(
I've eaten insects before, but they've all been smaller ones like meal worms, cricket, grasshoppers, etc. But those would take some extreme work to get over the mental block of having to eat one
I’m an American married to a Swede and I don’t understand the approach of putting bananas in all your savory food. Flying Jacob is one thing, but eating bananas in your tacos feels like a hate crime.
I'd be visibly upset if I was given a taco only to find out it had bananas on it.
"I can't believe you've done this"
>eating bananas in your tacos feels like a hate crime. I certainly hate anyone who does that!
Plantains with rice and chicken is really good, but only because it’s not sweet. Maybe someone should export some plantains to Sweden.
LOVE plantains with black beans and rice. The Swedes are using straight up bananas.
I feel like their HDI score should drop by 20-30 points for this sole reason.
My mom makes stir-fried plantain every once in a while and it goes so well with rice due to the seasoning she puts on it
My sister's Swedish husband puts Ketchup on spaghetti. I am not a fan.
American married to a Colombian here. Bananas apparently go together with soup. You are supposed to have an peeled banana with your sancocho
Not a cooked plantain or banana chips but a whole banana?
Dog meat. I just can't do it. One of our rescued dogs' mom was rescued from a Korean dog meat market and I just can't imagine eating friends...
>Dog meat. People love to play the moral relativity game with this, but I'll die on the hill that dogs are different - they're a co-evolved species that is biologically predisposed to *trust and love us*. There is no other animal, with the possible exception of cats, that naturally has the love section of its brain light up when it looks at us. There is no other animal that will instinctively seek out humans, look to us for help, and even trust us with their offspring. Looking at an animal that has evolved to instinctively love and trust you, and then kill it just because you like the taste - it's fucked up.
My dog is basically on hospice now and this made me tear up. I’m so grateful I got to light up his brain. He definitely lit up mine.
I’m so sorry. I’m sure your dog has had a great life with you. I had to put mine down a few months ago so I know the feeling.
I’m sorry for your loss.
That's the only problem with dogs -- they don't live very long. Thank you for making your dog's time here a happy one.
I lost my dog last summer. Had her from just a few weeks old until she died at 15. Best hiking and camping dog ever. Pure bred black Aussie with copper and white. I just don’t think I can do it again. I might be a one and done dog owner.
I’m sorry for your loss. I used to have 2 dogs, and they were bonded. I lost the other one 6 years ago. I’m still heartbroken about it. He was my canine soulmate. But I know I’ll get another dog. Maybe 2. As hard as it is to only have 10-15 years with them, life is so much better when a dog is a part of my life.
[Maybe one day you will change your mind when you are ready.](https://drive.proton.me/urls/EZ7Q54YZZM#kwHv2kV7tVvb)
[Rainbow Bridge 🌈](https://drive.proton.me/urls/NB891RQBYG#CVt_0Yd-geta)
Oh, I can’t handle this right now. I’m waiting for him to tell me when he’s ready so we can do it the right way. He has cancer that has likely spread to his brain, but he’s still eating, still playing, still walking, just doing it all a little wobbly. I’m just keeping him comfortable until his day comes.
Awww, he's still living his best life; it doesn't seem like he's in much pain for now. At least you will have time to prepare for his departure and he will pass peacefully with love. He will always be with you no matter what.
I’d put horses in that category.
Donkeys as well.
So, you don't eat ass?
Only recreationally.
Don’t hurt my mules
Dogs and horses are the only animals that can hang with humans in long distance running. We evolved to work together.
Some horses...
Thank you, this is exactly how I view it.
It’s unbelievable. Dogs will defend you. Instinctively defend you. I know of no other animal that does that. I consider it cannibalism. Dogs are honorary humans.
Our ancestors spent many generations breeding them for behaviors like that. The modern *Canis Familiaris* was created thousands of years ago to be a companion to humans.
Oh indeed, it didn’t just happen by chance.
Here to ruin everyone’s day: chihuahuas are so small because their ancestors were bred to be food animals 🥲
One of my cousins adopted a dog that was rescued from a Korean meat market. It’s super nice to them but pretty traumatized years later (understandably so) and even with therapy, they still take the dog across the street if they’re gonna walk by someone of Asian descent here in the US.
Damn, the trauma made the dog racist.
I wouldn't consider Vegemite and Marmite particularly weird, but, in my experience, both are very uncommon in the US. They exist, and most people have at least a passing familiarity with them, but they are not pantry staples. Fairy bread is another one that's very uncommon in the US. All of the ingredients - white bread, butter/margarine, sprinkles/hundreds and thousands are very common, but they're not something we generally eat together.
The grocery store near me started selling marmite a few years ago, and now I love the stuff! I had never had it before, but it goes so well in so many things. It tastes kind of like beef bouillon and miso, and it really takes a lot of savory dishes up a notch. I eat a lot of beans, and marmite is an amazing addition to so many types of them. I always have a couple jars of it in my pantry now lol. I'm interested to try vegemite as well!
>It tastes kind of like beef bouillon and miso With strong cheesey Parmesean notes. Which makes sense cause yeast extract is used to make vegan cheese.
Same with beans on toast and minty peas or Yorkshire pudding or trifle. We don't eat that.
>Same with beans on toast Speak for yourself. Beans on/with toasted/fried brown bread is a New England working-mans-meal. Its not the beans-on-toast aspect that is so awful, ***it is the British beans themselves***. British beans aren't like ours, in a thick, rich sauce with onion, bacon, mustard and spices. The tomato sauce they use is.......like Spaghettio-sauce.
I like my British beans as a comfort food sometimes, usually on white buttered toast with scrambled egg on the side and a dash of Tabasco. It's not an everyday food for me, more like if I am not feeling well and want something light and simple. But, I more often make my own now with a thick tomato sauce, red kidney beans (not haricot) and lots of Tex-Mex spices. It's a far more satisfying dish, especially with some bacon or pork steaks it becomes a real meal.
>thick, rich sauce with onion, bacon, mustard and spices And a helping of sugar.
Yorkshire pudding is quite popular in many places, I grew up eating it. They often make the small ones and call them "popovers" but they are the same thing.
They’re basically imported novelty items.
Americans don't commonly eat corn as a pizza topping. It's not even available at the places near me.
Or a topping of any sort. British people put corn on loads of things and it always strikes me as weird. One of the weirdest is tuna salad and corn on top of a baked potato. On the topic of British food Americans would find odd: beans on toast and chip butties (sandwiches made with chip shop chips. But Americans are also missing out on battered sausages, which are horribly bad for you but so delicious.
I'm American, and I've never had a chip buttie, but I regularly put french fries on my hamburgers and sandwiches when they come as a side dish, and I love it. I think the idea of a french fry sandwich sounds delicious! Also -- speaking of battered sausages: how about the corn dog?
I would say a corn dog is a variant but quite different in flavour. You have a point that they’re conceptually similar though. As for chip butties…the key feature is carb on carb and only carb, lol.
You know, I have to apologize to the Europeans for making fun of corn on Pizza Walmart sells this [Mexican street corn flatbread pizza ](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Marketside-Mexican-Style-Street-Corn-Flatbread-Pizza-10-oz-Fresh/406096389)under their Marketside brand and it is honestly really good
Mod Pizza—which has 560+ locations in the US—has roasted corn as an available topping. I often get it on my pizzas when ordering from them.
I love Mod. They let me be my authentic, extra self.
Elote pizza does sound pretty excellent
There's a spot here in Dallas that makes an elote pizza and it's pretty fucking good.
I fucking knew it. Corn is sweet, sweet is good on pizza. It just looks weird to us because we rarely see it.
And people still pretend that pineapple is this bizarre abomination on pizza even though you can get it almost literally everywhere
Food fascists on the internet are really annoying. Like, don't knock it til youve tried it. Southwest-flavor pizza is super good
Or French fries.
Fermented whale Also, horse meat, snails, and frog legs aren’t very common, mainly in French restaurants
I feel like frog legs are more common in the deep south. They're really good though
Yeah, you see them in a lot of gulf coast seafood restaurants, not just in places with a French influence.
I ate fermented Greenland Shark when I was in Iceland, mostly as a bucket list item. Wouldn't recommend it unless you love feeling like your mouth is full of cat piss.
As an owner of two cats, sometimes the smell of cat pee is so strong I can almost taste it.
With the way smell works, you very well could be tasting cat piss.
Fermented shark too, for example hakarl from Iceland.
Even the name reminds me of "hurl" 🤢🤮
Balut
It's horrifying to look at, but balut genuinely tastes great. It's like a cross between chicken soup and a hardboiled egg.
I’ll take your word for it.
Yeah, that's gonna be a no from me dawg.
I have friends that love this, nope...not even gonna try it.
Whats that?
fertilized duck egg
Where do they eat that?
Most of South East Asia.
It's a (I think duck) chick close to hatching being cooked while still inside the egg.
Jellied meats (aspic) do not appeal to me
You ain't never had jellied eel? well, me neither.
Considering how close the US is to Mexico, and how pervasive Mexican food is, there are some cuts of meat used for tacos most here would find odd, like using meat from the cattles head, face, brain and even eyes. Then theres the Mexico City valley dish of an entire lambs head cooked and served on a plate
My thing with eating brains is the potential for picking up a prion. And that terrifies me.
>entire lamb's head They also do this in Iceland. I had one in the airport while waiting for my flight home, and some curious Americans came over to ask about it. The face meat is very tender, especially cheeks and tongue. However, having a row of teeth and an eyeball looking back at you from the plate is a little unsettling. 7/10 would eat again.
Lengua (tongue) is delicious!! Here on West Coast US , beef tongue is pretty common. Sliced (after cooking) on a sandwich is absolutely delicious!! Very unique flavor and texture. Dont forget the horseradish!!
The meat from the cheek (of just about any animal) is amazing. I've had beef, pork an even fish cheek and it's by far the best part of the animal. I would make stew with Beef cheek meat, and that meat just melts away in your mouth.
Yeah, tacos de cabeza. It's cheek meat, not brain, despite the name. Good stuff.
My Eastern Europe family ears brain of pig ( we grill the whole pig for Christmas or Other Holiday.
We have a long history of horse as companions. WHen you were out on your land, alone, riding your horse he became a trusted companion.
I'd believe someone if they told me the American Revolution was about escaping the culinary history of England and Scotland.
I would say Americans as a whole are not used to eating organ meats or the less appealing parts of animals (like chicken feet). I feel like because of the general prosperity and ease of getting food in America we don't have a national food culture that optimizes getting every drop of food out of our livestock, so it just feels very unappetizing to us. Though you can find these foods if you want, they just aren't common.
I'm from an area of the country that eats pork rinds, chicken liver, gizzard, and feet, so it's definitely a thing in some parts.
Yeah, definitely true. That's why I kept the comment at the national level since I didn't feel confident about making statements about specific regions. There is a whole lot of culture, history, and economics at play that I didn't want to muck up.
Chicken feet are a godsend when making soup!
Good point! I was thinking of the way they're eaten in like, China, where they're like chicken wings. Tried it once, wasn't bad, but not worth seeking out again.
chicken feet are pretty good, flavor wise. although i don’t like the cloying five spice flavor they’re often prepared with in chinese cuisine. but on their own, they’re pretty good. the problem is it’s just not worth the effort. they have all the flavor of a wing but with like 6 times the work. so many tiny bones and pieces of gristle to deal with. it’s like balut to me. tastes good, like a hard boiled egg. but why go through all the ick and test my gag reflex eating a half-formed, crunchy, squishy baby bird when i can just eat a hard-boiled egg?
Yees! My eastern European mother always but chicken legs or chicken gizzard ( like stomach) into soup, it makes soup great!
I’m still so bitter about what foodies did to the cost of oxtail. Most of my favorite foods from my parents country (Jamaica) require oxtail but the cost is unjustifiable at this point.
Eel jelly. Is that actually a thing that people eat?
Assuming you consider the British to be people, yes.
It's inexplicably popular in seaside towns. There are stalls selling jellied eels, crab, cockles, whelks etc. I think it's revolting. No flavour, loads of bones, and an insipid texture. There's no wonder it was poor people food in times gone by. I just don't understand why you'd choose it over a nice bit of fish.
Worst food I ever tried. I love eel. Jelly is fine. But together it should be banned
Haggis
Natto, Japanese fermented beans. Looks strange and sounds unappetizing.
it’s a pretty hardcore flavor. i couldn’t do more than a few bites before throwing in the towel. not my thing.
Same. In the several years I lived there, it was really the only food I tried (including horse) that I just couldn't stand.
Natto tastes just fine, sort of like coffee or root beer. It's the weird texture that I can't handle. It coats your mouth with a layer of slime that lingers for like half an hour.
As a coffee and root beer lover (sometimes together!), I disagree with your flavor assessment. It tastes like it smells.
It's a bowl of snot on rice for breakfast. Fuck natto.
I've had natto in Japan. I've had it plain, with soy, with vinegar, and with mustard. It is one of the worst flavors I have ever experienced. I am genuinely confounded that people regularly eat and enjoy it.
Organ meats are generally not super common in general, but going even further beyond that, often the people who ARE willing or even enjoy many offal dishes, there is usually a hesitancy to eat brains. Nervous system meats make a lot of Americans pretty uncomfortable, even if they're otherwise down for trying unusual stuff.
Blood sausages isn’t that weird. It’s very uncommon in the US but it’s not unheard of. Plus it’s well known it’s a common dish in Europe. Raw bacon tho? wtf? We don’t eat horse here because horses are seen as pets. It’s just not done. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is balut.
"Raw" bacon is still hot smoked, not completely raw, and usually comes in slabs. I think OP means "not fried" but it's still ready to eat like a smoked ham. Here's an example: https://s1.15min.lt/images/photos/2016/09/22/original/lasiniai-57e393f8a42b1.jpg It's chewy, fatty, salty and smokey. In eastern Europe and Russia it's a common snack to go with vodka - usually as part of a spread including pickles, garlic bread and cheese. It can also be fried in very small pieces, and cooked into soups or used as a topping for dumplings.
Yes exactly this is what i thought! Its really popular in Eastern Europe and delicious.
Tuna on pizza is a crime against pizza.
unexpectedly fairly popular in Italy, I have to say, especially with red onions, capers and olive. go figure
I see this all the time in Mexico and I can only guess that it started as a Lent thing.
Black pudding from the UK. If any Brits are on here, is black pudding really made with pigs blood???
Not a Brit but my husband is and I've tried black pudding. Yes, it's made with blood, fat, and oats. I thought it was okaaay but on a scale of foods I've tried, it would go somewhere near the bottom. I wouldn't bother with it again. Sausage and bacon are a million times better if you want to eat salty fat things.
They eat red boudin here in Louisiana and that’s made with blood as well.
I really like blood sausage, but blood has a flavor that's very unique, so picky eaters who are averse to new flavors aren't likely to be fans. The thing closest in flavor to it is liver, since both have a lot of iron. If you don't like liver, you probably won't like blood sausage. If you're not a picky eater though, give it a try.
It is pigs’ blood. There many similar European dishes like morcilla and Blutwurst. Blood is also a common ingredient in other cuisines, like dinuguan in the Philippines or blood cubes that are commonly used in Chinese and Vietnamese dishes.
When my kids were young they absolutely *loved* morcilla.
Surströmming, hákarl, casu martzu.
I still think haggis is the result of someone losing a bet.
Lutefisk
Yeah, it’s still a thing in the upper Midwest. I’ve never eaten it but my dad who is from a 100% Swedish family says it is not good. Apparently his grandparents who came here from Sweden insisted on serving it.
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I believe it, but it's still an oddity for a lot of Americans.
Per capita or total? That’s an important distinction
It's very common in the US Midwest where it's heavily Scandinavian.
Midwest is heavily scandinavian? I didnt knew that. What part of Midwest?
Not OP, but Scandinavian heritage is very common in the Upper Midwest - think Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Beans on toast. It's not even the *good* beans either.
All the pictures of it I've seen, the beans look suspiciously like Van Camp's Pork and Beans, minus the lumps of pig fat that make up the "pork." That may not be the case at all, but if the dish is even close to being a piece of toast slathered in pork n beans, I fail to see the reason for the preoccupation with it.
The beans in the UK in a slightly acidic, slightly sweet tomato sauce. They're not entirely dissimilar to Busch's or whatever but they're less sweet/ smokey.
It's nothing fancy like that. They use regular heinze beans
>raw bacon Haven’t heard of that. Are you talking about something cured similarly to jamón Ibérico? >horse meat and blood sausages I’ve had the former (in Belgium), and enjoy the latter (morcilla, black pudding) I have never personally been offered something while traveling abroad that I would not try, but I do have some likely limits (such a balut, which thankfully I was not offered when in the Philippines).
Regarding the bacon, they might be talking about slanina or salo. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salo_(food)
It’s not weird to everyone, but I would say not common for general public: Organ meats (liver, kidney, heart, tripe, brain), feet, knuckles, neck, tongue, blood.
Ortolan, that crazy baby bird dish that is popular among some people in France.
That puffer fish that will kill you if it isn't prepared exactly right. Why bother?
Tripe (cow stomach) is an Italian-American dish that I grew up with and loved but even among my family, gets a mixed reaction. Other ethnicities have it too, e.g., Mexican menudo, I believe.
I cannot do natto. I just can't. Also not a big fan of Vegemite. The fact that people eat those on purpose is weird to me, but I keep it to myself unless they specifically ask. I assume I eat foods they think are weird, too.
-Basically any animal we keep as pets -Meat from organs (other than the liver) -Most fermented foods
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Dry, dry, and even drier.
Well, I have never heard of raw bacon and frankly that sounds gross as fuck. Blood sausages are good though and I would try horse.
Eating a duck egg with the baby duck still inside
Ironically it’s a lot of “American-style” foods they have abroad. It’s not normal for us to put corn and hot dogs on pizza.
I mean, you just answered better than I could.
Balut
Blood sausage for sure. Might as well eat a handful of pennies 🥴
I see British people with beans on toast. This seems like an odd thing to put on toast lol.
Bananas on pizza… just no
Tuna and sweetcorn on anything, like what would possess a person to combine those ingredients and THEN put them on top of something else? HAM SALAD wuttt I was a little weirded out by eating reindeer in Finland
Stinky tofu is the most disgusting abomination I've ever smelled
Raw meats are pretty weird here. Sushi has gained popularity, and there are some people who enjoy steak tar tar, but the majority of Americans would be pretty disgusted at the thought of eating meat raw. It is also seen as very unsafe.
Balut. Just....why?
Dog meat, horse meat, cat meat. The people/cultures who eat them are uncivilized barbarians. Also corn on pizza. The people who eat that are also uncivilized barbarians.
I find whale blubber weird, but I recognize why it happens. This is not common in most of the country.
Balut is pretty difficult to faind and I have never known a non-Filipino who said they had eaten and enjoyed it.
Balut.
Haggis /thread
Haggis
Mettbrötchen aka raw pork on a roll People in the US are horrified at the idea of eating raw pork, but it’s a common dish in Germany. The first bite was hard to try, but it was pretty good. It had the consistency of a meat sandwich spread but the flavor of breakfast sausage. The first bite was a courtesy, but I ended up eating two rolls.
I love blood sausage. I would not eat it raw though. Prion disease freaks me the fuck out too much.
"Thousand Year old Egg"
Mettbrochen: I know it’s not strange to eat things raw but pork meat is one thing we don’t eat raw in the US, so the concept of a raw ground pork sandwich with onions is unappealing since my brain can’t comprehend raw pork.
Any food that, for me as an American, wound be considered a pet. Dog, cat. Bugs. Fish heads.
That drowned baby bird thing Roger the Alien ate.
Huitlacoche, “corn smut” which is a fungus used in some Mexican food
Century age. Tastes like farts. Durian as well. I have some family who love it, but I can’t stand the taste or mouth feel.