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This article comes from the newsgroup Alt.recipies. It was written in the early 90’s and I
have edited out the email addresses of the posters. So if you see “I” its not me. Good reading and eating.
I HAVE A THEORY that many (all?) cultures invent a food that is weird or disgusting to non-initiates as a sort of a "marker." The kids start out
hating it, but at some point they cross over and perpetuate it (perpetrate it) on the next generation. Then they nudge each other when foreigners
gasp.
Many cultures pride themselves on their alcoholic drinks, as in "white lightning," mai-tai, tequila, pulque, chong, vodka, schnapps, and so on.
You are accepted if you can match their prowess.
Sometimes one group disparages another for their eating habits, as in the word "Eskimo" (eater of raw meat) resented by the people whose name
for themselves is "Inuit."
I believe the food laws of Middle Eastern cultures have more to do with distinguishing your group from the neighboring
groups than with health concerns or sacred scriptures, which adapted to the cultural norms.
Foods don't make it onto this list just because they are generally unpopular. President Bush hated broccoli. So what? Foods
on this list have some status as a cultural marker. Sometimes it's a tough call.
For example, "donuts" (doughnuts, originally "oly cakes")
are distinctly American, and I've met many French people who despise them. Americans are actually unusual in eating so few parts of an animal, so
the fact that, say, the French eat brains isn't really a cultural marker. The marker is that Americans don't!
Don't bother to respond "But lots of people like X"... that's exactly the point. That's why "X" is ON the list, not off it. See also the
entry below for FRUITCAKE.
Don't bother to respond "But this food is also located in..." Yes, important food immigrates even faster than language. Chile peppers and potatoes
are are nearly ubiquitous, now. Here's the list so far. it's arranged roughly geographically, going east from longitude 0
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England
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warm beer, blood pudding, jellied eels, Spotted Dick, liver and lights, kidney pie, brawn
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| Scotland
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haggis, Irn Bru
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| Sweden
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sylta (head cheese)
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| Denmark
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yule brod (ale brod) skipsol
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| Norway
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lutefisk
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| Netherlands
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salted horsemeat sandwiches, raw salted herring, peanut butter sauce on french fries
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| France
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escargot, tripe, frog's legs, bleu cheese, roquefort, steak tartare, brains, truffles, camel's feet, boudin
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| Spain
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criadillas, morcillas European Jews schmaltz, gefilte fish, kishke
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| Germany
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limburger, bierkase, blutwurst
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| Italy
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Cynar and Campari liqueurs, carpaccio, cibreo, song birds, gorgonzola
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| Greece
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retsina
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| Sicily
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ricci di mare
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| Sardinia (?)
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maggot-cheese
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| Mediterranean
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Sheep's head. The whole thing, cooked and skinned. Includes the eyeballs. Cheese (what a concept!) octopus, cicada, octopus and squid in
ink
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| Russia
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borscht, kvass, caviar
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| Africa
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blood fresh from living livestock, grasshoppers, okra, fufu, gari
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| Central Asia
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kumiss (fermented mare's milk), yogurt, sheep fat
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| China
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bird's nest soup, sea cucumber, jellyfish, rat, snake, drunken shrimp, jelled blood, bear paws, cho do fu, tiger testicles, owl soup, thousand-year
eggs, sa kuo yu toe, fish flotation bladder, bao bing (shaved ice), pork uterus, camel (and cow) tendons, oyster sauce
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| Tibet
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yak milk (rancid), tea with yak butter
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| Southern India
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blazing curry
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| Burma
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a MAE oo, ngapi-jaw
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| Hong Kong?
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monkey brains
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| Southeast Asia
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durian, fermented fish-paste, dog meat, snakes, ngapi-jaw, bull penis, sour candies
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| Thailand
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kapi, grasshoppers
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| Indonesia
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blachan, dog-meat restaurants
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| Malaysia
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ice kachang (SHAVED ICE)
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| Philippines
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baalut, bagong (fish paste), diniguan
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| Australia
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Vegemite, Marmite, kangaroo, witchety grub, beetroot
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| Papua-New Guinea
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sago worms
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| Korea
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kim chee, silk worm grubs
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| Japan
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fugu, natto, sashimi, shiokara, tofu, miso, uni, mountain potato, seaweed, takosu, takoyaki, tempeh, crickets, unagi
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| Hawaii
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poi, SPAM Musubi
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| Alaska
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blubber, stinkheads
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| U.S. in general
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Spam, chewing gum, iceberg lettuce, bread, beer
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| U.S. Northwest
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geoduck clams
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| U.S. West
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prairie oysters, fried pork rinds, blood-rare steak, rattlesnake
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| U.S. Midwest
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White Castle Sliders, Jell-O Salad, fruitcake, American Cheese Food Product, such as Velveeta, in Fried Cheese Balls, Cincinnati Greek Chili
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| U.S. South
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grits, crawfish, hog maws and snouts, etc dropped fowl, chicken feet, chitterlings, iced tea, ramps, turkey deep-fried whole (fried EVERYTHING)
chicken-fried steak
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| U.S. East
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souse, pork loaf
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| U.S. Northeast
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scrapple, cod liver oil, pumpkin pie, raw oysters, lobster, fiddlehead ferns
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| Canada
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sugar pie, poutine, orielles de Christ
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| Mexico
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tequila worms, menudo, habanero & jalapeno peppers, mole, chichirrones (CHITTERLINGS), ceviche
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| Brazil
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gari
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| Agentina
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Morcillas
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| Iceland
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hakarl
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More Strange food is found on Part 2. Click
Here
This little page has been featured in a cooking article in the
Oakland Press. Wonders will never cease !
Another sighting of this page is on Kuro5hin with an article on Fiddleheads.
Less unusual food with the Macdonald's hamburger recipes
Here is a very good weird food website
with interesting facts on weird food. |