Years ago, when I was in Kyoto, Japan, on a newspaper assignment, I stayed in a traditional inn (called a ryokan) where virtually no one spoke English and my Japanese was barely functional.

The elderly woman who served as concierge somehow made it clear in stern tones that breakfast would be served at 6 a.m. Having "slept" all night on a thin futon unrolled on the floor (cold cement topped with a straw tatami mat), it was no problem waking in time; the question was whether I could even stand up. But I made it.

Breakfast was six courses served in a lacquered bento box, divided into separate sections for each course. Most of what was in them was unrecognizable, but for the most part delicious.

In one section was a little pile of glossy mahogany colored "sticks" that looked more than anything like insects. I picked up one with my chopsticks, stuck it in my mouth and crunched away. Very sweet, very sticky and pretty tasty.

It wasn`t until months after I returned that I discovered I`d eaten, among other things, candied locusts for breakfast. (I saw a can of them in a local Asian grocery.)

That`s not the strangest thing I`ve eaten, but it`s one of them.

How about y`all?

 

 

Cow tongue on a farm near Scranton, Pennsylvania.

It was in college when I was recovering from knee surgery so not on the active basketball team, but still wanted to travel to attend our NCAA Division 3 tournament game. A teammate`s uncle had a farm near Scranton College which was hosting this early round game, so I stayed at their farm house with their family & ate whatever they served me for dinner. No food budget at that point in my life.

It was VERY smooth - eerily smooth.


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Joel Welsh
chief community officer
StartupNation

A buffalo buger when I was out west. It was like really greasy hamburg with lots of squishy things in it. Tasted alright though. I also ate cgocolate covered ants and grasshoppers once. It just tasted like choclate to me. Other than those things my mom made some interesting things while I was growing up.

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My grandma (also a farm-raised cook) used to boil beef tongue, chill it, slice it thin and serve it as "lunchmeat." We didn`t call them cold cuts.

Delicious, once you get past the idea that your sandwich might be tasting you back. The trick is to skin it so no Elsie or Elmer tastebuds are left.

Like you say, Joel, the meat is very "smooth," very fine grained with almost no fat. So does it qualify as health food?

Don`t know why that buffalo burger would be greasy or squishy. One of the attractions is its super low fat content. One of the biggest markets for buffalo meat is hospitals -- they feed to it recovering heart patients who want meat but can`t handle fat.

Usually they`re overcooked and bone dry, tasteless.

It`s good meat and, when it`s cooked right, is really close to beef.

Now, emu on the other hand...

Alligator tail down in Cajun country in Louisiana. Plus squirrel stew with a little rabbit thrown in. Have some friends in Melville, on the Atchafalaya River - top edge of Cajun country. These folks eat what they kill. And they`ll eat just about anything ... even some kind of swamp rat - can`t remember its name. I never ate the rat ... yet ... or at least I didn`t know I did, if I did

Spent New Years weekend with these crazy people and helped with their annual Cochon de Lait (read about it on my blog).

Gator tail is very good. It was deep-fried in small chunks. Would definitely order it again.

Wait ... I forgot about the monkey brains .....

Just kidding.

Later - R@

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Richard Arnold · Key Concept Writers · Business Communication: The "Key" To Success· Law of Attraction Blog · Life Ain`t Brain Surgery Blog

When you said swamp rat, I first thought about K-Fed (check out the "Get a Bum a Job" post) then figured you were talking about a nutria, a rodent about the size of a beaver that makes for a lot of chowing down in the bayou. Their fur makes beautiful, expensive coats -- really.

Don`t know if you heard one while you were there, but at night they shriek this ungodly shriek that sounds just like a woman caught in hell. First few times it happens is a real gut-twister. 

And I`m with you, gator is great.

Saw it being sold for more than $20 a pound, frozen, on a gourmet Web site a few days ago. They`ve gotta be hooting at that down in Loo-siana.

Correction:

That earlier reference should have been, "Put a Bum to Work"

As a teen I went backpacking the Amazon, in one of those tiny  towns they had a `theater` they were showing a movie from 1950`s at best, but it was a movie. So, we decided to go in to take a break from the jungle. One of the guys got up and came back with the local popcorn which we all munched on, it was a tad crunchy and a bit spicy but pretty good. When the movie was over we saw that the `popcorn` we had been eating was roasted marabuntas, red ants about one inch long.... lol never eat in strange places on the dark ;-)