Ever eat anything you wish you hadn't?

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Years ago my company rewarded me for coming up with a seemingly impossible solution to a process they had struggled with for years before they hired me. I was rewarded with a dinner for two at any restaurant I could find and told "find the finest restaurant you can find and cost is no issue".

I always wanted to try a 5-star restaurant and the only one within a half hour of where I lived was in Ithaca, NY called L'Auberge Du Cochon Rouge (no longer in business).

As I pondered over the menu with my wife, I noticed a couple next to me who had ordered Escargot. The presentation was beautiful as it was served in bright red, yellow, and white ornamental sea shells. So I thought to myself, "hey, the company is picking up the tab and they told me to go all out so why not experiment?"

So I ordered them and lo and behold it tasted exactly like eating slugs from the back yard cooked with butter and spices. It was horrendous - nearly made me want to puke. Never again.

Eating that crap put a pause in my enthusiasm to trying "everything once". I have a niece who tells me that sea urchin is delicious and I must try it. I told her, "Liatt, I will NEVER EVER try it and you can't trick me into trying it".  Anyway...

Anyone here ever try Escargot and like it?

Anyone here ever eat something they wish they hadn't?

[Ed Vette]

I love Escargot properly prepared. It has a unique flavor. There is nothing I can think of that I wouldn't eat. Just curious, do you eat raw clams and oysters? Rattlesnake or Alligator?

[Bob In PA]

I've had escargot and thought it was very good.  If you don't like garlic, however, don't bother.  Bob

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I love Escargot properly prepared. It has a unique flavor. There is nothing I can think of that I wouldn't eat. Just curious, do you eat raw clams and oysters? Rattlesnake or Alligator?

I am deathly allergic to certain shell fish: scallops, clams, and oysters. Been terribly sick enough times after trying each of them that I know it wasn't an anomaly. Interestingly, I can still eat crab, lobster, crayfish, etc., with no problem. Short answer, I do not eat raw clams or oysters.

Never tried rattlesnake, but I would if it was available somewhere. Have eaten plenty of alligator, turtle, etc. Don't love it, but don't hate it.

[philo43]

In the 80's when I was stationed in Greece, a buddy and I rented motorcycles for a ride north from Athens along the coast.  We stopped at a small restaurant. We knew enough Greek to order a beer, say hello and goodbye  and ask for the bathroom. We ordered the Octopus, they asked how many we said 2.  10 minutes later we each had 2, 6 foot tentacles on a plate in front of us.  Most disgusting thing I have ever eaten.

[Bob In PA]

I am deathly allergic to certain shell fish: scallops, clams, and oysters. Been terribly sick enough times after trying each of them that I know it wasn't an anomaly. Interestingly, I can still eat crab, lobster, crayfish, etc., with no problem. Short answer, I do not eat raw clams or oysters.

Never tried rattlesnake, but I would if it was available somewhere. Have eaten plenty of alligator, turtle, etc. Don't love it, but don't hate it.

Jolly: My sister is the same way.  For example, she can't eat shrimp but can eat lobster.  Bob

[Bob In PA]

In the 80's when I was stationed in Greece, a buddy and I rented motorcycles for a ride north from Athens along the coast.  We stopped at a small restaurant. We knew enough Greek to order a beer, say hello and goodbye  and ask for the bathroom. We ordered the Octopus, they asked how many we said 2.  10 minutes later we each had 2, 6 foot tentacles on a plate in front of us.  Most disgusting thing I have ever eaten.

philo: I eat squid at least twice each year, including the little tentacles.  As Ed said regarding escargot, if properly prepared squid is very good.  Bob

[Sem]

The chocolate cream pie at some random restaurant in Lancaster, PA back in the late '60s, when I was probably 10 years old.

My parents took my brother and I and my grandmother on a mini vacation down to the "Pennsylvania Dutch" region on PA. The last night there for desert I was the only one to order a slice of that pie. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling the Bataan death march in my stomach.  I had a pounding headache and threw up countless times, and had the dry heaves most of the way home the next day. My dad finally stopped at a small town bar to see if he could get me a glass of water. The bartender gave him a shot of whiskey to give to me telling him it should help. I slowly sipped it all before we got on the road again. We soon stopped at a rest area where I promptly fell asleep under a shade tree. I woke up feeling somewhat better and was able to make it the rest of the way home without further incidence. To this day I still remember large chunks of that trip like it was yesterday. And it took me years before I was able to eat chocolate cream pie again, but every time I do I still think of that trip.

[DaveBrown74]

I love escargot and find myself ordering it frequently when I see it on a menu. I also love good sea urchin. I have tried a number of weird things in my life. I have had haggis, tripe, frogs legs, and other somewhat weird foods. None really bothered me, and some I actually liked. One that I regretted though was durian. I tried that several years ago when I was in Singapore. For those who don't know, durian is a fruit found in that part of the world. It looks like a spikey cantaloupe. When opened, the fruit has a yellowish color and a custard-like consistency. It sounds inocuous enough, but man is it vile. It is one of the most foul-smelling foods I have ever come across. Some say it smells like gross feet. I would liken it more to badly rotting onions. It doesn't taste good either, although it's the smell that is really the worst. And yet it is considered a delicacy by many in Asia. Different strokes for different folks obiously. I'm sure they find certain western foods disgusting, such as cheese.

One thing I have not tried yet is insects. I think I probably draw the line there. I have friends that have tried Mexican style grasshoppers before. They are found in Oaxaca Mexico and are called chapulines. They're cleaned, cooked, and seasoned. I'm told it's basically like eating a chip or a sunflower seed, and that it's no big deal. I am just not sure I could do it. With that said, 50-100 years from now insects as cuisine could become much more commonplace, if not sooner than that.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

In the 80's when I was stationed in Greece, a buddy and I rented motorcycles for a ride north from Athens along the coast.  We stopped at a small restaurant. We knew enough Greek to order a beer, say hello and goodbye  and ask for the bathroom. We ordered the Octopus, they asked how many we said 2.  10 minutes later we each had 2, 6 foot tentacles on a plate in front of us.  Most disgusting thing I have ever eaten.

LMAO...I had a similar experience in Madrid, but it wasn't disgusting. I met up with my sister who flew up from Tel Aviv. We both knew just enough Spanish to get into trouble. So we decided to order of a Spanish-Only menu to take a chance. My sister was dressed to the nines as she had to meet up with some important people and looked like a million dollars. She ordered something called ma

[LennG]

In my 'younger' days while I was serving in Germany, I had the 'pleasure???' of eating chocolate-covered grasshoppers. A bit crunchy but if I didn't know what they were, I might have enjoyed them a bit more.

As I said in a thread a while back on foods you hate, I HAVE eaten some green beans once and I thought I would puke. I HATE green beans. 

[DaveBrown74]

In my 'younger' days while I was serving in Germany, I had the 'pleasure???' of eating chocolate-covered grasshoppers. A bit crunchy but if I didn't know what they were, I might have enjoyed them a bit more.

As I said in a thread a while back on foods you hate, I HAVE eaten some green beans once and I thought I would puke. I HATE green beans. 

You just made me think of something. When were vacationing in Bali several years ago, we were eating at an outdoor restaurant and the food was very good. I had some sort of meat dish that was on the spicy side, and there was something on my plate that looked like a simple green bean. So I ate it, thinking that's what I was eating. I bit into it and it tasted fine... more or less like a green bean. About 4-5 seconds later I was blasted with an absolutely unbearable, crazy wave of heat that had me sweating, completely flushed, and visible writhing in pain. I have never eaten anything like that. The waiters (who were obiously locals) were trying to control their giggling but they clearly thought the situation was hysterical. It was so powerful that I could still feel it the next morning, and that was a lunch. That was definitely my most regrettable food experience ever, even though it was a pretty good restaurant.

Moving back to insects, I admit that I'm a little curious, but the concept just disgusts me so much. I mean why would anyone want to bite into a grasshopper? I get that in a poorer country if that is your only affordable protein source, then obviously that makes sense, but why would anyone with alternatives want to do that other than as a one-off, fear factor type experiment purely for shock value? The thought alone disgusts me.

[LennG]

Hey Dave, if you can eat that slimy creature called a snail, and love it, what's a little grasshopper then, plus it was chocolate coated.   

[DaveBrown74]

Hey Dave, if you can eat that slimy creature called a snail, and love it, what's a little grasshopper then, plus it was chocolate coated.   

Lenn,

Very fair point, and I don't disagree in principle. It's just a line I haven't been able to cross.

And to be honest, insects as food don't seem to come up as often as escargots, which I see on menus at least one or two times a year.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

In my opinion, the ONLY reason Escargot gets eaten is because of the fancy French name as well as the product is served in ornamental shells that look nothing like the common yard snails' shell. I thoroughly believe that if the menu said, "Snails.......$15.95" and they were served in their original shell, the majority of people would never eat them. However, I do respect the fact that people eat (and enjoy) things I'd never eat. Try as I may, I don't think I could eat frogs' legs, but I know a lot of people love them. Dittos with sheep's head, rocky mountain oysters, etc. I get a kick out of a local tradition in Syracuse held every October called the "Riley's Testicle Festival" where testicles are served en masse (deep fried). Interestingly, a lot of women have zero problem eating testicles, but there's very few men that want to eat them...LOL

https://www.syracuse.com/restaurants/2015/10/rileys_balls_testicle_festival.html