The most unconventional thing you've eaten?

Up here we can buy the crawfish tail meat, already peeled. I use it to make some Jambalya or Etouffee or other seafood dishes. Ironically, the crawfish meat I can get is from Vietnam usually. I don't make it often. Getting fresh crawfish whole up here from the USA at any type of reasonable price is impossible. Besides, I do love the tail meat but never was one to "suck the head" of the crawfish. Fish brains and organs just aren't my thing.
 
CraigC said:
You are familiar with Creole and Cajun cuisine!:D Amber is my favorite followed closely by Andy Gator and Purple Haze.
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I am from Destin, FL in the panhandle. It's about 4 hours away from NOLA, spent lots of time in the city of New Orleans over the years. Especially pre-Katrina and back in the day when the Superdome and Jazzfest were spectacular!
 
JASOH1 said:
I am from Destin, FL in the panhandle. It's about 4 hours away from NOLA, spent lots of time in the city of New Orleans over the years. Especially pre-Katrina and back in the day when the Superdome and Jazzfest were spectacular!
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My first exposure to Cajun and Creole cuisine was my time in Morgan City during my commercial diving days. I have been back many times. ElizabethB and her husband George are Cajuns, she has some wonderful recipes. Out of necessity, I started making homemade andouille sausage and tasso. We usually do 20 to 30 pounds every 6 months. My wife and I love Cajun and Creole food. I also dabble in real BBQ.
 
My Uncle John (AKA Buster) was Cajun from Louisiana. He lived with my Aunt Gladys in Port Arthur, Texas, which is about 15 miles from SW Louisiana...zydeco music was a huge thing, my Uncle played the accordion very well and he could dance the Cajun two step also quite well, according to my aunt, which meant he stepped all over her tiny feet.

Okay sorry everyone for derailing the thread. Crawfish (crayfish) really isn't an unusual food, so similar to shrimp other than the head is so darned big it's ridiculous. I still think that people who suck the brains and other organs out of the head are not quite right and are possibly barbaric. So that includes a good portion of my family members.
 
Odd that all of y'alls strange foods are animals. No offbeat animsls for me but I have eaten cactus. It was at a taqueria in an absolutely divine tomatillo sauce. It was delicious.
 
JASOH1 said:
My Uncle John (AKA Buster) was Cajun from Louisiana. He lived with my Aunt Gladys in Port Arthur, Texas, which is about 15 miles from SW Louisiana...zydeco music was a huge thing, my Uncle played the accordion very well and he could dance the Cajun two step also quite well, according to my aunt, which meant he stepped all over her tiny feet.

Okay sorry everyone for derailing the thread. Crawfish (crayfish) really isn't an unusual food, so similar to shrimp other than the head is so darned big it's ridiculous. I still think that people who suck the brains and other organs out of the head are not quite right and are possibly barbaric. So that includes a good portion of my family members.
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Crawfish aren't crayfish here, your crawfish would be equivalent to our fresh water called koura ( Maori) or ozzy so call them yabbies?? Crayfish here are huge, like your lobsters but different claws. Giggle kaikoura crayfish. They grow to massive sizes. I have about 6 in my freezer, whole and tails only. I'm looking forward to trying crawfish one day! And yup, I'd suck the bejeesus out of those heads. I eat the brown goo from the head of crayfish as well.

Russ
 
Nice, Rascal! Yeah, I bet those crayfish are super awesome! MMMM yum. But is it kinda like eating the stuff in the head of a lobster? I mean, it's weird when an animal has both it's brains and some of its digestive system in its head. Like, do you eat the entire shrimp, head and tail along with everything in between?

I feel the same way when I eat soft shell crab, which I love. I must clean the lungs and organs out of the bodies before battering and frying. Way too fishy. That's just me.
 
Lots of people here treat the brown goo in the head as a treat. I love it mixed with the white meat in a sammich. Prawns I don't eat the heads but I have friends that all do. I'm not familiar with soft tailed crabs? We have a town here called kaikoura, it's the Maori name meaning bay of crayfish. My son free dives for Paua aka ableone up there . I make Paua patties from these . They are a treat also. As I said we have sea water crayfish and fresh water koura. Fresh water koura are also a treat. I can get some after a 40 min drive from here. Delicate sweet morsels. I havnt had any for a few years. Now lockdown is on level 2 /3 I should get some. I've never seen fresh water sold in shops.

Russ
 
Strangest must be a type of worm I don't know the translation of, which was made into an energy bar and tasted like oatmeal. Not quite as scary as I thought.

And I have eaten Moose in Finland, which was pretty good. Much like beef with a gamier taste.

Not sure if beef heart counts as unconventional, but it's delicious when prepared well.
 
JASOH1 said:
My Uncle John (AKA Buster) was Cajun from Louisiana. He lived with my Aunt Gladys in Port Arthur, Texas, which is about 15 miles from SW Louisiana...zydeco music was a huge thing, my Uncle played the accordion very well and he could dance the Cajun two step also quite well, according to my aunt, which meant he stepped all over her tiny feet.

Okay sorry everyone for derailing the thread. Crawfish (crayfish) really isn't an unusual food, so similar to shrimp other than the head is so darned big it's ridiculous. I still think that people who suck the brains and other organs out of the head are not quite right and are possibly barbaric. So that includes a good portion of my family members.
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I have a Cajun accordion (10 button diatonic) made by Junior Martin. I stopped learning it when we moved. Maybe I'll pick it up again. I love Cajun and zydeco music. It always reminds me of people having a good time!

Our Florida/Caribbean lobster are also referred to as crayfish (spiny lobster), also called Bugs. I call crawfish mud bugs. I like the other species of lobster we have here better than spinyies. You've got to be missing stone crab!? The season just ended last Friday.

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Oh my, how lovely! Yes, mud bugs! I am from the Panhandle on the Gulf of Mexico, so we had blue crab. I have friends all over Florida, so when visiting ths keys we chowed down on stone crab. I love all kinds of seafood!
 
Milkduds said:
Odd that all of y'alls strange foods are animals. No offbeat animsls for me but I have eaten cactus. It was at a taqueria in an absolutely divine tomatillo sauce. It was delicious.
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Those are called Nopales and are great in a taco with xni pec salsa (shnee pic) which means dog's nose salsa in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, which is still a spoken language. Mexican food, both indigenous and with Spanish and French influence, are also one of my favorite cuisines and I don't mean Taco Bell!
 
rascal
Soft shell crabs are when the crab is molting, typically blue crab where I come from. The new emerging shell when they lose their hard shell is temporarily soft and edible. Very tasty. Abalone sounds delicious. Probably tastes similar to conch?
 
JASOH1 said:
Nice, Rascal! Yeah, I bet those crayfish are super awesome! MMMM yum. But is it kinda like eating the stuff in the head of a lobster? I mean, it's weird when an animal has both it's brains and some of its digestive system in its head. Like, do you eat the entire shrimp, head and tail along with everything in between?

I feel the same way when I eat soft shell crab, which I love. I must clean the lungs and organs out of the bodies before battering and frying. Way too fishy. That's just me.
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Other than myself, the rest of my deceased family were from Maryland via Germany on my mothers side. Soft shells (especially in a Po'Boy) and steamed blue crab are part of my blood. I tried blue crab done in a crawfish boil, but prefer them steamed.
 
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Milkduds said:
Odd that all of y'alls strange foods are animals. No offbeat animsls for me but I have eaten cactus. It was at a taqueria in an absolutely divine tomatillo sauce. It was delicious.
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In Mexico we always have cactus juice for breakfast. I like mine mixed with other green juices.
 
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