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The 19 Weirdest Meats I've Ever Eaten

by Robin Lee
6 February 2015 39 Comments

While Heston is busy flexing his culinary oddball muscles, there are far weirder delicacies to be had around the world. Fancy some live mice, snake soup or camel juice...?

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Heston and Gordon trying to shock TV viewers with gastronomic oddities has become quite flaccid. Just the other night Gordon feigned astonishment at the traditional slaying of a buffalo for a Cambodian wedding. A buffalo is little more than a cow with big horns, somehow they think this is ground-breaking television?

If they’re going to document the diversity in acceptable food produce maybe they could have the courage to actually show the extremes, the planet contains cannibals, put your cameras on them, some live in London! (a friend of mines ex-boyfriend once snuck a human liver from the hospital where he worked and served it up to eager guests, this is true. I have seen photographic evidence). It seems doltish to fall somewhere between that and some sanitised pre-watershed celebration of cupcakes presented by Gwyneth Paltry (did I spell that wrong, sorry I meant Gwyneth Poultry)

Food is an incredibly expansive subject and holds an expanse of a subjectivity. At several times a day, for our whole lives, the choices we make regarding what goes in our mouths is possibly the most common and consistent choice we make. Exploit it!

Some people eat purely as a means of sustenance, others to invigorate and refresh, others as an obsession. The variations in taste and acceptability of different foods around the globe is fascinating. Jewish people refuse to eat shellfish, as they consider it filthy, but Belgians thrive on them. Chinese folk will not touch anything dairy, but your average Greek chap accompanies most meals with yogurt. No swine meat is produced in India, but Italians make their bones on it. In Scotland they will not eat battered fish unless it’s the rare mythical ‘Mars bar’ variety only caught in Scottish waters. The list goes on.

Here are a few examples of ‘One man’s meat’ that I’ve indulged…

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Whole caramelised baby crabs (Thailand)

Tiny crabs coated in a thin layer of burnt sugar. Perfect replacement for popcorn.

Donkey (Montpellier, France)

The butcher I bought my donkey steaks from during a seven month stay in France would give me a lollipop and lavish me with praise for being the south of France’s most adventurous Englishman. Horse and donkey steak is almost identical to beef steak.

Brain (St Petersburg, Russia)

Hannibal Lector has done little to advance the popularity of this delicacy. Nor does serving one whole on a plate with a blow-torched caramel coating. Food for “thought”.

Fermented shark with Brennivin (Iceland)

A tradition with those beautiful loony Vikings. The shark is buried, whole, for 3 months, the local elders are invited to piss on it (this is to neutralise the poisonous uric acid present in locally caught shark) then it is hung to cure for weeks, then eaten in small pieces with a mouthful of Brennivin, the local moonshine.

Roast pigs head (My flat, Camden)

Apart from drinking a blister this is the nearest I’ve been to cannibalism. There is good reason why cannibals call Human meat ‘Longpig’ as the preparation of a pigs head is eerie. You brush its teeth, clean out its ears, shave its face and eyelashes, during which the evolutionary similarities to humans become apparent. After four hours of roasting in brandy, the tasty carnivorous feast serves to dissipate the thought of its lifeless beady eye and that you are actually eating long lost family.

Dog (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

There’s plenty of meat on a dog, and plenty of dogs in Vietnam. It makes perfect sense to eat them.

Snake soup (Ben Tre, Vietnam)

Easy to skin, easy to cook.

Barbecued sparrow (Enfield, London)

A couple of years ago there was an article on the London news regarding the diminishing number of sparrows in the capital. A few days later I attended an ‘Allotment Barbecue’ with my then girlfriend’s Greek family. A great concept and a marvellous community atmosphere, her aunties and uncles pulled vegetables out of the earth and cooked them up…..and set traps to catch sparrows……which we then skewered and ate. They were too tasty to go ringing the RSPB.

Fried toad (Bankok, Thailand)

One minute it’s jumping around, the next, a five year old girl is cutting it up with scissors and throwing it in a wok. Great street food.

Roast pigs tails- (my flat, Camden)

A fine snack. Contrary to public belief, a pigs tail is actually straight, and once its been braised, seasoned and blast roasted is incredibly tasty. In addition, due to its form it has a natural handle. If you like pork and crackling sandwiches you will love pigs tails.

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Cods tongues (Iceland)

Please appreciate that the average size of a cod in Iceland is about 6 foot. So the tongues are fairly big. They are marinated and sautéed and are delicious.

Moonfish (Mekong Delta, Vietnam)

Many villagers in Vietnam have natural ponds in the back garden, with fish, this pond often has a toilet, on stilts, in the centre, which, for modesty reasons, is generally used at night. The fish eat the ‘waste’. The villagers (and guests) eat the fish.

Barbecued snapper Head (Sri Lanka)

The snapper in Sri Lanka can be massive. The head is the size of a football and contains a nights-worth of finger picking entertainment for a pesce-phile.

‘Warm’ camels milk (Dubai)

This is camel’s milk squirted straight from the udder and into the mouth. Like a mammalian drinking fountain. Take your own Nesquik.

Live baby mice (Korea)

In England we have peanuts, pork scratchings, crisps. Over there, they serve a bowl of new born mice, one bite then swallow.

Live clam (San Francisco)

This is a funny one. The clams they serve are the size of your fist, they prize them open and you eat them whole. A clam is essentially one muscle and a ‘feeler’ which is still ‘feeling’ as you chew.

Bulls ear (Madrid)

An apt snack after a night watching the ‘Toro’.

Bone marrow salad (Smithfields, London)

Looks awful. Tastes sublime.

‘Face’ Tacho (Santa Barbara, California,USA)

Believe me an authentic taco does not resemble anything from Taco Bell. Sitting with my Mexican comrades I was treated to eyeball and face Taco. It felt like I was living inside a Pixies song.

If you like it, Pass it on

image descriptionCOMMENTS

jess 12:17 pm, 20-May-2011

Where did you find Robin Lee and how do i ask him out for dinner?

Robin Lee 1:01 pm, 20-May-2011

ha ha! Jess, have you forgot the Covent Garden Hotel Jan 09? We had dinner. We demolished the 'honesty' bar too.

jess 1:07 pm, 20-May-2011

not me darlin'.....

Robin Lee 1:09 pm, 20-May-2011

Ok, I know 2 jesses. We went to that vietnamese place in Hackney summer 08. I got my mini towed away.

jess 1:11 pm, 20-May-2011

Still not me, we've never met. haha

Robin Lee 1:15 pm, 20-May-2011

Oh bollocks. Jess you really don't want to have dinner with me. I'm a Spazzock.

Dina 2:20 pm, 20-May-2011

I don't mind the odd spazzcock. I mean, I woulddn't make a habit of it, but now and again is ok.

Robin Lee 2:27 pm, 20-May-2011

I deffo don't know anyone called Dina. Plus said Spazzock not Spazzcock, which, one would think, is an entirely different culinary experience. Hold on did you do the 'Lying to kids' thing the other week? if so I would deffo have a 'dine' with you.

GZod 3:14 pm, 20-May-2011

Ever tried eating your own dick? You weirdo.

jack 3:33 pm, 20-May-2011

bar the baby mice I think I'd give everything on there a go. Dog stew in China is my oddest so far

Robin Lee 3:34 pm, 20-May-2011

no, but I've thought about it, there's nuff quality meat there.

Gazagirl 3:36 pm, 20-May-2011

It's the chewing of the Spazzock's feeler I always find unnerving. We've met, yes?

Robin Lee 3:58 pm, 20-May-2011

dunno. you tell me...?

Von 7:12 pm, 20-May-2011

Nice work RL

Dave Chicken 9:25 pm, 24-May-2011

No mention of a human placenta?

Joon 4:12 pm, 25-May-2011

Koreans don't eat baby mice! I ask that you retract that statement.

Robin Lee 5:03 pm, 25-May-2011

ok joon what were they then? have a look here... http://funzoneonthenet.com/forum/index.php?topic=3381.0 or here.... http://arbroath.blogspot.com/2007/10/korean-mouse-wine.html couldn't find any pics of live ones though. sorry

Oodle Futt 3:22 pm, 29-May-2011

Please don't try & pick me up in the comments section of your article, I am your mother.

lavinia turner 6:37 pm, 23-Sep-2011

thats fuckin discusting, how could they eat one of the most discusting insects in the world, a lot of pll are terrified of those things, 0: im gonna be sick....

Andy Southgate 1:54 pm, 10-Dec-2011

Enjoyed this. There is one dish that I find especially weird: Black Pudding. I eat it fairly regularly and still, if I give it a moments thought, it's a bloody strange food. Lovely.

Anna 4:08 pm, 11-Nov-2012

You know that they don´t actually urinate on the shark in Iceland... That´s a myth - the shark just smells so darn weird

Skin Ed 12:58 pm, 16-Jan-2013

I expect this only relates to those mini-burgers you have as snacks. You know, the horse d'oeuvres. 

robin lee 12:59 pm, 16-Jan-2013

skin-ed- probably, they are a bit pony

martin green 1:51 pm, 16-Jan-2013

Black pudding? does not seem that exotic?

Bartoli 2:09 pm, 16-Jan-2013

What a lie about the liver!

robin lee 2:20 pm, 16-Jan-2013

bartoli- nowhere is liver mentioned....?

robin lee 2:21 pm, 16-Jan-2013

oh yes it is, and its not a lie. not giving names though. bye

Pandaricko 6:06 pm, 16-Jan-2013

"No swine meat is produced in India" - utter bollocks. You see pork stalls all over the place selling unrefrigerated and fly covered chunks of pork. I wouldn't dare eat meat from one of those places though.

Robin lee 7:35 pm, 16-Jan-2013

Exactly, you see chunks if it, but thats all. thats cos people use pigs to waste, then kill it and flog it (normally to westerners) There is no swine produced on a commercial level in India. There is over a billion people there, they mainly eat veg and rice

Sharpydufc 7:50 pm, 16-Jan-2013

Try live termites. Apparently a good protein source if list in the jungle. Taste like little carrots. Surprisingly nice but makes sure you get them on the first bite.

robin lee 9:18 pm, 16-Jan-2013

I've eaten ants in australia, the big ones with the red abdomens. tasted like sherbert.

Pandaricko 5:48 am, 17-Jan-2013

You have no idea what you are talking about. India farms a lot of things on a local scale and sell locally. It's how thIngs ate done and there is a significant push back on anything being done at commercial levels. Hence no big supermarket chains.

Robin lee 9:44 am, 17-Jan-2013

Ok Pandaricko your obviously the authority on Indian swine production, I spent 5 months there and saw no pork apart from what was given the chop in the back yard to serve up to hungover westerners. Idea- why not write up your expertise and publish it, that would be interesting. In the meantime give up trolling, it's tedious.

Bartoli 4:14 pm, 17-Jan-2013

Naw still, you re clean lying about the liver!

Robin lee 4:23 pm, 17-Jan-2013

.....trolls

Pandaricko 5:51 pm, 17-Jan-2013

I am not trolling. I live in southern India and have done for the last 3 years. I see pork on sale in various places.

Robin lee 11:22 pm, 17-Jan-2013

Well if you've lived in India for the last 3 years you should have a broader outlook, there is 10000 things to see and do in that marvellous country that are far better than sitting there trying to start an argument with me over nowt. Go and do 1 of them!!!

Ashish Jacob 12:06 pm, 28-Mar-2013

"There is over a billion people there, they mainly eat veg and rice" Hahaha Thats so not true! There are a large number of vegans in India but there have always been meat eaters in India, for centuries! Tandoori chicken, Mutton biryani, Butter Chicken...Pork vindaloo, Havent u heard of any of these? Besides if you go to the interiors you'd find a number of people hunting and making mout watering dishes of deer. And even hindu bhramins who live in costal areas are known to eat fish regularly. The cow is holy to the Hindus and pork is haram to Muslims, so depending on what area you find your self in you may or maynot find one of the meats.

TallulahYoungBlood 9:57 pm, 1-Apr-2013

Wow. You eaten some crazy things. But I guess knowing is better than ignorance. What your eating I mean.... I was thinking about it, and if my dog died and I was really hungry, I might be tempted to eat him. And if I died and he was hungry, I would expect nothing less. And I like your writing. Kind of inspires me a little to consider putting some of my travel/life experiences into writing. On the subject of India I definitely ate buffalo with my Hindu family, it was after Shivarati. I had randomly decided to fast for 8 days. So it was cool. I'm sure there is some lesson in that. We drank buffalo curd at this ceremony where the girls who were put in an underground cave for quite some time. The darkness and sadness of childhood passing. Or some other kind of symbolic understanding. Not sure what its called. The street ceremony of the village was more fun, with the dancing, the music and the strangely intoxicating liquid liberally poured down my neck. What am I doing? Oh yeah strangest thing I have ever eaten? Squirrel. Monkey. Or crocodile. I would prefer any of the latter to whatever it is you find in the plastic packaging sprayed and tampered with. Seriously. Ya boo sucks to you. I'm definitely vegan.

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