Food in other countries

[pan]

What is the oddest thing you have eaten in a different country? Or what they had there but you didn't try? I haven't tried anything very odd myself.
Like say: menudo, haggis, brains, bugs, etc.
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[Sidesplitter]

I have eaten goat once and it tasted like chicken and was a lot more stringier in texture...
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[paul]

I ate goat when I was in Spain a few months back. Not sure if I had had it before then. I think the most unusual thing I've had has to be musk ox. For those unfamiliar with these beasts, here's what one looks like:



They are huge beasts and, in the wild, weigh anything from 440 to 900 pounds. Needless to say, I didn't manage a whole one!

Paul
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[Sindacious]

ewwwww goat!!

Well i had a "meze" for the first time in Greece and it was delicious - but might add that some of the meat looked a bit "dodgy" lol
maybe it's just me but i like to know everything about what i'm eating like -
calorie intake - fat - carbs - human flesh? lol
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[PeterW]

I think it was pigs intestine that had been cooked in a wok with soy sauce. From a street stall in Hong Kong, as a challange from some locals who thought westerners lived in McDs.

As I say - 'think it was pig....'

Then there was the snake fondue in Canada.
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[winglady]

Ostrich -- really delicious! Very lean, very flavorful "red meat" -- does NOT taste anything like chicken!

Musk Ox -- so, so (and I couldn't eat the whole thing!)

Rattlesnake -- kind of nondescript

Rocky Mountain Oysters -- I'm not sure I can explain what these are on a public forum, but suffice it to say they have nothing to do with seafood, and lots to do with a bull.

Kangaroo -- not bad

Yak -- needs a lot of tenderizing, but quite tasty if prepared right
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[PeterW]

[pan]

I think I've heard of Rocky Mountain Oysters..... Winglady's mention of ostrich reminds me I tried ostrich jerky once, it wasn't too bad.
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[tango]

Any body tried Frog legs from China or Singapore. People says its like chicken.
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[Sidesplitter]

Its not one of the things I would have on top of my list of foods to eat after hearing this!



Lethal amphibian fungus 'in UK'
By Paul Rincon
BBC News science reporter



The bullfrogs may have been introduced as pets (Image: Stephen Price)
A fungus that is deadly to many species of amphibians has been found in wild animals in the UK for the first time.

Chytrid fungus is a major contributor to the decline of amphibian populations around the world and may have already made one species extinct.

Its presence was detected in American bullfrogs that had set up home in two small lakes in South-East England.

Scientists are now trying to establish whether the fungal disease has spread to native amphibian species.

It's pretty bad news that it has been found in the wild in this country

Dr Andrew Cunningham, Zoological Society of London

The fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, has been found in captive animals in this country before, but never in the wild.

It was identified by Dr Andrew Cunningham of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and colleagues, and reported in the Veterinary Record.

The American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) is native to the central and eastern US and parts of Canada. The UK colony was probably derived from animals kept as pets that escaped or were released.

"If it does get into British species, it's going to be very difficult to get rid of," Dr Cunningham told the BBC News website.

"This disease is a major cause of amphibian population declines and extinctions worldwide. So it's pretty bad news that it has been found in the wild in this country."

Worldwide decline

English Nature has been eradicating the invasive frogs, which numbered more than 11,000, and had sent specimens to ZSL for testing.

The fungus was identified six years ago and is firmly established in parts of the Americas, Australia and Europe. The disease it causes, chytridiomycosis, appears to kill amphibians by damaging their sensitive skins, blocking the passage of air and moisture.

"I think there is great concern," said Dr Richard Griffiths, an amphibian specialist at the University of Kent in Canterbury.

"It will take more work to see if infected animals can be taken out of the wild, cleaned up and released. At the moment, people are concentrating on keeping [the disease] out."

Invasive threat

American bullfrogs carry the fungus but do not develop the disease. It is not known how native amphibian species respond to it.

"We know that in Spain, the common toad - Bufo bufo - does get killed by this. The species also lives in the UK, so it would potentially kill the toad in this country," said Dr Cunningham.

Dr Cunningham said vigilance for the disease should be maintained throughout the country.

"The fungus has turned up in many captive collections of exotic amphibians. And it can spread by motile zoospores in water," he explained.

"So someone washing out their vivarium and pouring the water into the garden could inadvertently bring native species into contact with it."

The bullfrog colony, at an undisclosed site on the border of Kent and East Sussex, has been known about for some time.

There was a significant trade in the animals during the 1980s and 1990s, when they were sought after as pets. The European Commission banned their import in 1997 due to fears that the frogs, which have voracious appetites and are not choosy eaters, would destroy native wildlife
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[pan]

Since it came from America it's hardly shocking just kidding. That sucks though

Did you hear about some people who found a legless frog body in their can of Jolly Green Giant green beans?
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I like your mind. It happens to resemble mine, except that you happen to be insane. | The doctors say I have a multiple personality....but we don't agree with that. | I live in my own little word. But it's ok, they know me there.

[Sidesplitter]

I am surprised we dont go looking for frogs of mass destruction if it came from there
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[winglady]

[snippie]

I'll have to say it's between Crocodile, goat and Ostrich.

The crocodile was very nice, very tender and delicious. (For me it tasted something between pork and beef, although I've heard other people comparing it with chicken )

Goat, that wasn't really very nice, don't know if it was the way it was prepared or what, but I struggled a lot with chewing it.

Ostrich, delicious, I agree with one of the above posters, it doesn't remotely tastes like chicken, I can't really compare it with anything, has a very unique taste.

(All of the above was in South Africa, as I've never been outside the country )

[laz]

This is one of the things I love about travelling - trying local culinary "delights"!! I don't think there's anything (legal) I wouldn't try!

Some peculiar things to date:

China:
Snake soup - like a cross between fish and chicken
Curried frog - a bit boney
Whole, deep fried sparrows - tough, boney, horrible!
Stir-fried ducks' tongues(!) - at a Duck restaurant in Beijing; a bit slimy, and each one with a little crunch of cartilege! (this wins my prize as the most bizarre thing I've tried)

Vietnam:
Snake curry
Snake wine

East Africa
Impala meatballs - at "Carnivore" in Nairobi
Crocodile - like snake, a bit like a cross between chicken and firm white fish
Giant octopus tentacles - barbequed rubber!

Europe
Veal testicles in France - delicious, served in a cream and shallot sauce
Sheep's brains in Spain

Japan
Sea Urchin sushi
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