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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsGross foods you love.
- Brain.
It doesn't taste like any kind of meat, because it's just nerves. And it's not very healthy because it contains cholesterol. And you have to prepare it correctly: A brain is coated with a thin web of blood-vessels. You have to peel this web from the brain with your finger-tips before you can proceed.
Example-Recipe:
Chop the brain into 1/2-inch sized bits. Fry a diced onion in a pan. When the onions are almost golden, add the brain-bits and fry until the brain has turned from pink to white. Stir carefully. Scramble some eggs, add to the pan and make scrambled eggs. Serve with mustard and bread.
- Tongue.
This is meat. It's just an especially tender bit of meat. Make sure to scrape off the "skin" of the tongue after boiling.
- Heart.
This is also just meat. A dark, hard piece of muscle of very rich flavor. Cut open length-wise and wash thoroughly to get the blood out.
Cut into bits, boil and serve with sweet-sour sauce. Or boil in a soup.
The Brazilians put chicken-hearts on skewers and grill them.
- Stomach.
This is also just meat. Similar to the heart: A dark meat with rich flavor. After butchering the animal, the stomach gets turned inside out, washed and the slimy inner coating gets scraped off. After that, the stomach is good to go. Best boiled in a soup.
- Lung.
This is not meat. It's some sort of connective tissue. Raw it's soft, but boiled it gets a consistency similar to liver. But the aroma is far weaker and more subtle than liver.
Example-Recipe:
Tongue-Lung-Liver-Ragout. Cut into pieces and boil. Reserve some of the liquid. Caramelize sugar in a pot until nice dark brown. Add some of the broth and bring to boil. Season with vinegar and spices like salt, peppercorn, cloves and juniper-berries. It will turn into a sauce. Stir the meat into the sauce and serve with boiled potatos.
- Blood.
Nothing like fried blood-sausage. Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Rich taste. Serve with mashed potatos and sauce.
- Pig-feet.
Shave the feet under running water with a sharp knife, cut off the claws, wash thoroughly. Cook for 2 hours until the meat falls from the bones. Cut the feet into pieces and add to a bean-soup.
Lots of skin and cartilage means lots of cheap proteins. The taste is a very strong pork-aroma and not for everyone.
- Garlic.
Lots of people hate garlic because of the smell. But if you don't mind the smell, it makes for a dip that goes great with any grilled meat.
Peel garlic-cloves. Grind to mush in a mortar with a pinch of salt. Add thyme, a shot of aromatic alcohol (for example Sherry) and a shot of water. Stir thoroughly. It's smelly, but it goes GREAT with grilled meat.
This dip will not spoil. If you keep it in the fridge, it will last forever: The alcohol and the garlic-oils kill any fungus or bacteria that go near it.
- Brussels sprouts.
Brussels sprouts are bitter. Children react stronger to bitter aromas than adults. So, if you hated Brussels sprouts as a child, give them a second chance as an adult.
Example-Recipe:
Use fresh Brussels sprouts. Peel off the outermost layers and give the stem a fresh cut. If they are too big, cut them in half. Fry in a pot in some butter. When slightly browned, add salt, pepper and a splash of water. Put the lid on the pot and steam the Brussels sprouts until done.
hlthe2b
(102,218 posts)To each his own, I guess..
PJMcK
(22,029 posts)Garlic, on the other hand...
unblock
(52,193 posts)They were not bitter at all. Nutty and almost sweet. Incroyable! What a difference that rich Alsacian soil makes!
no_hypocrisy
(46,078 posts)I'm not eating intestines.
unblock
(52,193 posts)Lochloosa
(16,063 posts)I'm a Southern boy.
Bayard
(22,051 posts)Love me some grits, with sausage, and fresh tomatoes on the side. And okra in with my blackeyed peas. Both should be ready to pick in my garden next weekend.
Floyd R. Turbo
(26,546 posts)Escargot!
PJMcK
(22,029 posts)I love them, too! Of course, the garlic and butter go a long way towards making the slimy crawlers tasty! Then there's the delicious French bread!
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)Also known as "studenina" or "kuchinina" (sp?):
Studenina- Pig's Feet
Ponchak Family Recipe
Package of 4 to 8 pig's feet. (they will be cut in half lenghtwise)
Onions
Garlic cloves
salt dash
Paprika dash
Hold over grill or gas flame to burn off any hair and to slighly char skin.
Put in to stockpot with enough water to cover.
Add salt,onions, garlic cloves, and dash of paprika.
Cook 4-5 hours until meat falls off bones.
Pour into bowls. Let cool.
Refrigerate overnight. Enjoy!
http://slovakrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/03/studenina-pigs-feet-not-family-recipe.html
My dad used to make it. We loved it!
Glorfindel
(9,726 posts)Boiled squirrel and dumplings
Baked racoon with sweet potatoes
Crawfish
Wild ramps (an onion-like vegetable with an unforgettable taste)
Wild watercress (called "creases" here in the southern Appalachians)
Pokeweed, a wild perennial plant with poisonous leaves which have to be prepared very carefully (most people hereabouts boil the leaves three times, drain off the liquid, and scramble the residue with eggs. In my opinion, it's not worth the trouble.)
Souse meat, or hog's head cheese
Snapping turtle
Frog's legs
Oysters ("He was a bold man that first ate an oyster." - Jonathan Swift
I'm not much of a cook, so I very seldom eat any of these things, but most of these "gross foods" are surprisingly good!
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,669 posts)Cats are obligate carnivores; they'll happily eat any kind of meat from any body part. They'll eat all the meat from their prey - guts and all.
I, however, am not an obligate carnivore. When I do eat meat it's not going to be gross, disgusting guts. Liver is a filter that collects all sorts of nastiness. Kidneys make pee. I gag just looking at tongue in the meat section of the grocery store - in fact, just reading the post made me queasy. I might buy this stuff for my cats but only if it's all chopped up so I don't have to look at it and think about what it is.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,669 posts)You type very well using paws instead of fingers, and with no thumbs for the space bar.
"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a cat."