Exotic Cuisine

[maksimsmelchak]

I also recently tried kedgeree for the first time, and I am also a fan of that.

Never tried it, but it sounds good. But what a carb mess it is, rice, sultanas (raisins), and heavy cream! Lots of rich fats and flavors, but I'll need to have a small portion since I am a diabetic! It's hell getting old and I'm probably below average for Traveller fans.

That sounds good too -- although I confess that I always thought that I'd heard of gravlax, but always thought it was something you'd find in a kosher deli.

Lox does not equal Gravad Lax (GL). Although GL can be made into Lox if certified kosher. Sometimes Kashrut, or Kosher food law, is more about inspection and certification than specific food rendering or preparative practices. It was FDA (food inspection for health purposes) before the FDA was even imagined...

They are both raw salmon, sliced thinly, with a salting cure, usually a brine... The other flavors are optional (...or additional depending on your preference) and usually include dill or mustard. I really like the dill...

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[whulorigan]

They are both raw salmon, sliced thinly, with a salting cure, usually a brine... The other flavors are optional (...or additional depending on your preference) and usually include dill or mustard. I really like the dill...

I'll second that. I know a great British Pub in SE Pennsylvania that has gravlax regularly on the appetizers menu. I always get it.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

Interesting/"weird" stuff I ate so far:

- Squid and calamari. On numerous occasions. The bigger ones are expensive in Israel as they are not kosher and thus less common, the smaller ones (frozen) you can buy for cheap as at Russian delis.

- P'tcha. My grandma used to make it. Didn't likr it much.

- Cholent. I make it 3-5 times a winter. Very tasty, very heavy in the stomach. An old Jewish saying is that the proof for the resurrection of the dead in the End of Days is that you manage wake up from your afternoon nap after eating Cholent on Shabbat... :-D

- Injera with various Ethiopian stews and salads on it. Very common in southern Tel-Aviv, and quite cheap. I love it and eat it a lot. Oh, and the stews are quite spicy, sometimes VERY spicy.

- Home-grown snails. My previous spouse used to raise them. Raising them is easy, preparing them for cooking is quite difficult as you have to get rid of the mucus. Quite tasty.

- Canned silkworm pupae. A friend of mine returned from student exchange in South Korea and brought me a can of those. Quite tasty, in fact.

- Frog legs. Ate them in France. The dish cost me 90 francs (about $20 at the time), very little meat. Not worth the price.

- Fish eggs, both caviar and otherwise - especially Ikra.

- Kimchi. My above-mentioned friend who returned from South Korea makes this at home. Spicy. I like this.

- Malva. You pick the leafs in the field, wash them - and then you can make "cutlets" out of them.

- Ocra. Quite common here in the Middle East.

- Durian, Passionfruit, Jackfruit and Sweetsop. Didn't like the Durian and the Sweetsop, but did like the Passionfruit and Jackfruit.

- Bovine inner parts - spleen, tongue, and liver. Very tasty, IMHO. Quite common in Israel.

- Chicken gizzard, hearts, and livers. Very tasty, IMHO. Gizzards are dirt-cheap in Israel.

- Jerusalem Mixed Grill. I *love* this.

- Sabich. I also love this.

- Sudanese eggplant in peanut butter. Very tasty.

- Maqluba. Another favourite dish of mine.

- Kreplach (East-European Jewish dumplings). My grandma used to make these delicious dumplings.

- Chopped Liver. VERY tasty, IMHO.

- Matza Balls and Matza Brei - traditional Passover food.

Oy, Golan2072, my mouth is watering thinking of all of those delicacies... Or at least, most of them! LOL

I only have a small bowl of Cholent any more, too many diabetically dangerous potatoes for this aging guy...

Too bad that your previous spouse didn't work out, you seemed very happy with her for a long time.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[Golan2072]

Oy, Golan2072, my mouth is watering thinking of all of those delicacies... Or at least, most of them! LOL

In larger US cities, especially NYC, you can probably get most of them...

I only have a small bowl of Cholent any more, too many diabetically dangerous potatoes for this aging guy...

You can make Cholent with no potatoes - using beans, whole meat grains, groats, and meat suitable for long cooking. This requires a slow-cooking heating plate - which is VERY common here in Israel due to religious reasons.

Too bad that your previous spouse didn't work out, you seemed very happy with her for a long time.

Life took us apart. But we still remain good friends... She returned to her homeland - the UK - while I stayed in Israel, but we are still in e-mail contact.

 

[Sifu Blackirish]

Growing up with two foster parents from South Carolina, I was exposed early to a traditional 'Black' diet. In those days, you either ate what was on your plate or went hungry. Becoming a teenager i did nutrition research, so I found out how unhealthy that diet is, but there are a few favorites I indulge in from time to time...

Chitterlings. or chitlins --pork intestines, cleaned and boiled for hours with greens (turnip, collard or mustard) bacon and a hambone. Delicious when eaten with hot sauce.

Tripe -- cow stomach, a bit chewy but delicious and filling

Pig brains -- in a hash with scrambled eggs, a creamy consistency and subtle flavor


I saw raw calimari when I was in the Philippines, was not brave enough to try any. However, I did eat a lot of street corner barbecue skewers, Rumor said the meat was either rat or monkey.

Balut -- uh, no. No way, unless i am starving.

I am not a fan of raw shellfish, in fact I have never tried to eat any raw. I do like smoked mussels, though the smoked clams were too gritty for me to enjoy. Tried the fresh mussels at a Japanese restaurant and they were the consistency of rubber.

I am willing to try almost anything, but just tell me AFTER i take a bite. Also, my stomach has become extremely sensitive, usually one sniff will tell me if I can handle eating it.

 

[Timerover51]

One thing about getting checked out thoroughly on a yearly basis is knowing what I do or do not have to watch out for. As I do not have cholesterol problems, am not diabetic, and my salt level is right at the bottom of the scale, I can eat things that would send some of the online diet nannies into screaming fits.

Growing up, i did eat a lot of creamed chipped beef on toast, just about the same recipe as appears in the World War 2 Army cookbook (I have both a digital and a hard copy). That has been called other things as well, but is actually a favorite dish for World War 2 veteran dinners.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

Growing up, i did eat a lot of creamed chipped beef on toast, just about the same recipe as appears in the World War 2 Army cookbook (I have both a digital and a hard copy). That has been called other things as well, but is actually a favorite dish for World War 2 veteran dinners.

I loved both the SPAM and "bully beef!"

Canned meat, how I miss having you regularly! LOL ;-)

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[BillDowns]

I would not have thought of "S$$t on a Shingle" as exotic. It's just another form of beef, really. Being from Texas, I have had about every part of a cow in one form or another, including brains and "calf fries".

Catfish, trout, bass, walleye are all found locally. Chicken, wild turkey, doves, quail, deer like-wise. Used to get elk when we lived in northern New Mexico.

Emue and Ostrich are available in some butcher's shops. A few places around here have gator sometimes, crawdads or crawfish if you prefer.

Raw oysters are good with hot sauce. Snails I have had were too rubbery, which I blame on the chefs. Abalone was good the one time I had that.

We have ocra here but spell it "okra". It's all over the south. Hate it boiled but love it fried or pickled.

Had rattlesnake - restaurant here The Big Texan - has it as an appetizer. Like tough chicken breast.

Had rabbit at the EM Club on Point Loma, CA back in the late 70's.

Never wanted to try balut, but lumpia is good. I've never had access to decent Indian food.

 

[BillDowns]

As I thought about it, I guess jicama, yucca root, and either raw or fire-roasted prickly pear would be unusual to most folk out there.

 

[lego zhodani]

Having been brought up on blackpudding, faggots, haggis and such, exotic food to me would be most fast foods. Still managed to crawl through life and never eaten a McDonalds. Living so close to one of the largest Korean populations outside Korea I've still not tried kimchie(sp) must make the time one day.

 

[Timerover51]

While not exotic cuisine, not the usual dinner either. As my wife was off tonight taking a income tax course, I fixed myself a double serving of oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar, and Smart Balance margarine. Quite tasty, and did conform with having a tooth pulled on Monday morning. Might do this again soon. I do fear that Samuel Johnson would not approve of my dinner, especially since I am not a Scot.

I simply have a plebeian taste when it comes to food, as I have been fixing Spam sandwiches for my lunch. Against that, I also do enjoy prime rib, and a good dish of pasta.

Coffee, though, is a different story. My daughter presented me with 2 pounds of Kona Coffee. purchased in Kona, Hawaii for Christmas one year, and my son has given me 4 ounces of the most expensive coffee in the world. To find out how that is produced, Google it.

 

[Sifu Blackirish]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoOfjGqo5EY

 

[talos402000]

Ground fried Iguana in chocolate sauce in a tortilla in Mexico City.
Jalapenjo Ramen soup in Mexico City (Japanese-style Mexican food).
Roast Python in Brazil.
Jungle juice in Panama.
Turducken in Louisiana (chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey).
Fish eggs and scrambled eggs.
Fried snake eggs.

 

[Timerover51]

Ground fried Iguana in chocolate sauce in a tortilla in Mexico City.
Jalapenjo Ramen soup in Mexico City (Japanese-style Mexican food).
Roast Python in Brazil.
Jungle juice in Panama.
Turducken in Louisiana (chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey).
Fish eggs and scrambled eggs.
Fried snake eggs.

I need to try turducken one of these days. I know that you can order them online.

 

[FreeTrav]

I point the participants in this thread to the new section of Freelance Traveller, The Freelance Traveller Cookbook, and invite you all to exercise your culinary bravery and creativity and contribute. Please make sure you've tried any experiments yourself, and that they are in fact palatable.

 

[Enoki]

There's always rattlesnake. Well, snake in general. Pan fried with a little butter. It's a cross between chicken and squid.
Easy to do. Remove head and tail where it tapers to finely to use. Cut the snake along one side of the belly (the belly scales are really tough to cut) and gut the critter. It all comes out in one large piece, more or less.
Then skin it. Getting the meat off you generally end up with chunks rather than large pieces.
Pan fry with butter and serve.

 

[Timerover51]

While not exotic cuisine, hard-boiled eggs were favored by one of the greatest characters in the history of fiction, and one of the finest writers of the 20th Century, Sherlock Holmes and C. S. Lewis.

The following is from "The Problem of Thor Bridge" in the Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.

“There is little to share, but we may discuss it when you have consumed the two hard-boiled eggs with which our new cook has favoured us. Their condition may not be unconnected with the copy of the Family Herald which I observed yesterday upon the hall-table. Even so trivial a matter as cooking an egg demands an attention which is conscious of the passage of time and incompatible with the love romance in that excellent periodical.”

I do have a copy of the Sherlock Holmes cookbook, and also the Narnia cookbook. However, the recipes would be under copyright so I cannot post them. It should be noted that the Lewis recipe for Buttered Eggs is not for those with cholesterol concerns.

 

[Timerover51]

I point the participants in this thread to the new section of Freelance Traveller, The Freelance Traveller Cookbook, and invite you all to exercise your culinary bravery and creativity and contribute. Please make sure you've tried any experiments yourself, and that they are in fact palatable.

Jeff, I have a very large collection of cookbooks, many of which are copyright free, as well as U. S. Army and Navy cookbooks, and some Victorian Royal Army recipes. I assume that all would be fair game for you. Do you want them here or emailed to Freelance Traveller in .doc format?

 

[bromdenlong]

Dog

I wasn't told it was dog until I had eaten a good deal of it. The fellows who gave it to me may have been pulling my chain, but it did taste different than other meats I had had. I was drunk, starving, and unwilling to give them the satisfaction of acting shocked, so I asked for seconds. They seemed surprised and a little disappointed that I wasn't freaked out, but they gave me more. It was chopped up hamburger style, well marbled and a little sweet.

The first time I had escargot I was 11. I enjoyed it, but I never liked it afterwards.

 

[Timerover51]

I came across the following rations for dogs in TM 10-396 Technical Manual: War Dogs, U. S. War Department, 1 July 1943. The full manual can be downloaded at archive.org for those interested.

72. Meat. —Meat is considered the essential part of a normal dog's diet. When it is used as a ration, it is almost completely digested and assimilated. Most meat or meat products can be used in the dog's diet ; such parts of the carcass which are usually considered unfit for human consumption are, on the whole, more nourishing to the dog than cuts of muscle meat. Intestines, lungs, heart, liver, genital organs, lips, nostrils, cheeks, udders, tail, brain, and tripe are all excellent sources of animal protein essential in the dog's diet. Beef, mutton, lamb, and horse meat are to be preferred; fresh meat is more satisfactory than meat that is salted, cured, or preserved. Horse meat is an excellent food for dogs provided that the meat is not too lean, or that fat is added if there is not enough in the meat. When horse meat is fed, it often causes a relaxed condition of the bowels. This condition may be avoided by gradually adding horse meat to the diet. Meat may be fed raw, boiled, roasted, or broiled, but should not be fried. It may be fed in medium-sized pieces, or ground.

The formula for a 60-pound dog in training includes —

1/2 pound cooked horse meat.
3/4 pound raw horse meat (ground with the bone).
1/2 pound yellow cornmeal cooked for 2 hours in horse-meat broth.
1/2 pound rolled oatmeal cooked for 2 hours in horse-meat broth.
1/2 pound commercial dog feed.
Salt added in amounts to make 1 percent based on dry weight-

The following is a sample ration for a dog weighing 50 pounds:

1 1/2 pounds cooked or raw meat, or other sources of animal products equivalent in protein content.
1 tablespoon of mashed vegetables.
2 slices of bread or equivalent amount of a good cereal (either dry or cooked).

(b) It is advisable to feed raw meat at least twice a week. In general, a dog's main meal should consist of 1 1/2 pounds of meat to each 50 pounds of body weight, depending upon the size of the dog and the amount of work he is required to do.

The application to Vargr should be pretty obvious, and a reasonable approach would be to double the listed rations. The manual does have an entire chapter devoted to the proper feeding of dogs. I would also guess that the Vargr home world has a fairly wide range of Terran herbivores on it, along with associated vegetation, to supply the necessary meat for the Vargr. Aslan rations would be similar with maybe more emphasis on fresh meat in larger quantities as the Aslan are larger. I would need to go back and check my copy of The Serengeti Lion to be sure, but if I remember correctly, the rule of thumb for lions and tigers is 3 per cent of their body weight in fresh meat a day.