For complicated reasons, cable TV has returned, probably temporarily, to our house. (Really, don't ask). And can I just say that, um, (looks around guiltily) ... I love it! I mean, like licensed joyologist Helen Madden, I love it I love it I love it! We gots the B side now, which improves our options mightily, as previously cable was mostly crap religious channels, Spanish channels, and home shopping. Now we have news channels, and we've got the Food Network and the Travel Channel. Last night I discovered my new favorite junk TV show: "Bizarre Food with Andrew Zimmern." OK, it's probably not fair to call it "junk" -- it's actually really entertaining.
The premise of the show is that this jolly guy, Andrew Zimmern, travels around the world eating weird food. I found it last night as the host was in Iceland, eating rotten shark meat, grilled puffin, sheep's blood cake and all kinds of things that suggests that if you find yourself in Reykjavik, the first thing to do is find out where the Burger King is.
I only watched one episode, and nothing he ate was nearly as gross as Anthony Bourdain swallowing the beating heart of a cobra. Still, the program makes you think about the limits of your own gastronomical adventurousness. For all my yammering on about food, I'm actually pretty much a fraidy-cat on this front. I'm disinclined to eat fish outside of a fairly narrow range of choices (then again, I ate no seafood at all until I was 15). I can't stomach the idea of organ meats, though I adore liver pate. Fermented foods are hit and miss, probably because I have an extremely acute sense of smell, and a weak stomach.
Let me poll the room: what are some foods that you absolutely positively won't eat? What are some foods that most people won't touch, but that you love? On that second front, I will eat and absolutely adore foods that are far hotter (in the sense of spicy) than most people can tolerate.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
I have to have a few drinks in me before I will try anything exotic!
Like in Lima, Peru about twenty years ago: My friend and I went out with some Peruvian friends to a restaurant about midnight (packed with people at that hour!) and I tried beef heart. (I forget the Spanish name for it.)
A couple of years later my friend and I were in Ecuador where we found a driver whom we hired for a couple of excursions. One day he brought along his wife. At lunchtime we stopped at a restaurant that specialized in "cuy" (in Spanish) in English guinea pig! Um, no thanks!
You have to draw the line somewhere!
Oh, and speaking of spicy food, Rod: Today I went to Martha's Vineyard with two friends. At lunch I had an extremely spicy cole slaw. Don't know what made it so spicy, but it was wonderful. Burned my mouth!
I want to second the approval of Alton Brown's Good Eats. The man's a mad genius. Just watch the episode where he makes beef jerky with a box fan, or a turkey derrick (for a deep fried turkey) out of a step ladder, or uses the spin cycle on his washing machine to dry collard greens, and try to tell me I'm wrong. Also, there's a fair amount of fantastic food lore, science, and history he throws in for good measure. I always learn something profitable from each episode.
Oh, I am a huge Alton fan.
He combines geek (in a good way) with food science, with history and cooking tips. Including best tools to use, etc.
Will not eat, and will pick out of food if I have to to avoid it: Carrots, more than anything else. (Also won't eat broccoli, but definitely less of an issue because its less ubiquitious).
Will eat: fish eyes and heads. Beef tongues. Used to eat lots of other things before I went kosher- this topic makes me wonder if any place to get kosher fried calf brains?
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.