Big Mac, Foie Gras, or PB & J:)

[Trip]

When you travel, are you thrilled to see a familiar favorite restaurant, like McDonalds or Wendys, where you know what you will be getting. It's a no brainer, and, you know you will be eating on the cheap, in most places. or will you gladly seek out a local Mom & Pop bistro, or try a totally different cuisine.

Are you willing to be adventurous, and try things on a lark..Mike M, we know you will eat grubs in the forest:):):) Are you gourmet challenged?
What's the most unusual, gruesome, gag me with a spoon delight,you have ever eaten, in your travels? Any funny cruise food stories?

I remember when we docked in Aruba, much to my chagrin, there was a Dunkin Donuts and Wendys...It seemed to me, they just were so out of place, in paradise:)...I dunno, maybe it's just me...

[Donna]

Not that I would try things like our Mike does, but I do try out different things that I don't normall get at home. I certainly never go into a Micky D's or Wendy's while on vacation, its just a no, no!

[venice]

When I go to Hawaii I like to go to MacDonald's for breakfast because you get rice

[JamesRT]

Had Rattlesnake meat, and chocolate covered ants once, also pickled eels a few times. Bet'cha can't eat just one!

[fllady]

BBQ rattle snake is delicious!
Gator tail deep fried is to die for~~ yummm I am getting hungry!

[rollerdonna]

I am not very adventurous with food, not into seafood at all, which is unfortunate since I love the Caribbean so much.
However, I draw the line at McDonald's and such, don't like them much.

Since we don't have a lot of familiar American restaurants here in Canada, it's a treat to try something like IHOP or Denny's or Arby's when in port cities like Miami or FLL.
As for the islands, I'll stick to ship food...or Margaritaville!

donna

[katlady]

I like a good adventure. I come for California and we have a lot of different types of restuarant Mexican, Hawaiian, Japanese, Thai, and Chinese just to name a few. The strangest thing I have eaten was frog legs on Celebrity Infinity. I won't do it again but now I can say for certain I don't like frog legs. BTW it doesn't taste like chicken.

[venice]

well I guess that my fellow Lousiana CM'ers will have to make sure when you come to New Orleans for Blog2Nola, that we offer you some unique regional "treats" (hint has lots of alligator in it)

[Pootersdad]

Well, I remember eating roasted pigeons in Cario and a restaurant called, oddly enough, The Pigeon Restaurant. These are the same pigeons you see roosting on the tops of buildings.

Also, I ate a lot of local foods in Ethiopia, but can't remember the names pf any of them.

[ToddDH]

Pootersdad,

Ahhh, but in the US, they try to fool you. Decades ago when I lived in the Hudson Valley in New York, while doing the weekly grocery shopping I noticed something in the frozen case twixt the turkeys and chickens labeled "Squab." I asked a passing butcher what it was. He replied, "pigeon."

When he saw the look on my face, he burst out laughing.

Todd

[Sea Trekker]

Yes, by all that is eatiable we will try anything once.
In Holland we ate the raw herring, with onions and pickels from street vendors.
See the tavel channel when it shows Amsterdam. Or ask Jacky.
the Croucretts were some thing else.(you don't want to know what is in them)
I like the seafood in Europe. May of the dishes we ate in restruants were local foods and very good. The cruise ship had dishes from the Mediterran.
Also, the chocolates in Belgium were to die for.
YUMMMM
Carole 8)

[Sea Trekker]

In Florida the local dish is "Swamp cabbage" It is the local palm tree root, cut up into small pieces, boiled with bacon fat. It is usually served with the pig roast on a hunting outing. It s guy thing.
Not my favorite thing to do. I like the comfort of my nice bed and AC.
Carole 8)

[Cruznut2]

Not a big fan of hamburger joints in any country so I try the local cuisine when possible. In Hawaii the strangest thing I had tried was poi. It is made from the roots of tarot leaves. The host called poi the "two finger food" Scoop some on your index finger and put it in your mouth....Taste...Scoop it out with the other index finger!!!

Laura

[arkiegal]

Definitely, the fois gras...... on our last trip to London my DD and I ate at a well-recommended French restaurant. This was before she went vegetarian....... she was my "picky" eater...... she had her normal salad and bifstek w/ pomme frites..... I started with a fois gras & truffles appetizer. It was sauteed and had a luscious wine sauce...... it looked and smelled like heaven and she asked for a bite. As she was exclaiming over how wonderful it was, she asked what fois gras and truffles were. I wish you could have seen her face when I said,"Basically, goose liver and mushrooms!"

[Mike M]

Originally Posted by Trip

When you travel, are you thrilled to see a familiar favorite restaurant, like McDonalds or Wendys, where you know what you will be getting. It's a no brainer, and, you know you will be eating on the cheap, in most places. or will you gladly seek out a local Mom & Pop bistro, or try a totally different cuisine.

Are you willing to be adventurous, and try things on a lark..Mike M, we know you will eat grubs in the forest Are you gourmet challenged?
What's the most unusual, gruesome, gag me with a spoon delight,you have ever eaten, in your travels? Any funny cruise food stories?

I remember when we docked in Aruba, much to my chagrin, there was a Dunkin Donuts and Wendys...It seemed to me, they just were so out of place, in paradise...I dunno, maybe it's just me...

Other than last nights BBQ dinner it has to be the cold poached egg in chilled fish broth in Osaka, Japan. The bad part was that I had no idea that the broth was chilled nor that it was a fish broth I thought it was a miso or chicken broth. I made the critical mistake of not leaning down and smelling my food before eating it.. It was a small chicken egg so I picked it up with my chopsticks and popped it in my mouth. The overpowering taste of something like rotten fish paste hit me like a brick. I had no idea what to do: Do I spit it out or do I swallow. Will I make a fool of myself if I do a spit take in the middle of this restaurant? Yes, I probably will so I reached down into my will power and with all of my strength I swallowed and then grabbed my tea and sucked it down to suppress my gag reflex. I then grabbed Betty's tea and drank that. I didn't blow my rice but I did couldn't finish my meal.

Take care,
Mike

[eddie quinn]

if you come to scotland i dare you to try sheeps intestines its called haggis

[bahamamomma]

I'll try anything once -

Kat - you don't like frog legs !!! oh my my cousin and I will kill for those!!

The other thing that I enjoy with a really cold beer is mountain oysters!!
( and... no, they are not seafood!!!!)

[katlady]

Originally Posted by Cruznut2

Not a big fan of hamburger joints in any country so I try the local cuisine when possible. In Hawaii the strangest thing I had tried was poi. It is made from the roots of tarot leaves. The host called poi the "two finger food" Scoop some on your index finger and put it in your mouth....Taste...Scoop it out with the other index finger!!!

Laura

My mom was born on the big island of Hawaii, so I attended Luaus as a kid. We had Poi and let me say I would prefer to eat paste. My mom love it. Different strokes of different folks. Did you like the Poi. Poi should not be confused with Tahitian po'e, which is a sweet, pudding-like dish made with bananas, papaya, pumpkin or mangoes cooked with cream. We make own Tahitian po'e with pumpkin and that is tasty.

Bahamamomma I will save you my frog legs and Rocky Mountain oysters (yes I know what it is).

[ToddDH]

eddie quinn,

I have a pretty strong stomach but Haggis? About a year ago they did a thing on TV Food Network on Haggis. Having heard about it but knowing nothing of what it consisted, I figured that it really couldn't be all that bad.

Of course it wasn't. It was worse....MUCH WORSE!

Before they had got through the ingredients (of which intestines is but a wee part) and were into explaining how it was cooked and served and especially what it tasted like (forget even about the "presentation"), I came close to having to run to the bathroom.

I mean I'm so proud of myself that I can now enjoy squid and octopus but Haggis?!!!

Bless you Eddie, for anyone who can eat Haggis definitely has my admiration!

Todd

[DougR.]

Stuff that I have eaten:

-Possum Stew (Misissippi)
-Armadillo Sausage (Texas)
-Menudo (Texas)
-Catfish Pizza (Alabama)
-Haggis (Scotland)
-Steak & Kidney Pie (England)
-Jellied Eel (England)
-Bull Testes (Spain)
-Scrapple (NJ & Pa)
-Somthing that appeared to be a grashopper on a stick (Korea)
-Fish Head Stew (NY)
-Milk Bone (NJ)

[DougR.]

Stuff that I have eaten:

-Possum Stew (Misissippi)
-Armadillo Sausage (Texas)
-Menudo (Texas)
-Catfish Pizza (Alabama)
-Haggis (Scotland)
-Steak & Kidney Pie (England)
-Jellied Eel (England)
-Bull Testes (Spain)
-Scrapple (NJ & Pa)
-Somthing that appeared to be a grashopper on a stick (Korea)
-Fish Head Stew (NY)
-Milk Bone (NJ)
-Gator (Fl)
-Rattlesnake (OK)

[CruiseNOID]

I love to try different things but most of all I love to try to recreate a dish.

I will have to say the only rocky mountain oysters I will ever eat are DH's and that is as far as I will adventure on that one!!!!

[stever]

When I went to a McDonalds in Hawaii I ordered the Big Mac "Meal" I was shocked to find out it was around 7.50 thinkibng oh well its Hawaii I paid and found I was getting the standard meal with a small helping of Pineapple. I found this interesting and figured they were promoting the local culture etc. I then found if I had said no pineapple the same meal was 4.40 so I had been suckered into paying 3.00 for pineapple.

I wanted to ask the manager if the guy who owned it also owned the pienapple planatation.

[bahamamomma]

Some most interesting dishes - let me add -

turtle soup

bar-b-qued raccoon

along with pheasant, quail, deer, elk, buffalo, squirrel, rabbit

and beef tongue!

and I could go on but I don't want to bore anyone with what I learned from my family in regards to eating!

[Snoozeman]

Originally Posted by DougR.

Stuff that I have eaten:

-Possum Stew (Misissippi)
-Armadillo Sausage (Texas)
-Menudo (Texas)
-Catfish Pizza (Alabama)
-Haggis (Scotland)
-Steak & Kidney Pie (England)
-Jellied Eel (England)
-Bull Testes (Spain)
-Scrapple (NJ & Pa)
-Somthing that appeared to be a grashopper on a stick (Korea)
-Fish Head Stew (NY)
-Milk Bone (NJ)
-Gator (Fl)
-Rattlesnake (OK)

On purpose? :o

Actually good for you. I usually try the local dishes, within reason.

[VTJen]

I like to try new things, but only take it so far. I do not eat organ meat. My parents used to make me eat tongue and liver and stuff as a kid - I choose not to eat that.

I seldom eat fast food - be it at home or on vacation.

I would prefer never having to eat insects or a bat (like the guy on survivor).

Peanut Butter and Jelly is sounding better all the time

[SandyBreit]

Originally Posted by VTJen

I like to try new things, but only take it so far. I do not eat organ meat. My parents used to make me eat tongue and liver and stuff as a kid - I choose not to eat that.

I seldom eat fast food - be it at home or on vacation.

I would prefer never having to eat insects or a bat (like the guy on survivor).

Peanut Butter and Jelly is sounding better all the time

Ditto, ditto, ditto and ditto!! (I call it my "no guts rule," which applies to not only actual "guts" but anything that in my opinion should not be a food item. Hey, it's my list!)

I do admire those people who are more adventurous, though!

[Mike M]

Originally Posted by DougR.

Stuff that I have eaten:

-Possum Stew (Mississippi)
-Armadillo Sausage (Texas)
-Menudo (Texas)
-Catfish Pizza (Alabama)
-Haggis (Scotland)
-Steak & Kidney Pie (England)
-Jellied Eel (England)
-Bull Testes (Spain)
-Scrapple (NJ & Pa)
-Somthing that appeared to be a grasshopper on a stick (Korea)
-Fish Head Stew (NY)
-Milk Bone (NJ)
-Gator (Fl)
-Rattlesnake (OK)

Good list Doug: You do have an open food mind. I've eaten most of the things but I have yet to have armadillo. I will say I love steak and kidney pie and jellied eels. Like anything they can both be made poorly and taste like crap. Also I have had testes that have been REALLY bad. These were in North Carolina and they did not take the membrane off. Yuck. I also have had a bite of a Milkbone but I don't think it's the same as what you are referring to or maybe it is. I had to give the rest of it to Kramer.

BTW: There are a lot of bugs that taste darn good. I never knew crickets were tasty until I tried them.

Take care,
Mike

[AF1]

I go to McDonalds in every foreign country I visit. In every country McDonalds has a specialty. In France they serve croissants for breakfast. In Rome they have a huge salad bar. In Belgium they have expresso bar and pastry shops in the resturaunts. I love them.

[DougR.]

Originally Posted by Snoozeman

On purpose? :o

Actually good for you. I usually try the local dishes, within reason.

All were on purpose although a few were under the influence of alcohol and the Milk Bone (Yes Mike, the one you tossed to Kramer ) on a $10 dare back when I was a teen.

Scrapple I would eat every day if I could.