Strangest creature you've cooked and eaten (not a vegetarian post)

[SubTropicRay]

Ken's post made me think about the strangest animal I've consumed. That would be squirrel (not very exotic or exciting). I'm sure some of you have great stories. What is the most unusual animal you've eaten?

[amazondk]

Ray,

It is not too unusual around here for people to eat monkies. But, monkey was about the most different animal I have eaten. I had a BBQ'd arm which was quite tasty. It still had the little hand on the end of the arm which sort of added to the event. And, I ate it in a clearing in the forest in eastern Bolivia with some forest indians which were harvesting the rice they had planted. I was 2 days walk from the nearest town through the jungle at the time. That was a long time ago, but I still remember it pretty well. I was a lot younger and adventuresome back then.

dk

[Ken Johnson]

Bear.

[Pivi]

snails

[Kim]

That I cooked myself -- rabbit. That I have consumed -- wild boar, maybe not so unusual really. Snails don't seem that unusual to me. I think I would have a hard time eating a monkey unless I was starving to death. Especially with the hand still on, ew! (I'm laughing, Don.) And how was that bear, Ken, greasy and gamey, or tastey? Squirrel sounds kind of like a desperation dinner, Ray. (I'm laughing again, this is a funny thread.) Makes me think of the movie 'O Brother Where Art Thou' when Delmar offers his makeshift barbecue skewer to Everett, "Gopher?"

[palmmermaid]

Well, it would be hard to say what is the strangest animal I've ever eaten. I've had squirrel, frog legs, quail, every part of a hog and cow, alligator, iguana, rattlesnake, wild hog, bear, elk, caribou, and most things from the ocean. Mullet, smoked, brined, fresh, along with the gizzard and roe - yum!

Maybe the strangest would be jellyfish. I had that a couple of times - the first with no probelms, the second one I had to go to the hospital for a shot of epinephrin. I had a severe allergic reaction to it. It was so bad, they didn't even ask me my name when I got to the ER. They just took me back and gave me the shot. Must have been pretty bad. Needless to say, I haven't eaten jelly fish again!

[DoomsDave]

I've eaten alligator -- tasty, like slightly tough veal; javelina, the wild pig of the southwest -- like ultra-dense beef, almost no fat; bunny rabbit, domestic, also like veal, but more tender than alligator.

Anyone eat crow?

[Tad]

Nilgai, indian/paki antelope ferral animal round these parts , rattlesnake,

[Pivi]

Kim, snails don't seem unusual to me too, but it's the most unusual thing i've eaten, if you can call it like that.

So to admit, i didn't eat nothing more unusual than snails.

(i couldn't eat monkey to...man, that's like human brother. To me that's like chinese eating dogs. come on)

[www.dadluvsu.com]

To me that's like chinese eating dogs.

MMMmmmm... Dog tacos in Ixtapa

[Pivi]

hahaha. and that's a chinese dog if i'm wright

[fiji jim]

Something different in Laos.

Squirrel.

And not just the legs of frogs.

These unhatched chicks were a delicacy

[edbrown_III]

worm taccos in Oaxaco--, Rice and big corn with chickens feet in Samipata bolivia ( I jsut thought it was rice soup) & a canned grasshoppers from Vietnam ( in 72) ,. The first two were by accident, the 3rd by commission I only hurled with the grass hoppers but it was mostly mental.

I also ate a decoration on a oeveres platter at a party but that was inanimate and mistaken identity.

Best regards,

Ed

[fiji jim]

And you must have this jerky with rice wine.

[Tad]

no pivi your about as wrong as that costumed chihuahua is, its a mexican dog thats why the whole dog taco thing comes into play, see if it was a chinese dog it would be like a sharpei in a eggroll! or a pug in a dumpling, or a shih tzu in a soup.

[gsn]

And you must have this jerky with rice wine.

Now we're talking BAT jerky!

I like mine with a smooth merlot ,with just a hint of berries, and oak,myself!

Edited July 17, 2008 by gsn

[BS Man about Palms]

Just plain old Ostrich here.

[metalfan]

I haven't always been a vegetarian, ya know. In my younger days I have eaten:

Squirrel fricasee with dirty rice (made by one of the old Cajun ladies I used to work with at the hospital in Galveston)

BBQ rattlesnake and armadillo at a kegger once (I think I can blame that on the, um...shrooms we were eating too, I would have done the snake but never the dillo)

But that's about as far out as I've been with game and other unusual animals.

A friend of mine went to China when we were in high school and ate fried bugs and chocolate covered ants

[Ken Johnson]

Bear is not greasy. I had it Pennsylvania style where they cook the snot out of everything, fat aint got a chance. It was very nutty and Gooooooood . Better than squirrel or dear. Hard to come by. This one the rangers had confiscated from a poacher and distributed to hunters with licenses.

For sure Kobe beef tenderloin must be the best meat in the world but when in Indonesia...........eat unhatched chicken???????????? I want to try it. Does UPS ship it to Goulds?

[Alan_Tampa]

ostrich, emu, rhea, meal worms and beetle grubs. live shrimp, live minnows. Oscars (the aquarium fish), nice orangeish flesh and good in a sandwich.

some fruit I have eaten is a little odd by western standards, durian for one. Hard to get used to, but now I am ok with it.

Alan

[Fouquieria]

And I could hear the arteries a cloggin'!

[Ken Johnson]

Hey Fouqu, That's funny!

[metalfan]

you better get out the Goji berries, pomegranate juice and blueberries PDQ or you're gonna die

[_Keith]

Just about everything above, except Iguana. Haven't had that one yet, but I will when I have the opportunity. Did anyone mention raw oysters, that takes a little courage for first timers who didn't grow up with them.

When I was younger, I had Boudin Noir (Blood Sausage). I remember being quite fond of it. It is now against the law to sell in Louisiana. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsBc2GWGQN8

Squirrel Jambalaya. The skull was included. I remember opening the skull to eat the brain, which was considered a delicacy.

Also, Chock (Boat-Tailed Grackle) Jambalaya. As a pre-teen I would go out with my .22 and shoot them for my Aunt who loved to make that particular Jambalaya.

Pickled Pigs Feet

I have tried every fish known to man, including some considered non-edible. The only one I just could never find a way to make palatable was Jack Gravelle, and I tried many, many ways.

Oh, Nutria. Not bad.

I'll think of more. There is an old joke "When a Cajun is hungry, no animal in the woods is safe", and there is some truth to that joke.

[Walter John]

rabbit.

[Tad]

Wal, tell me it was some kind of extrordinary rabbit like wild tasmanian rabbitt or rabosaurus rex rabbitt....of all the funky animals in the A and rabbitts as wild as it gets?

[DoomsDave]

Bear.

With your clothes on?

Seriously, describe the taste . . . .

[Darold Petty]

While skin diving, we used to crack open sea urchins, then eat the living roe right on the spot. It was Really good!

[DoomsDave]

Termites!

Seriously.

Watched these people over in Africa going hawg-wild over roasted termites, my roommate and I just about peed ourselves laughing.

Next day, there's this termite hatch of winged adults to do adultery and I catch a bunch in a jar, and roast 'em in the microwave.

With pepper. Dang! Taste GOOD! Like peanuts with wings, and hot sauce.

There goes my bad rep to worse . . .

[Tad]

Dave, somthing makes me wonder if you shouldnt be fitted with a warning label that reads "ADULT SUPERVISION REQUIRED AT ALL TIMES"

[Alicehunter2000]

I've eaten alot of the things you all have mentioned above. Also have eaten "cooter" otherwise known as soft-shelled turtle. Here are some pics from last friday serving the latest dish to the family........a good time was had by all.

[gsn]

I've eaten alot of the things you all have mentioned above. Also have eaten "cooter" otherwise known as soft-shelled turtle. Here are some pics from last friday serving the latest dish to the family........a good time was had by all.

Deep fried softshell turtle "cooter" is one of my favorite unusal things to eat,way better than gator, or frog legs which are pretty darn good!

I just wish they weren't so damn hard to clean.Getting them out of the shell is pretty easy,but removing all, or even most of the silver is kinda tuff!

Anyone ever eaten barbecued racoon, pretty tasty, closest cousin is I beleive a bear, Ken?

[Alicehunter2000]

Never eaten coon.....but I had possum once......terrible tasting! Stunk the whole house up baking it. I hear if you trap them and feed them nothing but vegetables for a couple of weeks, they taste better. Dove and Quail is good. Once ate a robin, not bad.

[_Keith]

Possum. I draw the line right there. I know what they eat and their habits. No way.

[DoomsDave]

Possum. I draw the line right there. I know what they eat and their habits. No way.

LIKE HOGS ARE ANY BETTER?

Or chickens?

Seriously!

Or Shrimp!

Or, shrimpers . . .

[_Keith]

Seriously, they are better. I have never seen a chicken or a pig crawl out of a fully wrotten, bloated, maggot ridden carcus. I have seen a possum do that.

Buy me a beer one day and I'll tell you even more. Just don't plan on having a meal afterwards.

And other tales I dare not put in writing, haha.

[aussiearoids]

goanna , cooked by an aboriginal mate ,, very good .. had a little bit of turtle also up on Cape Trib'.

Tried bat rat and dog in Indonesia. enak skali

[Ken Johnson]

Manatee is supposed to be good. They eat the relative in India. Cow of the sea.

Had partrige last year. Nice bird.

Dave, the Bear flavor is more like beef only more robust. VERY good.

And Keith, That boat tailed grackle is a crow, no?. Dave wanted to know if anyone ever ate crow. There ya go Dave!

[SubTropicRay]

Rabbit is tasty too.

[Really full garden]

Living in Guatemala you can only imagine what creatures are eaten! I have eaten Iguana and it is actually very good.Its flakey like fish.I have eaten horse and a strange water mammal(tepescquintle) I dont know what its called in english.Grackles and rice is a common dish here.I refused to eat armadillo- just a mass of fat.