On a recent trip to France my partner and I had to endure the local delicacy of andouille (chitterlings made into a sausage-like object). I just about made it without committing any serious faux pas.
Change or add to ravenswood's language idea to have a database of foods not to serve to particular cultures. (Chitterlings are rarely knowingly eaten in the UK - except maybe Somserset pig farmers...)
Bedouin could then realise they shouldn't serve sheeps' eyeballs, Innuit can avoid offering blubber, and (we) English would not offer mushy peas, greasy chips and gravy or skin-covered custard to others.
But then again, maybe it could be used the other way around - ah! is that why we have MacDonalds?-- snagger, Sep 17 2001 (?) Complete Catalog of Questionable Cuisine http://www.halfbake...stionable_20CuisinePerhaps the CCQC could incorporate your idea as a 'culture' subsection. [sdm, Sep 17 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] 'Probably the best dim-sum in London. Even serves duck's tongue' http://www.makantime.com/ [angel, Sep 17 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] Some etiquette tips. http://hotels.about...weekly/aa110297.htm'while eating chicken feet, duck tongue and frog ovaries, never stick your chopsticks in a bowl upright as this rude gesture is a reminder of the way rice is offered to the dead.' [angel, Sep 17 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] I've been well rewarded for most (but not all) of my blind trust of French chefs. It's amazing how good they can make something you'd never try if you knew what it is before you ordered it. I'm still intrigued by my experience with an appetizer of beef marrow in Paris, which was one of the most heavenly flavors I've ever encountered and simultaneously had a texture that nearly made me gag with each bite. And thank goodness I fell in love with Munich weisswurst in Germany before I learned that a primary ingredient is calf brains.
Also, I continue to hear first-hand accounts that suggest the Chinese find great entertainment in taking the picky western visitor out to eat and intentionally ordering the most stomach-churning offerings for him.-- beauxeault, Sep 18 2001 I happen to have some fermented soybeans in my kitchen. Was that chicken or duck tongues? Oh, shucks, how did you know we were feeding you dead things?-- uneasy, Sep 19 2001 You mean fruits and vegetables are ALIVE when I eat them?-- beauxeault, Sep 19 2001 Some interesting experiences out there - to be fair to La France one of the first 'odd' meals I had (many years ago) was confit duck gizzards - which together with the even better goose gizzards - are now firm favourites. Anyone know what that Yemeni 'sauce' is - looks like thin lightly beaten eggs and tastes, umm, distinctive? And anywhere to get ducks' tongues in the London area?-- snagger, Sep 19 2001 Royal China : Queensway/Bayswater or Baker Street (see link)-- angel, Sep 20 2001 PS - thanks - but thinking about it I actually live nearer Aylesbury than London. What do 'they' do with all the ducks' tongues you don't get when buying a duck? Send them to China? Angel - much appreciated. Will try to give it a go.-- snagger, Sep 20 2001 [angel]: Thanks for the tip. It makes a refreshing change for the HB to give out restaurant advice.
[Peter, UB]: Some Australians (or at least the press decared them as such) were living rough in Hyde Park by eating the geese. Do either of you want to confess? (Peter I know your not an Aussie - it's just that you brought up the Serpentine [urgh]).
Almost forgot the reason for annotating. [snagger]: As much as I like the idea I'm going to have to fishbone it on the grounds that: I enjoy eating fish. I will hurl if forced to eat steak and kidney pud, despite being english.-- st3f, Sep 20 2001 There was a Chinese place here that was cutting costs by catching the ducks that roamed the area. <Butt-ugly critters, big knots of wrinkly red crap on their faces...I felt it was a win-win all the way around, but...>
"Well the cat's in the kettle at the Peking Moon..."-- StarChaser, Sep 22 2001 st3f: That's OK - fishbones, fish heads - all make a good bouillabaisse. As for steak and kidney - well I used to like it. But somewhere I worked served kidneys in the canteen one day. And the entire 12 storey building stank of 'off' animal urine. (Hurl if you need to - in another direction.)-- snagger, Sep 22 2001 I like the idea of the book of the weirdest foods you could encounter in each country. I mean, if you're on a buisness trip, you are supposed to eat what you're served or your hosts could be offended, which might ruin the deal. For instance, a popular drink in China (or so I'm told) is snake guts. They take the snake in a hand at the tail and slide the other hand down the body while squeezing hard so that the guts are pushed out he mouth and into your glass. It's considered a delicacy, and is often drunk during the closing of a deal. Needless to say, I won't be volenteering my help for buisness deals THERE any time soon.-- Galileo, Sep 23 2001 "Are yeast animals?"
Yeast is a fungus.-- phidauex, Aug 13 2004 Haggis, anyone?-- whatrock, Aug 19 2016 I draw the line at bugs. And chicken feet. And whatever else cultures with too many people to not enough food sources think of eating in a pinch.-- RayfordSteele, Aug 19 2016 //Haggis, anyone?// Yes please.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 19 2016 [uneasy] created their account on August 31 of 2001, commented here and two other places on September 19 2001, and was never heard from again.
I happen to have some fermented soybeans in my kitchen. Was that chicken or duck tongues? Oh, shucks, how did you know we were feeding you dead things? — uneasy, Sep 19 2001-- normzone, Aug 20 2016 //mushy peas, greasy chips and gravy or skin-covered custard
Err...sounds good to me.-- not_morrison_rm, Aug 20 2016 random, halfbakery