Josele, thanks for the Spanish word.

Also, I remember when buying pork for tacos at the market in Mexico I followed suggestions and asked for the cheek. They used a word something like "messisa." (But I may be remembering incorrectly...) Do you have any idea what this word might have been in (Mexican) Spanish? (This was a long time ago..)

While I find much of what Andrew Zimmern eats on his show to be interesting, there is not a whole lot that I would be adventurous enough to try myself.

The one thing that I thought looked delicious was when he went to Trinidad & Tobago and had the bake and shark.

Some of the more unusual things we have eaten:

Percebes
Baby eels
Lamb fries (in OK, lamb testicles)
Alligator
Chicken lungs
Chicken feet
Chopped chicken and beef liver
Tongue



What have others tried?

Baby octopus that was still wriggling on the plate was an unusual one for me. (Seoul) Buffalo skin in Laos. I liked the percebes a lot but the price was high in Galicia. Loved those baby eels, too. Oh, chicken penis in Saigon. Rattlesnake soup in Hong Kong...(not really unusual) All the usual innards such as kidney, sweetbreads, tendons, tongues of various animals.. Once had dog meat satay in Sumatra.. Worms from mezcal. Some kind of cricket in a taco in Oaxaca.. Various game animals in southern Africa..(not really unusual) I guess I have a long list..sure there are many I cannot remember! Did I put anyone off their appetite?

No but that dish of chicken penis has me curious ....was it tender or crunchy? Fried? Garlic or onions? Exactly how chewy ....oh no never mind.

Eks you are so adventuous. When are you returning to Spain?

ana maria

I became a fan after viewing the Spain episode. I love that he paid a visit to the "ham museum" in Madrid. We have so many pix in front of store devoted to ham. It definitely brought back some fond culinary memories. We did some rather adventurous eating in the countryside.

Favorite Restaurant was definitely El Caballo Rojo in Cordoba.

Have you tried duck, or lamb sweetbreads with artichokes?

Museo del Jamon is actually a small chain in Madrid.

Ana: They were small. And fried! I just got home but am still thinking of when I can plan the next Spain trip. What about you??

Josele I have never tried either but tell me where!! Ana..you can share!

I love Andrew Zimmern. He shows a lot about the culture of various regions and is always incredibly respectful.

We in America, have the "luxery" of turning our noses up at different foods and so many say they are picky eaters. When you are poor and lucky to have anything at all, you don't waste anything. Many of these "parts" are eaten as a matter of survival for people. I think Andrew shows that and he doesn't eat these things simply for show. These are foods, parts, creatures, insects, what ever, that are eaten by people in various regions on a daily basis.

The one thing I saw him try to eat, more than once, and just couldn't, was Durian (SP) that smelley, squishy, fruit.

That is an insightful post. Too many people turn their noses up at foods without even tasting them first, let alone realizing the reason that certain foods are in the diet in the first place.
You have to chuckle at people concerned about visiting a place like Paris because the menu might be filled with things like liver and kidney! I guess that some of us might be surprised at the things that were on the tables in our own families a few generations back..

I will have to look out for more Andrew Z. shows..so far have only seen Spain and Vietnam.

..and on a similar subject, in tomorrow's New York Times:




http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/ma...n-essay-t.html

Wow, this has turned into a "mine is bigger than yours contest.....so, here is my tid-bit, when in Jalisco Mex. (taocaltiche) the local farmers have a liking for something they refer to as "Machos", this is local slang. Machos is/are the spleen wrapped in lamb intestines and lightly burned in an open fire. Most of the resulting product is rare....at best! Actually not bad with plenty of jalapenos and beer.

I forget the name of the study, but immediately after WWII a University studied why people died of starvation when there was adequate protein available. The conclusion was something like.., cultural habits, ignorance, norms, taboos etc. precluded those who were going to die from lack of food, from eating unfamiliar sources of protein that would have sustained them.

To answer EKS's re pork cheekscheeks, The word I know for cheeks is "cachetes" (at least the cheeks in the face.)

So I called my local Mexican meat market and asked what word they use for pork cheeks, and they said "cachetes" Hmmm.

I did ask if they ever heard of "masisa" and they said yes, that they used this to refer to very lean meat. At the moment they had masisa (this one from the pork I think) and it was the leg meat they said, but he said in general it just means very lean meat. Now the Mexican butcher in Simi Valley CA may use different expressions, but he indeed was born in Mexico I know that. Your Masisa sounds like it was correct just used differently in that part of Mexico. Remember that mejilla could have been used but I think that is more the jaw and may not be a meat term.

BTW EKS looks like 2009 for Andalucia, MAYBE a quick spin in Pedraza. But I am hearing the call of the lechazo and Codex.
We are not sure of exact dates yet.

Ana that is marvelous that you are planning to tramp the lechazo trail once again! Please keep us posted on the plans. I see that Maribel is also Pedraza bound! Well, one of these days.....

Thank you so much for the mesisa information. That makes a lot of sense to me because back then I would have shunned anything that appeared very fatty or anything that obviously came from the pig's face.. This would have been in Guerrero state, by the way...

Speaking (?) of fabulous foods, I still long for that barbacoa de borrego in central Mexico..the meat that they cook in a pit covered with leaves, often on the weekends..

Most of these "weird" dishes we are talking about, you cannot find them in tourisic places, but in Locals'. Things as fried blood with onion, liver, kidneys in sherry...

Sometimes I just get so grossed out. But I have a TON of respect for him and anthony.