Kentucky Fried Chicken !

<Have any Fodorites eaten horsemeat?>
I used to when I was a kid, I think the meat was a bit cheaper than beef meat.
Honestlty there is no big difference with beef meat. It seems that most of the "boucheries chevalines" (horse butcher's) have disappeared in France but you can still find the meat, even in a Carrefour shop, just next to beef.

I'd like to know what you think about oysters, as there are very popular in France especially for Christmas and New Year' meals. I love that!

Horse meat has quite a few fans in Switzerland. During our New Year's Eve party, the host offered: beef, pork, chicken and horse meat to put on the party grill. The horse meat was the reddest. I didn't touch it.

I wouldn't call a McDonalds hamburger revolting, exactly - the bland, soft thing hasn't got enough character to warrant such an adjective, but it's certainly depressing. And in an act of supreme cultural imperialism their Australian outlets always include a pickle, a deeply alien ingredient that most consumers rightly toss out. To make matters worse, it doesn't matter how many times customers ask for "chips", they're always offered "fries". Their "hot cakes" are closer to revolting - recycled cardboard soaked in sweetened sump oil.

Ah, that feels better! Now - I'm used to people having an irrational horror of unconventional animal parts, but the only people I know who'd knock back succulent beef cheeks are vegetarians - and who cares about them?

And I must say I'm surprised at some posters' aversion to squid and octopus. You'd be hard pressed to find a restaurant of almost any ethnic persuasion in this country that doesn't have at least one of them on the menu, at least in the form of deep-fried calamari rings and grilled baby octopus. There's nothing inherently revolting about them, which supports the idea that our preferences are mostly the result of cultural conditioning.

Personally, I find porridge (oatmeal) and parsnips, both beloved of my Anglo-Celtic forebears, thoroughly unpleasant.

I've always found McD's double cheese burgers to be quite tasty, as most people do. At least the burgers in the USA. Don't think I've ever been in a McDs overseas.

They are engineered to appeal to most people's tastebuds--so if they don't taste good to someone, it's usually because their tastebuds are unusual (or because they are from a culture not familiar with hamburgers). Nothing wrong with that, but don't blame the burgers. Do always order them without onions or pickles or mustard or something else they normally include--that way you won't get a soggy bun from one that's been sitting under the heat lamp.

My big complaints with McD's burgers are the burger/bun-size ratio and the texture of the meat. I prefer a coarser grind for my ground beef.

Hi Cocofromdijon,
We just had fresh oysters on the half shell last week down in Provincetown Capecod, Massachusetts, US.

They were harvested in Wellfleet Capecod and very delicious (although not for everyone) - served with lemon and coctail sauce - nice bottle of pinot grigio - perfect.

Some perfer fryed, in stews and many other ways - very popular around these parts.
Bon apetite!
Sherry

I love the oysters in France, especially those from Arcachon.

Pfff! I feel relieved! Can I say I like them alive too? I hate checking if they still are before eating them but I sure don't want to be sick! I never tasted them cooked. And I don't put lemon or anything on them anymore because it "kills" their vitamins (can't remember which ones!)

ira, Carrefour sales Fines de claire 12€ for two dozens, do you want to share? ;-)

I adore oysters. And I do remember seeing many shops in Paris that specialized in horse meat but this was 20 or more years ago. But horse meat is still a favoried dish in Verona, Italy. We were surprised to see it on menus a few years ago.

I could not understand what all the fuss was about andouille sausage...or why it is any more awful than Genoa salami, for example. Thanks to Artvark for pointing out the confusion.

artvark, no confusion here. I love Cajun andouille sausage, it't the French stuff that is horrible!!!

And the French stuff is not called Andouille!

Take one lb. of cod tongues...my husband's aunt made some horrendous dish with these when he was a youngster. He's never forgotten the experience! A fave in the Atlantic provinces.

>ira, Carrefour sales Fines de claire 12€ for two dozens, do you want to share?<

Go ahead, rub it in, coco.

Down here I'm lucky to get bland, fresh-water oysters that are still alive at about the same price.



PS, I am planning a visit to Dijon in late May 2007.

Would you please send me information on your apartment at [email protected]?

The horsement incident was in the 1970's. I, too, havent seen any recently. A funny story about escargots, which i LOVE. While in Nashville TN on business for a week, a group of good ole boys took me out every night for a week to various fried chicken and home cooking restaurants (which I love). On my night to choose, I selected a lovely French restaurant near the Vanderbilt U campus and ordered for all of them. These were men who chewed tobacco and bragged of shooting and eating Bambi, Thumper, squirrels and other Disney creatures (now that sounds revolting!). When the escargots arrived, not one of them would touch it when the waiter explained what it was. Likewise with sweetbreads (yum!). I guess it takes all kinds to make an interesting and diverse world!

For those who remember the Two Fat Ladies, they put out a calendar once with a recipe for every month. One month featured a piece of beef offal I'd never imagined either cooking or eating. The recipe began (and I can just imagine the cackles with which this was written): "Scald and skin your penis..."

Ira, I'm with you. Arcachon oysters (and sea food platters) are the best !

I love oysters too - all kinds - but you've just reminded me of an incident 2 christmasses ago that put me off them for all of 2 months (until I forgot about it, that is).

I work very near to an excellent market that sells great seafood. The selections are at their best in December and so I bought 2 dozen of the biggest oysters I've ever found for a special meal. I had them in the fridge between wet kitchen towels for 2 days before I shucked them, and upon doing so discovered in one fine specimen, a pure white 'ball' about the size of a large pearl. I knew it couldn't be a pearly for it looked most like a large 'boil' (I know, I apologise) but I was shocked by how white and round it was. I lay the oyster and contents in the sink and left the kitchen for a minute. When I got back and looked into the sink, the 'ball' was moving very slowly in the oyster. Then, within seconds in fron of my very eyes, it unfurled itself into a pure white spider crab, the bigger than a quarter ! To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Within a few more minutes, it became very active and soon was running around the sink, slipping down the steel sides as it tried to get out.

From that day on, I inspect my oysters very carefully before popping them into my gob.

ate by accident - Twiglets.
A snack from england that look at first glance like pretzel sticks.
Instead they are made with Marmite - a truly disgusting food - eaten by the brits, which tastes like mud.

Hi Mathieu.

>...a pure white spider crab...<

First time I visited my wife's folks, we got some oysters from the cove behind their house.

I opened one, and it had a crab in it.

Everyone told me how lucky I was, how good they tasted, how expensive they were.

Yet, no one would have it themselves.

Gosh, stevie, you must have funny mud where you come from..

OK, so now I'm going to have nightmares about oyster boils that turn into crabs and RUN AROUND THE KITCHEN!!!! ARGHHHH!