ottawa foodies

Over the years we have had some interesting conversations on ottawafoodies. For example:

What are the strangest things you ever ate? Forum - What are the strangest things you ever ate?

What are your top ten Ottawa foods? Forum - What are your top ten Ottawa foods?

So my question today is: Are there any foods you will not eat? I am not brave enough to try fugu.

I would not eat dog or monkey. Can't think of anything else I wouldn't at least try.

Hmmm, I think I'm with you, blubarry. I don't think I'm ready for dog or monkey. And maybe not ready for brains, either.

I'll take a pass on tripe. I am also not interested in anything in the 'pet' families. Just can't get my head around it. I suppose I could keep telling myself it was 'chicken' but I am not convinced that would work. Though I have to say, rabbit is DELICIOUS.

Food is fun, I had tripe at Navarra once and it was delicious. Also have had it at dim sum.

There are foods and dishes I won't eat because I don't like them (brussel sprouts, sweetcorn, pickerel, risotto) but nothing that I wouldn't eat on principle, as long as it's legal and humanely managed. Although if I met the animal when it was alive and knew its name, I might take a pass.

I've never understood people having an issue with the idea of eating an animal's brain or eyeballs or testicles, but being quite happy to pay a lot of money for a cooked slice of arse muscle.

I agree with Johnny English, there a couple of foods that I won't eat because I have tried them in the past and am not huge on them.

For the most part I am willing to eat anything, at least once. Pass the soylent green!

mushrooms!

and since i am a vegetarian, everyone seems to assume feeding me a lot of mushrooms is a safe bet. just the thought of them makes me retch.

Anything that is still moving.

Really, I love raw meat and raw fish, and I've eaten fried crickets, but when I see people eating live octopus or crickets that are still kicking, it makes me cringe a bit.

I'll eat pretty much anything edible in a survival situation (worst tasting thing I ever ate : water lily root, on a survival weekend), but even in those circumstances I don't see any reason not to kill an animal before you eat it...

Oh, and obviously, I'd rather avoid eating anything toxic/potentially toxic, including fugu, unknown mushrooms, spoiled food...

Surströmming...very interesting food though.
en.wikipedia.org
I had fugu sashimi in Japan, it was tasty. Only the licensed cooks can prep and cook Fugu in Japan. I know a sushi chef in Ottawa, he has this license, but I am not sure if it is even legal to eat fugu in Canada.

I haven't had the opportunity to be very adventurous, however there is one food that was put in front of me that I wasn't able to put it in my mouth: the thousand year old egg. en.wikipedia.org

Shark.

Tourist, I find century eggs look a bit funny but I don't find them a whole lot different than a boiled egg in texture or taste. I used to go through cartons of them, until I ran in to a bad egg which put me off for quite a while.

I can't think of anything I'd not try at least once. I often go out of my way to try things I've never had before.

I agree with a lot of what has been said.....

that century eggs are a no go for me, and well as dogs and cats....and turtle and maybe shark. I'd also veto foods i simply don't care for, tapioca being at the top of the list and Swiss chard....but that's tried and rejected already.

Beyond that I'm always up for new things once....like chicken heart or chicken feet, bugs, various organs....YUM :)

and.....I WAS vegan for 6 years.....so I've changed quite a bit, and now support nose to tail cooking a lot!

I have had chilands and Andouille de Guémené and to be honest neither were good. It tasted like what you would expect. I think I off intestine. Everything else goes.

Maple syrup. Seriously. It makes me wretch. Maybe because my dad used to run a sugar bush and the stuff was always around. Maybe just because all maple products are vile and should be destroyed. Also, sponge toffee. It makes my teeth itchy.

I'm pretty sure I've had dog and monkey on my trip through Asia (Rizak's Tour of the Earth, '86).

I don't think I'm too fond of the idea of eating prairie oysters or brains. There are a few other things that I probably wouldn't seek out, but not much that I probably wouldn't try.

My problem is my sensitive palate and attached acute sense of smell. I can tell if someone is eating a cucumber 6 cubicles away and go into a coughing fit from the odour of ketchup. It's fine if I'M eating it, but I get a whiff and have to wuff. This is why I don't like single malts; the smell.

Rizak Wow someone doesn't like maple syrup - I can't imaginge life without it-;) But if your dad had a sugar bush I can see how that may have turned you off of the product.

My mom used to love Campbells beef consomé but I couldn't stand the stuff - it didn't matter how hungry I was I would rather starve to death than eat it. Whenever I was sick she would say "I will make you some beef consomé - it will make you feel better!". Yeah right. So I would never tell my mom I was sick unless I was near death in fear of the beef consomé.

Rizak's Tour of the Earth? I'm intrigued... Any foodie stories you care to share?...

Rizak, I agree with you on the sponge toffee, and add Jolly Ranchers to that group.

Honey... I can eat it when it's disguised in things, but alone, even just the smell makes me shudder.

Sponge toffee is good if you break it into small chunks and coat it with chocolate or white chocolate, and LWB I use crushed jolly ranchers for the stained glass in stained glass cookies at Christmas time. they have great colors, really fake and lurid.

Though I'm all for escargots, I once ordered snails of a larger variety in Spain. Only got through a few of them. It's the first time I couldn't eat a food because the animal was too "gross".

I would eat pretty much anything else, unless it was tortured to death. But then again, I eat pigs, chickens and cows in Canada, don't I? (I'm ignorant.)

I'll try just about anything once, though some of the things mentioned by others in this thread (e.g., brains) have no appeal whatsoever. However, one edible(?) substance that I avoid like the plague is horseradish, and its nastier cousin, wasabi.

Apparently I am particularly sensitive to a chemical compound in horseradish, which Wikipedia informs me is called allyl isothiocyanate. Wikipedia also provides this informative nugget about this compound:

"Allyl isothiocyanate serves the plant as a defense against herbivores; since it is harmful to the plant itself, it is stored in the harmless form of the glucosinolate, separate from the myrosinase enzyme. When an animal chews the plant, the allyl isothiocyanate is released, repelling the animal."

I must be a herbivore at heart, since it sure works to repel me! I just can't stand that taste. Why would somebody want to eat something that is even harmful to plants? And doesn't "thiocyanate" have an evil ring to it?

Fortunately, many members of the Brassica family are not afflicted with this compound. I find most of them quite tasty, and I positively love broccoli.

Unless you've been to Japan, it's almost certain you've never had wasabi. The vast majority of "wasabi" outside of Japan is coloured horseradish - it's an incredibly difficult plant to cultivate and therefore very expensive, and very rarely seen outside of its home country.

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I'll try anything .... including HUMAN !! If the deceased wanted it so.

Come on people ... it's all just meat.
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I've told my friends that I want them to BBQ me and consume me when I go. My best friend called dibs on the tenderloins.

Johney English: Wasabi farm in Japan :)
youtu.be/sKp4aZlfZGE
We use shark skin to grate wasabi.

I've never been to Japan, but I've had real Wasabi once, at Uchi restaurant in Austin, TX. It came in a sealed container with the $45 order of wild caught toro sashimi (5 pieces) and it is nothing like the pedestrian wasabi that you find in most sushi restaurants. It has a real kick, but so much more depth and complexity to the flavour. For what it's worth, the chef at Uchi just won a James Beard award and if you're ever in the area it's well worth the trip.

www.uchiaustin.com/

re. wasabi, there are a couple n. American harvesters making a go at it - don't know how successfully? outa my price range, but here's a mail-order example for the curious:

www.wasabia.com/

availability aside, i think BDM's point would still hold - wasabi (the real stuff) does apparently contains the allergenic "allyl isothiocyanate" properties he refers to, so says Wikipedia at least.

as to the thread topic, i'd avoid humans. Even a "bad vegetarian" (as coined on this site) needs practical (legal?) limits. Still be curious as to Captain's recommended marinate, though...

Bananas!!! I can’t even get near them.

As Isabelle said, anything moving. I love fresh food and would love to have some extremely fresh sushi but not that fresh.

The other exceptions for me would be dogs and cats (I have had both as pets), snakes (which give me the willies when alive) and anything that is endangered.

After that, its probably wide open for me.

Itchy feet ... Marinate ? ... marinade ? Since I will not be consuming, the chef decide.

Any suggestions for the chef ?

Lots I won't eat--anything remotely containing msg--I react. I really dislike goat milk, though goat cheese is fine. I have eaten tripe (turned out to be delicious in Florence, Italy), pickled pork lips, chicken livers but none of these would I try again (unfortunately I don't foresee myself in Florence again--I would have the tripe). As a child my mom made stuffed heart_-i found it gross then and wouldn't choose it but if someone (i.e. a chef!) prepared it I might try it. Also I really hate the texture of beef tongue.
There are some asian foods that I know I would have difficulty with (if it is in Toronto's chinatown and looks and smells unfamiliar and stinky I won't try it). If a food has been prepared with knowledge of the prep and ingredients I am usually ok to try it. I do not like raw meat.

W.C Do you eat tomato or Parmesan cheese?

I'm game to trying almost anything but when I think about eating turtle, my face goes sad. :( I just can't imagine eating them.

Oh yeah, frogs too -- but specifically bullfrogs.

I've had sea cucumber and am not a fan.

@BigMouth - i see what you did there. :)

I will try absolutely anything once... even spent some time in Australia and tried all the Aboriginal creepy-crawly snacks, some still trying to make a break for it.

There are some things i would be reluctant to eat on semi-moral grounds - ie: shark fin soup, baby seal steak, filet of whale, tiger testicles, etc - but not having ever been offered such, i can't really guess whether i would try them.

I have tried 'real' wasabi from Japan, and it's all true.