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We’ve all heard of vegetarians and vegans, gluton-freers and the dairy-less. Well, my friends, I am an anti-dangerian. Don’t laugh.
Aside from the whole endangered species thing, and the fact that I love animals of all (okay, most) kinds, this is a blog about hypothetical meals. For instance, I would never really eat a baby elephant. No matter what.
I have friends and family members who’ve eaten sha
rk and rattlesnake. This, to me, seems too much like asking for karmic retribution. For instance: Bob eats shark steak. Bob goes to Hawaii on vacation. Bob goes swimming. Bob gets eaten by a tiger shark.
The snake thing goes pretty much the same. I would never eat any of the large carnivores (if they ever happened to be offered at a restaurant) for that exact same reason. I’m not about to have a bite of jaguar ear and then go to the zoo where – bam – the jaguars escape.
I’ve been told that I with my philosophy I shouldn’t be eating beef or pork, either, because people have been killed in stampedes or boar-related accidents. But you see, a lot of other people eat those things. The odds are in my favor. Even so, you would never catch me out in the middle of a pasture of angry cattle, or sitting in a pig stye.
Alligators and crocodiles are both safe from me. Likewise chocolate-covered tarantulas and puffer fish. (Puffer fish can actually kill you as you’re eating them. Now that’s hostile.) And for darned sure I wouldn’t be one of those people out by the side of the road in Yellowstone to take pictures of bison after I’d eaten a bison steak. 
That’s just asking for trouble.
What’s the craziest, most exotic thing you’ve ever eaten? Are there any other anti-dangerians out there, or is it just me?
75 Comments on “You Ate a What?”
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I HADN’T eaten any “exotic” thing. The farthest that I’ve gotten in eating something is venison (game-y, too). BUT my father had eaten dog before. Or was it a cat? Well, in his childhood they were poor, so eating such a “delicacy” was “normal”.
I’m happy eating the usual things like seafood (certain types, though), chicken, pork, and beef.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:04 am.
I haven’t even eaten venison, E.R. I probably could; I’m not in a deer-infested area. But you never know. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 11:43 am.
I live in the suburbs, but a belated neighbor of ours used to hunt and gave us some venison. It was an “adventure” to try it for the first time.
Posted on September 11, 2012 at 5:29 pm.
I’m with you, E.R. The most exotic thing I’ve eaten was pheasant. They can’t fight back really – you don’t hear about too many maulings by angry pheasants … Venison, ditto. I’m definitely a carnivore but, I too, stick to the “safe ones”. The more exotic stuff is too expensive and tends to taste gamey. Karmic retribution wasn’t really on my mind, more frugality (not wasting money on expensive meat that I won’t like). I like your reasons too though, I may have to borrow that idea next time my husband wants to try bison!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:51 am.
Feel free to borrow, Liz — I’m saving lives. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 11:44 am.
DH has eaten more strange stuff than me. He’s eaten rabbit; squirrel; deer and maybe bison. Of course, he was raised in the country while I am totally a city girl. The most “exotic” thing I ever ate was Rocky Mountain Oysters. Or as DH likes to call them “hog nuts”. I was skeptical at first, but they weren’t too bad. I have no interest in eating them again, but I did try them.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:02 am.
I think you’re safe, Sue. Just tell the dh to be careful if you ever go to Yellowstone.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 11:45 am.
I’ve never eaten a carnivore other than fish, I believe… a animal science friend of mine always says that anything that eats other animals has a funky taste. I’ll stick to the herbivores, thank you very much! I’d say the unusual stuff has mostly been game animals… like rabbits, and elk etc. I’ve also had frog, but as far as I know, that isn’t that unusual.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:28 am.
I don’t know, cail — I’ve seen those beautiful poison dart frogs. Be careful if you ever go to a South American rain forest. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 11:46 am.
Aw hell no! ( can I say hell here?). Chicken, beef, pork. That’s it. Seafood is exotic to me and I ain’t eating it. A sassy friend recently said “but salmon is freshwater fish”. Semantics, Sheridan!
I’ve been compelled at work dinners to try duck, rabbit, bison and venison and I didn’t die but I haven’t gone back for more when tastier options were available.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:42 am.
I don’t like fish, either, Fresh!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:13 am.
you know I <3 you. heh
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:34 am.
I don’t like fish either. Except for cod fish because it doesn’t taste fishy
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 10:40 am.
Hey, I don’t like fish, either! And now I know I won’t drown in the briny deep. I think you’re safe, Fresh, if you ate bison unwillingly. They’ll take that into account during the bison apocalypse.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 11:48 am.
I don’t like fish either. It’s cat food.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:03 pm.
I’m thrilled to find so many others who don’t eat fish – no, not even tuna. I’f it swims, no deal.
Janae, cat food? PERFECT!!! you get me.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 3:18 pm.
I have eaten gator and I like it a lot. I’ve also had buffalo and antelope. Not a fan of those.
I don’t know if IV’s hunting escapades count as exotic. I have cooked and eaten deer, rabbit, elk, squirrel, pheasant, wild turkey. Notice the past tense. None of those were worth the trouble of the hours spent and I won’t cook them any more. He’s pretty much stopped hunting everything except that wiley beast the white tailed deer. And fish. He hunts buckets of fish.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:43 am.
Uh, oh, Lori. Be careful if you go swimming in any waterholes.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:03 pm.
I have eaten shark at a Calabash buffet. I didn’t like it. I would love to attend a testicle festival in Montana sometime although I don’t think I would try to eat one. I understand that they are fried. I didn’t know such a thing existed until I saw a sign advertising them.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:47 am.
I don’t know, Sandi — I think you’re just asking for trouble. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:04 pm.
I think I am an anti-dangerian but then again, I will try anything. Except chocolate covered tarantulas. No way. Eewwee…I just got a sick little shiver.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 8:07 am.
That shiver’s good, Julia. It’s your body telling you to “stay away; stay alive”.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:07 pm.
Mushrooms.
No, really. Mushrooms.
I’m highly allergic to them, and why not? They’re fungal growths, aren’t they? Who’d eat something like that and NOT have a Reaction of Biblical Proportion?
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 8:33 am.
I LOVE mushrooms. Lightly sauteed in butter and garlic then added to a salad works fine by me.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 8:53 am.
Me too!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 10:45 am.
I’m with you on the mushrooms, Claudia!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 10:37 am.
Ugh, mushrooms. They have a weird texture and taste. Plus if it has any spores, it can go up your nose and grow because your nose and sinuses have the perfect living conditions for fungus.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:05 pm.
HA! They really are icky to the max. I knew my body was telling me a Great Truth of Life!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 5:37 pm.
Um, I suppose you’d be safe, Claudia, even if you fell through a rabbit hole and ended up in Wonderland. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:08 pm.
I have eaten kangaroo before and they can kill people. There have been reports of people being attacked by them at their own homes. I won’t touch chocolate covered spiders or fried grasshoppers because that’s just wrong. My brother-in-law has eaten dog before but then again he did grow up in the Philippines and was kinda dirt poor as a little kid.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:00 am.
Be careful out in the Outback, Kelly!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:10 pm.
I have eaten rattlesnake and alligator, both of which were very mild. Mice also eaten rabbit, and it’s honestly delicious.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:15 am.
Dang iPad. That’s I’ve also eaten rabbit. Pretty funny if MICE ate rabbit!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:16 am.
Ah Barbara! Even your dang iPad even puts visions in my head!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:30 am.
Lol, Barbara — I was thinking, “I didn’t know rabbits were carnivorous”. *g* You’re just in a lot of trouble, anyway.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:12 pm.
Now, if I can form a proper sentence my day might just go fine. And prepare yourself Suzanne, my list might get to you. I come from a family of hunters and sometime fishermen. I was always encouraged to try different foods from a young age. Then I didn’t know any better, now I’m a little more…choosy! I have tried pheasant, dove, duck, venison, frog legs, shark, elk, bison, ostrich, and alligator, to name a few. Okay, so the ostrich was a dare, and even though I was old enough to know better I still did it! It was very good though. So if I went by your way of thinking I better not step out of my house, ever!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:41 am.
Wow, Kelly. Never leave the suburbs. Ever. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:13 pm.
Lemme see… I have had piranha in the Amazon (though the ones we caught were too small to eat, they had some bigger ones we tried a bite of. Tasted like… fish.) I had alpaca in Peru (reminds me of veal in texture) and a number of different types of fish when I was in SE Asia. Then many of the game meats like venison, elk, etc.. and usually I find them too gamey tasting.
I am going to classify myself as “somewhat adventurous” with what I eat, though I don’t classify do’s and don’t by the danger rating.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:45 am.
Sheridan. You. Ate. Piranha. I’m never going swimming with you. Nope.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:14 pm.
ate AND caught
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:33 pm.
Yeah, what Suzie said!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:17 pm.
I don’t eat anything but the basics beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and every vegetable that crosses my path. One a trip to NYC many years ago my sister brought me a cookbook by Peter Livingstone (the grandson of that Livingstone)by the title How To Cook A Rogue Elephant. It was actually a memoir of his life in the British Army with recipes; non of which had any elephants in them.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 10:11 am.
Oh, thank goodness, evlqn. I thought your post was going to have a terrible ending. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:15 pm.
The most exotic think I’ve had would probably be quail and dove. Quail was good, but REALLY small…like a mouse would probably need two kind of small.
Dove was like chicken liver…blech.
I like some kinds of fish, but don’t like shrimp at all, and crab is just ok. One of my best girlfriends never fails to laugh because she LOVES shrimp and crab and will get some crab and dip it in a garlic butter sauce–then I ask how she likes her $25 garlic butter…
The crab tastes like whatever sauce it is dipped in, and I’d much rather eat something with a flavor of its own. 
I don’t know if I’d consider myself an “antidangerian,” but there are just some things that I cannot see myself eating ever–horse, dog, cat, rabbits, frogs, squirrels, snakes….I could go on. Just can’t picture it.
I love chicken, pork, turkey and beef. I also like veal and lamb on occasion, but can take it or leave it.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 10:39 am.
It sounds like you’ve made wise decisions, Julie. You should be safe.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:16 pm.
I’m not terribly adventurous in the eating of animals. My husband has had shark–he said it tasted like chicken but had the texture of fish. Though I have eaten escargot before (snails). It was terrible. Tasted like squid mixed with mushrooms… yuk!
I like the basics, though I find that I’m not able to eat red meat anymore. Don’t know why, but it’s stopped agreeing with me. So from now on it’s chicken, fish, lobster, prawns, and crab.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 10:41 am.
Don’t go deep sea diving with hubby, Cheri, and be careful about roving herds of angry snails in your garden. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:18 pm.
I’ll generally try most things that aren’t slimy or smelly.
I can’t eat anything that I’ve seen alive or that can be a pet.
I’m currently living in Scotland so I tried haggis. Even though its ingredients are gross, it actually tastes pretty good.. kinda like minced and seasoned ground beef. My friends freaked when I told them lol
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 10:43 am.
I keep hearing that haggis is good, Archer, but I’m leery of anything that has to be called something other than what it is. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 1:12 pm.
The most exotic thing I’ve eaten is Octopus. Actually it was quite tasty if you can get it out of your head what you are eating.
I won’t try testicles, Rocky Mountain Oysters. Think about this, you eat something and karma gets you. Eat the testicles and the actual animal is out there alive and very pissed off.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:16 pm.
Exactly, Michelle! And you should stay away from underwater reefs. Just in case.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:18 pm.
Being from Montana, I’ve eaten some meat that would be considered exotic – venison, bison, antelope, and ostrich. The ostrich was kind of weird because of the purple coloring. It tasted a little gamey. Antelope is plain nasty because they eat sagebrush, so they taste like sagebrush. Venison has to be cooked the right way or it tastes gamey. One of my girlfriends’ parents used to just fry it up – nasty; 6th grade science teacher made jerky – yummy; my mom put it in stew – not so bad; one of my grandmas used it in meatloaf – learned to avoid any meat at her house. I like bison. We had it BBQed like a roast every year at my dad’s company picnic. I don’t like it as hamburgers, though.
If it smells funny or has a weird texture, I’m not eating it.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:24 pm.
You need to stay off the Great Plains, Janae. Of the U.S. and Africa. :->
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 1:13 pm.
Hah! I immediately thought of that bison footage when I started reading your post. I’ve eaten wild birds hunted by my f-i-l and I think I had venison once as a kid. All tastes too gamey for me. The dh has eaten lots of weird things including the sea urchin he had as an appetizer a couple of months back at an Italian restaurant. Bleh. They just lopped off the top and served it with toast points. It was orange-ish and slimy inside and smelled like a tide pool. The whole time he ate it =the little arm/tentacle thingies were moving=. I swear to God I didn’t dare him or anything. He thought it sounded interesting, so he ate it. I forget what he chose as an entree. I was so traumatized I ordered what was essentially macaroni and cheese. Comfort food!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:33 pm.
Wow. All I can say, Christie, is that your dh should NEVER go walking around in tide pools. Especially barefoot. Blech. And now I have to go wash my mouth out with a cookie.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:36 pm.
I almost did bodily harm to my sister when she tried to feed me sea urchin liver at a sushi place. My dinner was cooked!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:43 pm.
I have tried quite a variety of meats: venison, pheasant, dove, rabbit, duck and squirrel among them. The squirrel was stringy and the dove does have a strong flavor that resembles liver as someone else said. I prefer crab over lobster. The most surprising things I enjoyed were beef tongue and sweetbreads (beef thymus gland). Depends on the preparation though. But no snails. Ever. Not even on a bet.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:38 pm.
You’re way more adventurous than I am, Laura. I don’t think any of those things could kill you — unless they all ganged up together.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 1:14 pm.
So, I think the most exotic thing I have ever eaten are escargot (snails in garlic butter. I am a semi-adventurous person in that I will eat practically any thing from the ocean. Land is another matter. Beef, Pork, chicken and even they are hard because I have them around me at the farm. I would never touch whale. I will never touch anything endangered and I will never eat seal or monkey or anything Andrew Zimmer eats.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 1:44 pm.
I think not eating what Andrew Zimmer eats is a good way to live, Debbie. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 2:18 pm.
I had some alligator once. I was in Louisiana and while there are lots of alligators there, there are certainly a lot more people who are eating them, too.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 2:18 pm.
You were living dangerously, Phyllis!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 5:03 pm.
On a side note, was anybody else freaked out by that photo of the kid at the zoo with the lion behind him? Talk about being somebody’s dinner. If I was that kid, I’d never sleep again.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 2:19 pm.
I have seen alligator, frog, snail, even chocolate covered ants, beetles, grasshoppers – I couldn’t even look at it on someone elses plate. I am and always have been a picky eater, and I have one of those stomachs – something smells, I have the heaves. Even some vegetables need not fear from me – brussel sprouts, cabbage, nothing to worry about I won’t eat them.
I play it safe, eat what I can, the tastes I enjoy – have to do it moderation (I did gain some weight recently).
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 2:38 pm.
Carla, I think you and I are safe to go anywhere on vacation. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 5:04 pm.
Strangest thing I have ever eaten was badger. My husband is an avid hunter and has this thing about eating what you kill. That said he didn’t set out to kill a badger. He and his Dad were out hunting and the badger was posied just behind my father-in-law on his hind legs ready to swipe Dad, in a very sensitive area if get my drift, with his horror movie claws. So, my DH shot it. After Dad was done yelling at DH for shooting at him he was very grateful. It wasn’t bad that night. DH tried to eat more the next morning, but it was so tough you couldn’t chew it.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 3:15 pm.
Hm, Becky, I’ve never heard of anybody eating badger before. Hopefully you already know to be careful around them, just in case it happens again. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 5:05 pm.
I’m not very adventurous. I can’t eat shellfish, allergic nor very spicy food as the tummy kicks up a revolt. Otherwise, I’m not a very picky eater but usually very simple meals.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 4:24 pm.
You’re good to go then, Ginger!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 5:06 pm.
I have eaten rattlesnake, frog legs (although mom didn’t tell us what it was until we finished), buffalo, beefalo (mix of cow and buffalo, venison, elk, rabbit and possibly a few other things my mom might have slipped in. The beefalo was probably 7 years ago and was the last adventurous thing I tried (it was good). I’ll just stick to the normal beef, chicken and occasional fishy product now.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 5:01 pm.
Uh oh, Pamiam. At least a rattlesnake will usually warn you before it tries to stick its fangs in your calf. *g*
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 5:07 pm.
*snort* Danger food.
I do not eat danger food.
I will not eat it in a house
I will not eat it with a mouse…
Basically, I eye most food suspiciously, heck, I won’t eat KFC or McDonalds or Burger King because the Colonel and the Clown freak me out…and lets not get started on the King.
And eating bugs…If I was about to die in the desert I could do it….but luckily…Im not there so no…and Heck No.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:33 pm.
I guess I’m more adventurous than most. I wasn’t allowed to be a picky eater growing up. With 5 kids in the house, we were told we had two choices for dinner, take it or leave it. If we took the latter choice, we also “left” all desserts and any after-dinner snacks. We learned to try everything put before us and discovered that we liked many of them.
As an adult, I have tried bison, ostrich, frogs legs, eel, calimari, shark, gator, kangaroo, venison, crawfish, and duck among others. And any vegetable that crosses my path gets cooked and devoured. I LOVE my veggies!!!!
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 7:48 pm.
Love it, Suzanne! Cracked me up! Definitely don’t want to tempt Karmic Gastroretribution!
And I despise people who eat big game species or endangered species just because they can. Shark fin soup is made from fins cut off the shark and then the shark is dropped back into the water to die a slow horrible death.
On the other hand, I have eaten some rather odd things on my travels.
Escargot in Paris? Check
Fried locusts, fried cockroaches (the big Madagascar Hissing kind) in India? Check
Alligator, rattlesnake, crawfish in Louisiana? Check
Haggis in Scotland? Check
Blood pudding, kidney pie and oxtail soup in England? Check
All of this was years ago when I was younger, thinner and had a far more adventurous stomach. These days chili scares me.
Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:47 pm.
I eat chicken, steak, pork chops, turkey and that’s about it. I am allergic to shellfish and generally stay away from it. I will each tuna salad and salmon patties(if my mom makes them). No snake, shark, deer or any other out there meats. I’m a fairly simple person with simple tastes.
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 5:40 pm.