unusual cuisine?

[DCJenn]

I LOVE liver and all liver based products.

I also love Ethiopian foods, especially the vegetarian selections but I have found it's a love hate thing- luckily my husband also loves it. When we have time on trips home we always go into th city for Ethiopian food. (Dukem on U St. for those of you lucky enough to live there)

I'll eat pretty much anything though- I loved the Russian foods, although after three weeks I was ready for something flavored with an herb other than dill. (on the pizza? who puts dill on a pepperoni pizza?)

I love sushi but recently I had a piece of sashimi that oooged me way out.

Jenn[/i]

[alison]

However, I think you asked what we do like... We eat a lot of natto, which is fermented soybeans. Basically they're rotten and sticky, but rather addictive once you get past the smell! I also miss hijiki, which is a type of seaweed very hard to come by here.

Despite these freaky examples, Japanese food is phenomenal. It is the main thing that DH misses about home, and I have to agree.

I LOVE natto! I'm suprised you'll eat it! Dh won't let me eat it unless he's out of the house and the windows are open. I bring it back from Seattle and freeze it. I'll eat some today while dh is at interviews!!! My dad eats it with rice and... a raw egg!
Hijiki is great. Yum. Once my grandmother and I were flying to CA and she brought "snacks." This means ziploc bags full of dried squid, dried fish (those really little white ones with the black eyes) and some home made onigiri with pickled plum.

[alison]

And the best part about it all is that Japanese people will eat this kind of stuff for breakfast too!

That must be why I like hearty breakfasts!

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I also love Ethiopian foods, especially the vegetarian selections

Me too!! We have yet to explore the ethiopian restaurants here! Maybe we will go tonight!

[Ravenclaw]

can't think of any that I have but DH loves liver and eggnog (separately) and both gross me out.

[MissCrabette]

I was about to go eat but I think I've just lost my appetite with all this talk about rotten soybeans and live creatures squirming on the plate.

I don't think liver is gross but I see it mentioned several times so I'll add it to my list. I love it. Another thing I don't find disgusting (although my fiance disagrees) is lard. Growing up I used to spread lard on a slice of bread and cover it with chopped green onion. If you think of it like butter it's not gross at all, but you could also say, "Lard, yuck!"

And the best part about it all is that Japanese people will eat this kind of stuff for breakfast too!

Absolutely. After a few years of that for breakfast, I was pretty keen to get back into cereals when we returned to Australia. But to my surprise, it all seemed too sweet. Unfortunately, Japanese food is a bit labor intensive for my lifestyle these days...so I'm back to cereal and toast. I'd much rather a cabbage or potato salad with rice, miso soup, natto, raw egg and grilled fish. I think I need a Japanese wife! (not husband... ) Alison, my also MIL sends "care packages" of dried seaweeds, Japanese vegetables, black beans, and vacuum packed fish! Luckily there are quite a few Japanese in Queensland (it's pretty close!) so we have easy access to natto.

What is Ethiopian food like? There hasn't been a lot of immigration from Africa until recently (now we have a lot more refugees from places like Somalia) so I don't think I've ever even seen an Ethiopian restuarant.

[Vanquisher]

I don't know what most of the things in this thread are, and here I thought I was so wordly.

I do like calamari and escargot, but I don't really know how exotic those are. I like venizon and buffalo, but I rarely, rarely have those. I like duck. I love scallops. None of these are all that weird though, are they?

I like my french fries dipped in a 50/50 mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup. It's a Utah thing...they call it fry sauce.

[alison]

[quote="tenshi"][quote="alison"]I'd much rather a cabbage or potato salad with rice, miso soup, natto, raw egg and grilled fish. I think I need a Japanese wife! (not husband... ) Alison, my also MIL sends "care packages" of dried seaweeds, Japanese vegetables, black beans, and vacuum packed fish! Luckily there are quite a few Japanese in Queensland (it's pretty close!) so we have easy access to natto.

Don't look at me... I don't know how to cook any Japanese food... It's labor intensive, but boy does it taste gooooood. I really like Japanese potato chips. Like curry and okonomiyaki or squid/octopus flavor. Bring it on!

My grandmother made the best sushi (doesn't everyone say this about their grandmothers?). She passed the way she does the rice on to my mom and so I'm going to have to learn - it goes by feeling and touch, so this is going to be hard. But oh so rewarding.

My mother also does a good New Years, which we'll miss this year unfortunately. I could eat mochi by the kilo. Seriously.

Heidi-- Fry sauce RocKS!!!

My grandmother made the best sushi (doesn't everyone say this about their grandmothers?).

Not me. My grandmother's specialty was ravioli straight from the can. :!

What is Ethiopian food like?

Well, first of all there are no utensils involved and you pick up everything with pieces of this doughy, foamy sourdoughy tasting pancake!
Some of it is spicy, especially the meat dishes. The veggie dishes are my favorite!!
Here's a link I just found. We've only eaten at maybe 3-4 ethiopian places that were inexpensive and the food always comes on the round platter just like in the picture. YUM!
http://www.gonomad.com/features/0211/ethiopiafood.html

Not me. My grandmother's specialty was ravioli straight from the can.

I was just waiting for someone to say this!

MIL makes great sushi though... She sends Japanese cookbooks over too. It's all part of the plan to make me a great cook to better nourish her son!

Japanese curry? Okonomiyaki? Wow, now I'm really getting hungry. We make okonomiyaki about once a fortnight, using a sandwich maker at the table! Talk about improvisation... Tastes great, though!

Well, first of all there are no utensils involved and you pick up everything with pieces of this doughy, foamy sourdoughy tasting pancake!

That doughy, foamy pancake thingy just GROSSED ME OUT! We all know I love Indian food, and I've been "taught" to eat w/my hands (the IL's actually scolded me for NOT slurping while eating kitchadee), so the lack of utensils is not a problem for me. The consistency of that thing REALLY bothered me.

Ethiopian food + me = ::

Wow, sounds interesting! The appearance reminds me a little of some kinds of Indian food. Can you tell me how you manage to rip a piece of bread off with just your right hand?

I tell you what though, I'd be giving the Kitfo (warmed raw meat) a BIG miss, even if I wasn't vegetarian! That sounds about as appetising as the witchetty grubs eaten by Australian Aborigines...