Frog legs - my brother and I about gagged over the whole idea but they were floured and fried up anyway. No one said we had to eat them. Before dinner, we decided to go to the kitchen and just pick at one to be brave. We did. Consequently, when mom went to serve them, there was nothing left. We ate ‘em all. Mom always thought we should try foods so we ate things none of our friends had experienced - escargot, squid, Cuban food, etc. She was a girl ahead of the times!!

My mom always insisted that my sister and I try new foods before rejecting them, so neither of us has ever been a picky eater. Mom even reformed a dear family friend’s daughter when she came to town to attend college. The poor girl would only eat pasta with butter, chocolate, french fries, Oreos and bread when she arrived as a freshman. Four years later she was still picky, but would at least try new things. And she found many new favorites, including tofu.

When I was in Paris, I attempted to dine as the locals would, directing my resident Parisian friend to select the place to do so and the dish to order. I enjoyed everything on the plate, and when finished, inquired as to what I’d eaten. Let’s just say that in this charcuterie platter, no part of the pig was left unused. No worries!

I think eyeballs would be difficult, just because they’d be LOOKING at me whilst I was trying to ingest them. I’ve seen Anthony Bourdain crunching on some worm-like items that I think might not slide down the gullet well without a shot of tequila to follow. The bird’s nest soup that the french reportedly make from the swallow’s nest and the spit the birds use to bind the nest? That might be less than exciting–but I think I’d try it once!

Leslie, It is so good to read your stuff again. We miss you in Spokane!! The reviews these days are so sugar coated, and they almost never talk about about the service or wine lists. Very sad to me. You always had managers, owners and chefs talking- even if they did not like you.
Anyway, I try to taste everything once, but recently I was in Missoula and found myself at a greasy spoon at 2 in the morning. I am ashamed to say I could not bring myself to try the brains and eggs that the place was famous for. Maybe if I had only had one more beer….
glad to know you are doing well!!
Kara

Jim, actually, the brains and eggs at Earl’s were pretty good. My wife tales of her father fixing breakfast every Saturday morning while they were growing up were what got me to try them. Yankee that I am. They all loved the dish he fixed, at least until their Mother said on morning “Ya’ll do know what your eatin’ dont’ ya?”. That ruined the breakfast from them them on.

But my favorite “other meat” would be sweetbreads. I first had them at the birthday party of Ben Prevost. Ben’s father, Jean Claude Prevost,had named a restaurant after him in Midtown. At the party an older couple was sitting across the aisle from us and I became facisnated with the dish he was served. He said they were sweetbreads and wold I like a taste. Not know what sweetbreads were, I said sure and they were delicious. Even though I now know that sweetbreads are, I still order them everytime I see them on a menu.

Growning up with deeply rooted Southern parents…everything that’s been mentioned was cooked and served in our home. I’ve tried chittlin’s everytime they’ve been offered but can’t get beyond the smell and texture. Same way with goat. My folks loved brains and eggs…I’m not a big egg fan so you know the addition of pig brains doesn’t help. I can eat sushi ’til I’m floating…as long as it doesn’t smell fishy, I’m all over it. Love escargot, too.

However, the most unusual culinary experiences for me come from Asia. While I lived in Hong Kong we were often honored with extremely high-end dinners in gratitude for the designs we did that made the Chinese millions of dollars. Obviously, there’s a story there but it’s not food related. Two of the most memorable meals included fowl.

One was a dinner only served to the wealthiest and most important people in Hong Kong. Once a year there’s a small team of older gentlemen that climb to a certain place in the mountains near Hong Kong. They gather a particular species of baby birds and bring them back as a delicacy. The chef’s then batter and fry the birds and serve them like popcorn. They’re extremely small… a bit larger than a quarter. I ate maybe three of them to save face. The flavor was good but the crunching of the little bones and seeing the beak and eyes were just too much.

The other meal was really delicious but again the texture was a challenge. The item resembled a fat lima or butter bean. It was a yellow/gray color and in a very nice broth with rice noodles. The flavor was great however, it popped like Freshen Up gum when you bit it.

I must tell the you the guy that I worked with told me from day one…”If you like something, don’t ever ask what it is”. I couldn’t hold back. I had to ask. Our Chinese hosts all fell out laughing. Finally, the secretary sitting at the table had the best English and announced, “It is gonad of duck”.

I’ll try anything once but I don’t care if I’m ever offered fried whole baby birds or duck privates, again.