Fierce food
 

I recently read a book review about fierce food--wild animals, extreme exotica, and such. A client recently gave me an example of it. Once in China he ate at a very fancy restaurant. He ordered a famous dish. They brought a basket to his table, opened the lid, and it was filled with writhing snakes. He was asked to select one, which he did. The chef extracted it from the basket with tongs and then promptly beheaded it at the table with a cleaver. The chef then wrung blood out of the body into a glass and handed it to my client (the customer) to drink, which he did. Then the chef barbecued the snake at the table and served it.

This got me to thinking about whether I've ever had fierce food. I think the closest thing is that hairy cow's foot soup and on another occasion gunea pig. Not much, I'm afraid. Anyone else? (Sushi is not fierce food.)

What about that sashimi that can kill you if the chef does not prepare it correctly? (some kind of blowfish, I think?)

Yes. I've heard of that and that would qualify. I think that's in this book I referenced.

Thanks to my mission for my only arguable experience in fierce food cuisine.

That would be fugu - the pufferfish

I've had the following:

• dog (don't know the breed). It was delicious with a lemon sauce. It's darker than dark turkey meat and very lean.
• iguana. Cooked in coconut sauce. The iguana didn't really have it's own taste - it just tasted like coconut sauce. Texture was very rubbery/chewy.
• barbequed crickets. Just like iguana in that they didn't have a taste of their own - all I could taste was the barbeque flavor. Crunchy. This Thai sister missionary in Khon Kaen Thailand (my first area) ate a whole sack of them one night and broke out in hives the next morning.

I never had balut when I was in the Philippines but I saw plenty of people eat it. Many missionaries ate it as a badge of honor. Totally gross:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ayBalutEgg.png

My old man lived in China for 12 years and has lots of stories to tell about the wierd things he has eaten at banquets. The one I remember most was elephant penis.

I can't think of anything very exciting I've eaten, although buffalo is good.

Anything cooked by my mother-in-law :)

You learned that from The Simpsons, didn't you?

Homer: "I want FUGU!"

I've eaten sea turtle. Not too many people who can claim that. Not that I go around annoucing it. I've also eaten sea turtle eggs.

Does it have to be an animal? I've eaten breadfruit after it was buried for six months.