The animals I've eaten

So I was watching the Anthony Bourdain show about Quebec and at one point he's dining on seal, raw bloody seal, in the home of some Inuit folks (the idea of a New York chef having Inuit friends cannot help but remind me of the old, uncharacteristically bawdy and racist-tinged New Yorker cartoon of the Eskimo arriving on the manorial doorstep of the lordly English explorer and saying, remember how I shared my wife with you on the expedition in '06, and you said if I was ever in Staffordshire-on-Tipping...). Anyway, later in the same episode Bourdain mentions that he's eaten a cobra's heart, among other unusual things. And all that got me to thinking what a small portion of the animal kingdom I have dined upon. The list, so far as I can reconstruct it, would seem to be:

cow
pig
lamb/sheep
bison
boar
goat
rabbit
elk
deer
antelope
bear

chicken
turkey
duck
goose
pigeon
pheasant
quail

frog
alligator
turtle

lobster
crab
shrimp
crayfish
scallop
mussel
oyster
clam
octopus
squid
conch
abalone

catfish
perch
whitefish
cod
char
salmon
skate
tuna
swordfish
tilapia
mahi mahi
monkfish
grouper
turbot
red snapper
snakehead fish
smelt
halibut
shark
mackerel
sea urchin
bonito
amberjack
eel
probably three or four other standard fishes which I've forgotten

We'll skip bugs, most of them eaten inadvertently while biking.

Anyway, I'm sure some folks can add some interesting items to this list, but even so, I'd be very surprised if everyone's lists were not 90%+ identical; no one is going to say "Gazelle, woodchuck, muskrat-- you know, I've never tried chicken. Is it good?" It's interesting to think about what combination of market forces, historical circumstances, geography and so on allows us to try some things, yet virtually guarantees that we will never huddle on a kitchen floor sucking blubbery slices peeled off the carcass of a seal-- like Tony Bourdain and his hipster Inuit friends do.

And here I thought it was going to be an anti-meat rant, or quoting Godley-Creme's Snack Attack ("I'm being haunted by all the meat I've eaten")

I haven't hit all the heights you have (missing elk, abalone, and urchin), but I seem to remember my father may have forced some rattlesnake on me when I was young (yup, tastes like chicken, at least when deep fried).

How about snails? Overlooked or avoided? You've got the big'un, conch, but no escargot? Hey, I'm one up!

Oh yeah, Ostrich! Kind of a beef/chicken cross in flavor.

Things you may have overlooked (but I haven't eaten): Cuttlefish, sea cucumber, toasted grasshoppers & scorpions, chocolate covered ants...

Okay, add snails and ostrich. Forgot 'em both.

Mostly the same with a few deletions and additions:

cow
pig
lamb/sheep
bison
goat
rabbit
elk
deer
squirrel
racoon
ground hog

chicken
turkey
duck (probably 8+ kinds, wildly different in flavor and texture)
goose ( 6+ species)
pigeon
dove
pheasant
quail
sand hill crane

frog
alligator
turtle
snake

lobster
crab
shrimp
crayfish
scallop
mussel
oyster
clam
octopus
squid
abalone

catfish
perch
whitefish
cod
char
salmon
skate
tuna
swordfish
tilapia
mahi mahi
monkfish
grouper
turbot
red snapper
smelt
halibut
shark
mackerel
sea urchin
carp (smoked)
buffalo
gar
blue gill
bass
muskie
walleye
chub

I had a nice hunk of lemon pepper bobcat given to me by a patron while bartending in Missoula, MT back sometime in the mid nineties. The meat was fairly pleasant with a texture akin to chicken-pork.

The wife's eaten moose, but she's canadian, eh.

I think almost all of us have eaten a little bit of human, probably mostly skin.

Mike G wrote:bear

snakehead fish

I've had everything on your list except those.

I have also eaten:
kangaroo
moose

emu
ostrich
partridge

rattlesnake
crocodile

snails

many species of crabs
many species of clams, including cockles, quahogs and geoducks
cuttlefish
langoustines/prawns
Moreton Bay bugs
sea cucumber
winkles
yabbies

And all the fish mentioned so far plus:
anchovy
barramundi
bream
butterfish
carp
flounder
fluke
haddock
herring
icefish
John Dory
marlin
orange roughy
pike
plaice
pollock
pompano
redfish
rockfish
sardines
seabass
shad
sole
sturgeon
trout
yellowtail
plus, the roe of many of them, and probably, many more fish that aren't coming to mind right now. There are lots of kinds of fish.

And these bugs, eaten on purpose:
witchetty grubs
ant larvae
grasshoppers

I suppose the question is -- what have you eaten that you'd want to eat again?

It would depend on the chef, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to eat any of the reptiles or amphibians -- they mostly taste like fishy chicken.

Of the offbeat meats and poultry, I'd eat emu -- especially its liver -- again. Kangaroo tastes like over-tenderized beef and ostrich like tough beef; neither seems worth paying a premium for. I like venison and I've enjoyed rabbit (but I've also had extremely stringy renditions).

I like snails. I'm not big on sea urchins or sea cucumbers. Otherwise, I like all the shellfish. I would go out of my way to eat Moreton Bay bugs again.

Of the real bugs, the ant larvae are the only ones I liked. They were sort of caviarlike in texture. Grasshoppers are prickly (and the Mexican ones I tried were cured in a tannic solution that I disliked a lot) and witchetty grubs are crunchy outside and squishy inside, a texture I find unpleasant.

Dang, there's a LOT of kinds of fish out there, huh. Add kangaroo (not, I know, a fish), plus at least anchovies, flounder, fluke, herring, john dory, marlin, orange roughy, pike, redfish, sardines, sea bass, sturgeon, trout and yellowtail.

As far as what to eat again, who knows? I'd agree with you about the reptiles and amphibians (every time I eat alligator, I'm reminded why not to eat alligator again) except that frog legs at Dodin Bouffant in Paris were quite wonderful. (Even if I couldn't help but think of that National Lampoon cartoon all evening.) So who knows, there's always the possibility that even bear (which was like eating whale or Roswell alien or something) could be good, in the right hands.

What were the "parts" of those animals everyone has eaten.

What would I eat again, eh? Of the novelty or unusual items...

Pheasant, definitely, pretty much any of the birds, even the ostrich, which was pretty flavorful. (A burger was probably the wrong way to have it, but a rare sear, perhaps a thai salad?)

Frog legs are a novelty act, escargots an excuse for garlic, but conch is a great flavor. Also tougher than shoe leather, best in very fine mince in chowdahs or fritters. Yeah, I'll take molluscs (although oysters are not my favorites raw or cooked). Gator? Eh.

I can add a few to the list:

Swan
Fox
Jellyfish

All of the above in China.

My singular experience with swan was less than exciting, but I don't know whether to attribute that to the beast or the preparation. It was mostly greasy.

We regularly had fox while out to lunch with the folks from a factory we worked with. It was almost always the same dish at the same restaurant, but it was quite tasty... very tender and flavorful. But again, it's one dish, so I can't comment much on the beast in general.

Given the Chinese love on this site, I suspect some of the previous posters simply overlooked jellyfish.

And Joel, I have to respectfully take issue with your stance on frog That's another one we have frequently in China, and I love it. It isn't the boldest flavor, but it's a wonderfully tender, tasty meat that I wish were easier to come by in the States.

In addition to the animals noted above, I have enjoyed the following:

moose
reindeer
guinea pig
whale
rascasse
sandre
freshwater eel
whelks
silk worm chrysalis

Periwinkles...and I'm SHOCKED that horse has not been mentioned. I remember, as a youth, tripping down the streets of Paris, if you know what I mean, I distinctly remember many butcher-type shops with golden horse heads over the doorways...never stopped in, but surely someone here must have eaten equine, in Europe or Asia, no?

Hammone

Well, Antonius hasn't chimed in yet, but I know horse is on his list.

Mike G wrote:I'd agree with you about the reptiles and amphibians (every time I eat alligator, I'm reminded why not to eat alligator again) except that frog legs at Dodin Bouffant in Paris were quite wonderful.

Yes, it does depend on the chef. The trouble is -- how do you predict whether the chef can make a food you haven't liked better than some food you know you like?

I rather enjoyed sauteed frogs' legs at Phil Schmidt -- but the lake perch is even better.

I commented on roe, earlier, and I'm fond of most kinds, particularly those of sturgeons and capelin, but try as I might to like shad roe -- in homage to Nero Wolfe -- it tastes like fishy liver. Perhaps someday I'll find a Fritz Brenner to prepare it for me.

I had forgotten jellyfish, which I can take or leave. Mike had mentioned eel so I didn't list it again, but I've eaten numerous types -- and loved them all, from transparent baby glass eels on up.

Rascasse are rockfish, and isn't sander walleye? I'm pretty sure that periwinkles and winkles are the same thing, though I'm not clear whether they are different from whelks -- they're all sea snails, anyway.

I had a number of opportunities to try silkworm chrysalis in Seoul, which I declined, at first because it smelled so rank and I was afraid of embarrassing myself (Korean street-food etiquette demands that you eat the food there by the vendor instead of taking it off with you), and then my efforts to nerve myself up to try it later were sabataged by food poisoning from other street food (what seemed perfectly innocuous takoyaki).

Joel, seared ostrich, which I've eaten -- from a roadkill ostrich, yet -- is flavorful shoe leather. I wouldn't refuse it if it were served me, but I won't pay more than beef for it. The best preparation I had was as sausage, which had added pork so it wouldn't be too lean. Emu is similar, but I had a fabulous emu-liver pate. (Now there's a substitute for foie gras!)

Phil Schmidt & Son
773/768-6686
800/FROGLEG
www.froglegs.com
1205 N. Calumet Ave.
Hammond, IN 46320

David Hammond wrote:Periwinkles...and I'm SHOCKED that horse has not been mentioned. I remember, as a youth, tripping down the streets of Paris, if you know what I mean, I distinctly remember many butcher-type shops with golden horse heads over the doorways...never stopped in, but surely someone here must have eaten equine, in Europe or Asia, no?

Hammone

Anyone who has eated a cheap steak-frites in France has eaten horse. I had worked my way through a number of student-cafeteria steak frites lunches when my illusions of beef were dispelled by my French pals. You have to hand it to the French, though, being "tres correct," (sorry, can't figure out the accent grave punctuation on my Mac yet), and always having a separate shop for Boucherie Chevaline.

LAZ wrote:Rascasse are rockfish, and isn't sander walleye? I'm pretty sure that periwinkles and winkles are the same thing, though I'm not clear whether they are different from whelks -- they're all sea snails, anyway.

LAZ, you may be right about the rascasse and sandre, but it was my understanding that the rascasse must be seen in some quarters as unique because the claim to fame of the truly authentic bouillabaisse rests upon its inclusion in the dish. Supposedly, one cannot duplicate the true bouillabaisse elsewhere. Bouillabaisse authorities, please weigh in. As far as sandre goes, it seems a much smaller, milder, pinker fish in France than in the wilds of northern Minnesota, quite dissimilar in my tasting experience, but as to the classification of the fish, I know not.

LAZ wrote:I had a number of opportunities to try silkworm chrysalis in Seoul, which I declined, at first because it smelled so rank and I was afraid of embarrassing myself (Korean street-food etiquette demands that you eat the food there by the vendor instead of taking it off with you)

I just HAD to try the ReneG challenge! Fortunately for me, there were no unwelcome threads attached to mine. Kind of reminded me of the tiny shrimp called "petite grises" you eat in France, shell and all. Not shrimpy, really, but in terms of texture, somewhat of the same experience. Not unpleasant at all. And, Hammond, take note: I ate them without the aid of tequila!

LAZ wrote: I commented on roe, earlier, and I'm fond of most kinds, particularly those of sturgeons and capelin, but try as I might to like shad roe -- in homage to Nero Wolfe -- it tastes like fishy liver. Perhaps someday I'll find a Fritz Brenner to prepare it for me.

Last year I was fortunate enough to attend the Stern's tasting tour of Chicago. In relating a story about a fan-from-hell, Jane mentioned a dinner of shad roe that she found especially challenging. In the end, she coped by spreading her dinner napkin over the offending dish before her.
LAZ, you are not alone.


Here's another meat that no one has mentioned, but that everyone has sampled at one time or other:

Crow

gleam wrote:Well, Antonius hasn't chimed in yet, but I know horse is on his list.

And, as I said, it's good...

Hippophagy is dying out quickly in northern Europe, as elsewhere. It is still practised to a certain degree among the peoples of sunny Apulia; it makes for fine braciole (though even the use of horsemeat there likely wouldn't make the dish palatable for those -- like JeffB -- who are not fans of the Italianate rouladen recipes -- What do you say, Jeff?).

***

The English name I know for rascasse is 'scorpion fish' (with a few different varieties) and, as Josephine says, they are thought to be an essential ingredient in bouillabaisse.

***

Concerning periwinkles, they are indeed small, sea snails with dark shells, at least in my experience. When I was growing up in New Jersey, we ate them regularly, cooked in a simple tomato sauce which was used to dress spaghetti; the snails were eaten after the spaghetti, pulled from the shells with pins.

Though the tradition is now almost completely vanished, periwinkles used to be a popular street food in Belgium and as such were especially popular in Brussels.

They're very good.

Antonius

If you cook it, I'll eat it.

True Cuban tasajo is made with horse meat as well.

And periwinkles are delicious little animals. They make up the edible base of seafood plateaus in Nice (instead of salt or ice), for example. Great with mayo. I believe I have purchased them at Isaacson's before, but it's been a very long time.

Continuing the periwinkle digression...

I had a haw-mook talay at Yum Thai last year. It was a spicy curry, wrapped in a cabbage leaf that unrolls to reveal a tangy coconut custard of squid, shrimp, mussel and periwinkles.

I like periwinkles okay, but they always seem like a lot of work for a dinky squiggle of meat (in the custard, of course, the periwinkles were out of their shell, which was nice).

JeffB wrote:
True Cuban tasajo is made with horse meat as well.

Interesting... cecina de caballo... There's a traditional cured horsemeat product from Antwerp that I've eaten, but that's used more as a 'cold cut'; from what I see, tasajo is cooked up (often, usually, always?) in a sauce?

And periwinkles are delicious little animals. They make up the edible base of seafood plateaus in Nice (instead of salt or ice), for example. Great with mayo. I believe I have purchased them at Isaacson's before, but it's been a very long time.

I've seen them at Richwell, I believe, but I confess that I can't bring myself to buy them so far from the source.

Antonius

Reading this thread brings back memories of Cafe Bohemia, near Union Station, where I had a great dish of braised lion one time.

Has anyone had peacock? It was quite popular about 600 years ago, I believe.

(edited to include link)

Add:

Barracuda, pre-ciguatera
Old wife(queen triggerfish)
Blue fish-come on ex-Jerseyans
Weak fish

Cuy(guinea pig)
Llama

Rascasse, always with the head on, is indeed one of the supposed necessary 7 fish needed to make the fish stock for bouillabaise. Several of these are rockfish from Marseille that are only eaten as part of this stock.

MLS wrote:Old wife(queen triggerfish)

Hmmm. Cannabalism alive and well?

What are the prosects for the young wife? Braised? Grilled?

The only previously unmentioned critter that I can add to this list is caribou. From what I understand, it is basically the larger wild version of a domesticated reindeer.

We dined on this rather gamey creature while visiting Churchill, Manitoba.Churchill prides itself on being "The Polar Bear Capital of the World" ----Good thing because it is NOT the culinary capital----

MLS wrote:Cuy(guinea pig)
Llama

Add Alpaca

A euphemism for bull testicles. Actually, by the time you eat 'em, they're a steer's former testicles...

One of my most memory filled meals, was on the roof top restaurant of the Caravale Hotel, in Saigon.

I had a small salad, followed by pea pods swimming in butter, steak frites, but the steak was water buffalo. To finish the meal, I had expresso with German Chocolate cake.

This was in early 1965, and we could see tracers being fired in the distance.

Antonius wrote:
Hippophagy is dying out quickly in northern Europe, as elsewhere. It is still practised to a certain degree among the peoples of sunny Apulia; it makes for fine braciole (though even the use of horsemeat there likely wouldn't make the dish palatable for those -- like JeffB -- who are not fans of the Italianate rouladen recipes -- What do you say, Jeff?).

You can also find horse commonly on the menus of Mongolian BBQs in Moscow, and lókolbász (horse sausage) is common enough in the markets in Budapest. I've had the horse sausage, which was prepared in a dry, smoke-cured method, seasoned with paprika, salt, pepper, and garlic. It tasted like any other sausage to me, except much leaner. Because of its leanness, I didn't find it a particularly well-suited meat for sausage making. I seem to recall hearing from my father (who has a tendency to muddle information) that certain traditional Italian salumes are/were made from donkey or horse meat. Any idea?

To add to the list, as a child, I've eaten (or rather drank) a concoction made with milk and, um, dog lard, which is a traditional Polish remedy for respiratory ailments, I guess.

I remember as a teenager in Wisconsin, there'd be an annual Pony Roast put on by a local biker club. Very tasty, done as a 1/2 pony on a spit in a huge roaster made from an old metal tank (like fuel oil is stored in for heating). Required to be washed down with PBR out of the keg.