Disgusting Food of Europe Map

[davef]

What I like about lobster is that you're given the entire carcass to feast on. It's been found that men like to cook meat simply due to being exposed to a piece of a dead animal and having control over it. It must be an archaic hunter and gatherer trait. I think this explains why I've always enjoyed lobster or wanted to eat a succulent pig or other farm/big game animal with most of its structures intact. It instills a very satisfying sense of dominance in me (nite: this only applies to farm or game animals commonly hunted like deer).

[SimonTiger]

When I was in Berlin, I tried Turkish cuisine. I liked it very much.

[Strudel]

Interesting how articles like this divvy up dishes into countries, when really many of these are eaten in various incarnations in many countries of Europe. Take liver pate for example. It is listed under Denmark, yet is eaten by French, Germans and other Europeans. It is delicious. Perhaps gross if you think about it too hard by North American standards, but then my dad ate schmaltz which is basically congealed goose fat on a slice of rye bread with some salt and paprika sprinkled on it and as a kid I loved it. My own kids would puke at it but hey...times change.

[Angela]

Interesting how articles like this divvy up dishes into countries, when really many of these are eaten in various incarnations in many countries of Europe. Take liver pate for example. It is listed under Denmark, yet is eaten by French, Germans and other Europeans. It is delicious. Perhaps gross if you think about it too hard by North American standards, but then my dad ate schmaltz which is basically congealed goose fat on a slice of rye bread with some salt and paprika sprinkled on it and as a kid I loved it. My own kids would puke at it but hey...times change.

We eat it too.

Basically, people used to eat every part of the animal. You couldn't be squeamish.

Countries differ in how much of their old "poor food" traditions they maintain. Americans have retained very few if any of them. The Italians and the French have retained a lot of them, just for two examples. That's why there are so many organ meats on French menus, and why they still have stands selling tripe on the streets of Florence.

[CottonMoney]

In Romania(

[Strudel]

We eat it too.

Basically, people used to eat every part of the animal. You couldn't be squeamish.

Yes, that is so true. I have had blood pudding and head cheese and a number of other old world foods. I can't say I'm much of a fan of them but they also don't disgust me. I do enjoy the taste of some smelly cheeses as well. I must have gotten this from my dad who adored his Limburger to the disgust of the whole family's noses in the house. I have never had casu marzu. This would be too much for me as I have a strong natural reaction against spoiled/rot odour and infestation.

Some of this might be not just culturally established by what one is used to, but also individually determined. For instance, I have a very defined and strong sense of smell - known as "The nose" by my family and close friends because I only have to give any food one whiff and can tell you if it is spoiled. I would love to learn if there's is any genetic component to this ability.

Also, the dishes with the full head of the animal, I have to admit make me pretty squeamish. This is more I would guess due to non-exposure. I even have trouble with fish looking up at me, which I only recently learned is best to get the fish this way as it ensures more freshness? Even a whole pig on a spit gives me uncomfortable and that I have been exposed to, so I just must be a bit too removed from my earthy roots. It's maybe not the best to get so detached from the reality of meat eating, which is another topic altogether.

Countries differ in how much of their old "poor food" traditions they maintain. Americans have retained very few if any of them. The Italians and the French have retained a lot of them, just for two examples. That's why there are so many organ meats on French menus, and why they still have stands selling tripe on the streets of Florence.

Yes, I see this with Italian and French. Also, I think Germans and other Europeans too have kept some of their traditional foods when they have emigrated. My mother owned a European delicatessen and I also grew up knowing Dutch, Poles, Croats and Greek as well as of course Italian who still maintained their traditional cooking at home to varying degrees. It does get diluted and change with the generations, though. Perhaps those with stronger family ties hold onto the ethnic cuisine longer. It is interesting.

[Angela]

Yes, that is so true. I have had blood pudding and head cheese and a number of other old world foods. I can't say I'm much of a fan of them but they also don't disgust me. I do enjoy the taste of some smelly cheeses as well. I must have gotten this from my dad who adored his Limburger to the disgust of the whole family's noses in the house. I have never had casu marzu. This would be too much for me as I have a strong natural reaction against spoiled/rot odour and infestation.

Some of this might be not just culturally established by what one is used to, but also individually determined. For instance, I have a very defined and strong sense of smell - known as "The nose" by my family and close friends because I only have to give any food one whiff and can tell you if it is spoiled. I would love to learn if there's is any genetic component to this ability.

Also, the dishes with the full head of the animal, I have to admit make me pretty squeamish. This is more I would guess due to non-exposure. I even have trouble with fish looking up at me, which I only recently learned is best to get the fish this way as it ensures more freshness? Even a whole pig on a spit gives me uncomfortable and that I have been exposed to, so I just must be a bit too removed from my earthy roots. It's maybe not the best to get so detached from the reality of meat eating, which is another topic altogether.



Yes, I see this with Italian and French. Also, I think Germans and other Europeans too have kept some of their traditional foods when they have emigrated. My mother owned a European delicatessen and I also grew up knowing Dutch, Poles, Croats and Greek as well as of course Italian who still maintained their traditional cooking at home to varying degrees. It does get diluted and change with the generations, though. Perhaps those with stronger family ties hold onto the ethnic cuisine longer. It is interesting.

I think you're right. It's exposure culturally, but also individual differences.

My Dad would pick up Casu Marzu (Sardinian cheese) in La Spezia after work, but my mother would make him eat it outside. :) The very sight and smell of it made her gag. Me too, for that matter. On the other hand, she liked tripa and made it occasionally. The way she made it resulted in a quite tasty dish and you wouldn't have known it was tripe. I tried to give it to my children and they ran out of the room. :)It does smell really bad when it's cooking. My husband likes chicken liver, and I make them for him occasionally with white wine etc., but I can't eat it. I don't know why exactly. It may be the texture. That's certainly why I won't eat calves liver.



As for whole pigs spit roasted, that's something very, very common in Italy, and I don't get squeamish at all.

The same goes for fish. I don't think I've ever been in an Italian restaurant in Italy where the head doesn't come on the plate. It's by looking at the eyes that you can tell if it's fresh or not. I have a very dear friend from Croatia. We often go out as couples and eat at Croatian/Italian restaurants in Manhattan or Astoria. These are the only places where she'll eat fish, because it always comes out with the head. It doesn't bother me at all. However, I never join her in scooping out the brains and popping the eye balls into my mouth. That's a step too far for me. :)

[davef]

We all have our tastes. I love liver; in fact chopped liver on toast, mustard and onions is something i enjoy a lot. At work, the IT team orders pizza (yes, we developers love our pizza) and I tried bacon and pineapple pizza for the first time and i won't hesitate to admit it was one of the best pizzas I've ever had

[bicicleur]

I like liver too, but I never get it as nobody else likes it here.
But when we eat out, and it is on the menu, 2 times out of 3 I'll pick that.

Same for the pizza, I'm the only one who needs anchovis on it.

[ToBeOrNotToBe]

I like liver too, but I never get it as nobody else likes it here.
But when we eat out, and it is on the menu, 2 times out of 3 I'll pick that.

Same for the pizza, I'm the only one who needs anchovis on it.

Anchovies on pizza is a crime

[Angela]

I like liver too, but I never get it as nobody else likes it here.
But when we eat out, and it is on the menu, 2 times out of 3 I'll pick that.

Same for the pizza, I'm the only one who needs anchovis on it.

You have to learn to make it for yourself. :) They're easy and quick recipes.

I'm not squeamish about liver at all. It's the smell of the chicken liver I don't like. As for the calves' liver, it's that grainy texture.

Anchovy is a "secret ingredient" in a lot of my recipes, but I don't like the "hairy" texture of the tiny ones from a can that people put on things like pizza or what Americans call "Caesar" salad. They're also too pungent for me or "fishy" tasting because of the way they're processed.



Fresh anchovies taste very different: fresh and mild. Whenever I go back to my area in Italy I eat them as much as possible since I can't get them here. They're delicious. If we didn't eat anchovies and sardines, and various other small, ugly, fish, we wouldn't eat much fish at all, because the Ligurian sea is famously pretty empty of big fish like the kinds you get in other places in Italy.



Sardines are different. I can get the fresh ones here and I love them. I even like the jarred variety. My favorite way of eating them, though, is grilled over a wood fire. In the summer we go to Greek restaurants in Astoria to eat them. They are so yummy. The Portuguese have a nice way with them too. Most of the Italian restaurants have more "assimilated" restaurants.


I don't know when Anglo countries decided that eating rabbit was "gross", but it's stupid. It's the most delicious, sweet, low fat meat.
On the rare occasions I'm in a Portuguese market and see it, I grab it. Otherwise, I have to eat it at Portuguese restaurants, although I prefer it "our" way. Considering how over-run Australia is with rabbits because they weren't part of the original ecosystem and they have no predators, they should start a campaign where they're hunted and sold and people should eat it a couple of times a week.

[davef]

I think it has to do with rabbits being "too cute and adorable" to eat, according to whoever decided that they shouldn't be eaten. I personally don't care, I never had rabbit but I would be happy to give it a try. I had cat brains at a French restaurant and I loved every ounce of them! They were juicy and they felt like really thick pieces of scrambled egg. They even tasted a bit like eggs, but mostly like any piece of beef

[elenekaterrr]

I appreciate all people who are discussing these recipes because these recipes are very cool because these recipes are connected to Europian cuisine

[Carlos]

The blood in tomato is a typical dish of the province and one of the oldest tapas that were served in the bars of Cádiz. It is a typical recipe for the slaughter of pigs and the use of all their products. It is also usually made with chicken blood or turkey.



I love

[ratchet_fan]

Anchovies are awesome. As is rabbit.

Steak tartare is pretty amazing too.

I've been trying to research the origin of the Hamburg steak and steak tartare. I believe the former is considered to have originated with mongols who introduced minced meat to Russians who introduced it to Germans. However, minced meat seems like a simple concept and I have read that the meat placed under the saddle by Mongols would have been sweaty and inedible so maybe its a native German invention invention. Wikipedia also mentions a similar dish from Roman times. Steak tartare is also considered to have a mongol origin but I have also read food historians say its name comes from tartare sauce it was served with (also the sauce apparently has nothing to do with the people or the region of Eurasia but rather the coarse texture (symbolizing barbarianism) of the sauce and the people). Does anybody know more about the origin of these two dishes?