Disgusting Food of Europe Map

People couldn't afford to be squeamish about food until very recently; every single edible bit would get eaten. That includes countries like England.
"Dressed tripe was a popular nutritious and cheap dish for the British working classes from Victorian times until the latter half of the 20th century.[5][6][7] While it is still popular in many parts of the world today, the number of tripe eaters, and consequently the number of tripe dressers, in the UK has rapidly declined."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripe

That isn't the case in France, or Italy, or Spain, for that matter, or perhaps also the Balkans, where it is still eaten. In fact, in Italy I think there's a trend to go back to "cucina povera" or poor people's food because it is seen as both more authentic and less processed, and as part of our heritage, which some of us are loathe to give up.

There are still a lot of stands in Firenze which sell trippa alla fiorentina and lampredotto.

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If prepared well there's very little that can't be made edible in my experience. I exclude maggoty cheese!

In my experience the French are very enthusiastic eaters of "organ meats", more so than Italians. A friend of mine is married to an Irish-American guy who is very unadventurous when it comes to food, food phobic, actually, when it comes to certain types of food. They cut short their visit to France and went across into Italy partly because the menus were so heavy in those kinds of dishes, and things like snails, frogs legs etc. The man was pining for some simple pasta. :) I was his friend originally, study buddies, but this is something I really couldn't stand about him. I could never have lived with him.

Rognon de veau-Calf kidneys
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That girl I dated that disliked Italian food thought pasta with clams, shrimp or mussels was odd. I was blown away...

She disliked all seafood as well. Once I cooked lobster for the both of us, and she refused to eat it when she saw it's underside. I'm a huge lover of seafood myself.

Ironically, lobster was considered poor people's food, and was commonly served to prisoners originally.

In North America, the American lobster did not achieve popularity until the mid-19th century, when New Yorkers and Bostonians developed a taste for it, and commercial lobster fisheries only flourished after the development of the lobster smack,[28] a custom-made boat with open holding wells on the deck to keep the lobsters alive during transport.[29] Prior to this time, lobster was considered a mark of poverty or as a food for indentured servants or lower members of society in Maine, Massachusetts, and the Canadian Maritimes. It has been suggested servants specified in employment agreements that they would not eat lobster more than twice per week, however there is no evidence for this.[30][31] Lobster was also commonly served in prisons, much to the displeasure of inmates.[32] American lobster was initially deemed worthy only of being used as fertilizer or fish bait, and until well into the 20th century, it was not viewed as more than a low-priced canned staple food.[33]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobster

My father sometimes prepares it on the barbecue or bakes it in the oven, like this.:

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I really like it, but I prefer to have it with linguine and the lobster cooked in red sauce. But I know this is not an authentic Italian dish, considering it's the north american lobster. Nevertheless, it comes out amazing imo.

As for authentic Italian food, I need to start learning from my mother and father more about how to prepare it, so I can keep up the tradition. I have to admit it, but my father is the superior cook. But that's something I must never tell my mother, or she will disown me. I guess people from my dad's town are a little more nuanced in how they prepare food. They are also famous for their bread; Pane di Altamura.
 
I guess she wouldn't have gone for our seafood dishes, then. They can look pretty scary. :)


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A real French bouillabaisse would probably scare some people witless. :)
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I adore lobster, all seafood, really, but my favorite in America is crab.

Not only Italians know how to cook, even if I think we and the French are better at it.:)

There's nothing much better than a great Maryland crab cake, or a real New England style clam bake. In fact, when my family comes from Italy, that's the kind of food I tend to serve them: barbecued ribs and steak, lobster, crab, clams and mussels etc.

Sometimes I serve them New England style clam chowder in a hollowed out small loaf of sourdough bead. Once, as a treat when some great clams had come in I made them both Clams Casino and Clams Oreganata as a starter. They loved it.
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Given how much seafood is eaten on the New England and New York/New Jersey coasts, and all the way down to Florida it's remarkable to me that there are some people in these areas who won't eat it or any fish, really. How could someone not like Snow Crab? Maybe it's because they were never exposed to these foods in childhood. I fed my kids absolutely everything I liked to eat, and there isn't much I don't like...brussels sprouts maybe, and lima beans. :) I also don't much like raw protein. They only thing they got squeamish about was when the lobster got tossed into the water if I was steaming it, and they never really developed a taste for trippa.


@Twilight,

I just saw your post above. I've very rarely seen raw shellfish on restaurant menus, but my father used to go to the shore and buy dateri, a mollusk which is now just about extinct in our area, fresh from the fishermen, open it with a knife, squeeze some lemon juice on it, and just eat it. I have seen a lot of ceviche style fish, however. You know, very thinly sliced pieces marinated in lemon juice or vinegar and spices.

My dad liked our version of a steak tartar too. I'll eat raw protein, but I prefer these kinds of things cooked. Same with raw eggs. My nonno used to suck out two fresh eggs every morning, followed by a shot of grappa. That'll put hair on your chest, I guess. :)
 
I'm super adventurous!!! Cow's heart? Kidneys? I'll eat eyeballs if they're on the menu!! I'm a total ghoul!

I used to watch Bear Grylls religiously (warning...not for the squeamish) and my appetite would skyrocket after seeing him stick his hand in a tree and pull out a handful of squirmies and other multi legged things.

And yes I've had snails, cat brains (they're kinda like really thick and slightly rubbery pieces of scrambled eggs, and they taste eggy as well), and frog legs and they were DELISH!!
 
But one food item that I would stay away from is tuna from a can...it grosses me out badly
 
It's really a southern thing: Maryland, North and South Carolina, New Orleans. I normally wouldn't order them in New York. They should be cooked within a few hours of their dying, because they spoil very quickly and the delicate, sweet flavor disappears. I normally order them in Florida or if I happen to be in the Washington DC area. It's a spring through September season.

The fishermen usually catch them when they're still hard shelled, put them in a salt water tank until they molt the hard shell and then quickly remove them before their shell can harden again.

It's not so bad, really; they do remove the gills and the abdomen, I think.

They also serve them deep fried in a sandwich with french fries. I guess I never thought about it, but it does look a little barbaric, yes? :) They call it a Po-Boy.


softshellpoboy2.jpg

I've had the pleasure of eating this too, when I went to Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay. It was really tasty, and I had it in a sandwich as well.

One of my favorite things to do is to go crabbing on the pier late at night with my friends when I would visit South Jersey. The best bait to use is squid.

I've seen people go crabbing and fishing on piers in the Hudson River. I hope they're only doing it for sport. However, I've seen people actually swim and kayak in there too. :shocked: Reminds me of this.
 
I've had the pleasure of eating this too, when I went to Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay. It was really tasty, and I had it in a sandwich as well.

One of my favorite things to do is to go crabbing on the pier late at night with my friends when I would visit South Jersey. The best bait to use is squid.

I've seen people go crabbing and fishing on piers in the Hudson River. I hope they're only doing it for sport. However, I've seen people actually swim and kayak in there too. :shocked: Reminds me of this.

Too funny. :)

I'd never swim or fish in the lower Hudson, but actually the upper reaches of the Hudson have been really cleaned up. They used the millions from GE and companies like it to do it. Old fears die hard, though. I'd kayak on it, but I'd be leery of eating fish caught in it.

I think Europeans have a skewed view of American food. It's not all about fast food places, although Americans do eat way too much of that kind of food. There's also very good regional food, like in the south. The coastal southeast has great food, even if some of it's very fattening.

Keeping just to foods which some people are squeamish about...

Shrimp and grits:Amazing how good grits can taste when they're made with tons of cream and butter. :)
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Seafood stew:
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I guess she wouldn't have gone for our seafood dishes, then. They can look pretty scary. :)


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SaporiMare_115g.jpg


A real French bouillabaisse would probably scare some people witless. :)
bouillabaise.jpg


I adore lobster, all seafood, really, but my favorite in America is crab.

Not only Italians know how to cook, even if I think we and the French are better at it.:)

There's nothing much better than a great Maryland crab cake, or a real New England style clam bake. In fact, when my family comes from Italy, that's the kind of food I tend to serve them: barbecued ribs and steak, lobster, crab, clams and mussels etc.

Sometimes I serve them New England style clam chowder in a hollowed out small loaf of sourdough bead. Once, as a treat when some great clams had come in I made them both Clams Casino and Clams Oreganata as a starter. They loved it.
tm1e19_clams_casino_royal.jpg.rend.sniipadlarge.jpeg


cDv-l82bCr37dqeJe7eb4F-giardino-restaurant-640x480.jpg


Given how much seafood is eaten on the New England and New York/New Jersey coasts, and all the way down to Florida it's remarkable to me that there are some people in these areas who won't eat it or any fish, really. How could someone not like Snow Crab? Maybe it's because they were never exposed to these foods in childhood. I fed my kids absolutely everything I liked to eat, and there isn't much I don't like...brussels sprouts maybe, and lima beans. :) I also don't much like raw protein. They only thing they got squeamish about was when the lobster got tossed into the water if I was steaming it, and they never really developed a taste for trippa.


@Twilight,

I just saw your post above. I've very rarely seen raw shellfish on restaurant menus, but my father used to go to the shore and buy dateri, a mollusk which is now just about extinct in our area, fresh from the fishermen, open it with a knife, squeeze some lemon juice on it, and just eat it. I have seen a lot of ceviche style fish, however. You know, very thinly sliced pieces marinated in lemon juice or vinegar and spices.

My dad liked our version of a steak tartar too. I'll eat raw protein, but I prefer these kinds of things cooked. Same with raw eggs. My nonno used to suck out two fresh eggs every morning, followed by a shot of grappa. That'll put hair on your chest, I guess. :)

I'm not sure, I'll see if I can ask my dad about raw clams. It might depend on the specific locations. You got to be careful with eating clams in America One thing to be careful is to watch out Red tide. Sometimes on beaches there are signs that say no eating clams because of toxins. Perhaps there is a location where pollutants are not in the water.
 
I'm not sure, I'll see if I can ask my dad about raw clams. It might depend on the specific locations. You got to be careful with eating clams in America One thing to be careful is to watch out Red tide. Sometimes on beaches there are signs that say no eating clams because of toxins. Perhaps there is a location where pollutants are not in the water.
Clams drenched in horse radish! Delish! I can eat those creatures all day, I swear
 
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).
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
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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. :)
 
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
 
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.
 
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
 

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