Monday 18 May 2015

One Man's Meat, Another Man's Poison

Two of my French friends are in Thailand at the moment and like all generation X-ers, have been taking lots of photos and bombarding my Instagram page with the weird and wonderful things they have seen, particularly with regards to food. This got me thinking about how each person's definition of food "strangeness" depends on their culture and past experiences. As a Nigerian, I know that we have a lot of foods that many non-Nigerians would find curious or even downright disgusting. I'm talking for instance about Bushmeat, goat's brain in Isi Ewu, Ondo people (my parent's tribe) eating dogs, chicken feet, cows' legs, the offal and innards of cows/goats/birds, fish head and eyes etc. Even as a particularly picky child, I managed to eat and enjoy many of these delicacies without the slightest feeling of revulsion. However, one of the results of my ajala lifestyle is the fact that I have often been confronted with foods that many people, Nigerian and non-Nigerian, would find a little too strange. Of course my inquisitive nature means that I have tried and even enjoyed some of these dishes. Anyway, here's a short history of my "foodie" encounters.

Growing up, my mum (unlike my very picky dad) was an aficionado of the "exotic," and often bought and brought home various kinds of meat including Turtle, Bat, roasted Frogs and even one time Snake. I soon learnt to be comfortable with considering a lot of these as food items, and although I sometimes refused to eat things that felt too strange to me, for the most part, I tried almost everything.

Years later when I went to boarding school, I got introduced to the idea of eating insects...yummy, crispy-on-the-outside, moist-on-the-inside Termites! I don't know who came up with the idea, (actually Google tells me it's a well-known snack in certain parts of Nigeria), but we'd wait eagerly for it to rain then put buckets of water under light sources. The termites, driven out of their holes in ground and attracted to the light would then somehow lose their wings and end up in our artfully positioned buckets of water. They fell in their thousands, and we schoolgirls, ecstatic about this literally forbidden "fruit" eagerly gathered up the harvest and cooked them over candle-flame. Yes I know what you're thinking, carcinogens, improperly cooked food, fire hazard etc. My school thought the same things too, and this activity was completely verboten. However as you can imagine, the taste of termites, the clandestine nature of our activity and the chance to break rules meant that we did this regularly in the rainy season. In fact writing this takes me back to the good old days of the crispy, buttery goodness that were candle-roasted termites. 

Moving to France after having being a vegan for many years, I quickly realised that non-meat diet was a misnomer for the French, and promptly gave up veganism. I then ate and enjoyed Frogs' Legs, having previously refused to touch this with a 10ft barge pole in Nigeria, and tried Caviar which I found much too salty for my taste. A few years later, I tried Horse meat while on a date and didn't like it one bit, although I put this one down to the cook who was also a disastrous date. Steak Tartare which I enjoyed, came later, but it made me worry for ages about getting sick from E.Coli.

For my first Christmas in Paris, I was invited to a friend's place and served Foie Gras (literally fatty liver), a traditional Christmas fare in France. As a former vegan, I was a little bit reticent about eating it, but then my natural curiosity won and I decided to try it...loved it! (Un)fortunately, my principles over the cruelty to animals (geese and ducks are force-fed to effectively make them develop liver Cirrhosis) still cause me to pause each time I am offered this quintessentially French delicacy.

Crocodile meat, I've had this before when I was younger, but I had forgotten what it tasted like and only got to try it again a few weeks ago when my sister visited Brussels. She tried it for the first time at a Congolese restaurant, and fell in love. And honestly, who could blame her? The taste was amazing! It reminded me a little of the Asun (spit-roasted goat meat) my father used to make when I was a kid. However, the fact that it was crocodile (CROCODILE!) stopped me from really enjoying and re-ordering it, unlike my sister who got addicted and ordered the same dish trice in one week.

In Finland, I tried Mykyrokka (blood-dumpling soup) while visiting the then boyfriend's family and had been enjoying the meal until I decided to be polite and ask about the soup. Let's just say I found it a struggle to swallow the rest of my dinner when I got their responses. During the same visit, I also had Venison (deer meat) which was absolutely delicious but made me feel so incredibly guilty. I felt like I was eating Bambi! :(
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During my year abroad in Sweden, I tried Surstromming (fermented or rotten baltic herring, depending on who you ask), and nearly died from the odour that had me nauseated for hours. It was an epic fail of an experience which will never ever be repeated. On the other hand, the equally pungent Shrimp and Fish Pastes fermented in earthen pots for about 6 months underground, which I regularly had in Bangladesh was the bomb! It was used to make beautifully spiced blow-your-head-off hot curries, which we ate with Chappatis or rice.

And to finish, I'm not sure how I came about this exactly, but I've had Kangaroo jerky before, and I loved it! 

So that's my strange food history. What is the strangest thing you've ever eaten?

17 comments:

  1. Wow sounds like you've had your fair share of tasty animals, unfortunately the same cannot be said of myself, as I only stick to my comfort-zone type of foods. So no frogs, snakes, octopus, crocodile, dogs, zebras, cats, or kangaroos!

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    1. What can I say? I love food and new experiences lol!

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  2. Oh dear! Clara! Wundarbar! Ich esse nur regelmäßig Fleisch. ...z.B Kuh, Hähnchen, Ente usw. Das seltsame ist Schwein denke ich.....ja langweilig ich weiß aber ich bin kein Abenteurer Frau. Krokodil, Schlange, Frosch Ah ah, ich kann nicht mit dir und essen!
    Aber ich erinnere mich an Termiten. Noch nie gegessen aber ich habe gehört das man kann das essen. Was ich probiert habe ist ein Insekt, das wie ein grasshoper ist. Meine Oma hat das für uns gemacht and das hat meine Mutter böse gemacht! Lol Oma ist immer die beste oder? hehe

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    1. Ich bin ja eine foodie, und meine Mutter noch mehr...Ergebnis, meinen seltsamen Geschmack in Essen.

      P.S. Deine Oma klingt toll!

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  3. Waoh. all i can say is that all your meat is my poison. i guess i need to start being open minded and trying out new things. i will start with rabbit meat

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    1. You need to live in France for a bit, and you'll quickly become open-minded lol. I've eaten rabbit a few times and it is while delicious, not my favourite type of meat...

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  4. EHEN! Frog wetin??? CLA-RA?! ahahahahaha.
    Not me CHAI! I HATE anything head! So isi-ewu is out of it!
    I like chicken legs and cow legs and shaki..anything else, MBANU!
    sn-akeeee ? Fatty liver? I don't even like liver, fat abi Ora as called NO WAY!
    I play save with my meat o...only chicken and cow!
    Indeed! One man's meat is another man's poison.

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    1. Haha your comment had me cracking up! Reading back gan I realised that I omitted some things that are "normal" to me but then I realised other people don't eat this stuff...I'm talking bats, rabbit, and all manner of raw and cooked seafood including oysters, sushi, octopus, mussels ati be be lo.

      Are you shocked? I hope you'll eat in my house if you ever visit lol!

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  5. Ladies and Gentlemen.. Please give a HIGH standing ovation.. No! **In short stand on your seats and give a rousing ovation to the most traveled human being i haf ever met! Shuo! Kilo-ma de?! only you one e haf go to all these many many places.. **faints.. Chisos! **Faints in First faint... Heaven be a faint eraser biko.. AyaM suprised :).. Mehn I am seriously tendering my application to be like you when i grow up! Say what?! This is the most ghen ghen travel blog in Nigeria biko.. Nigerian Blog Awards 2015.. Take note oh! hehehehe

    Mehnnn! Egbon Eezzz not a joking sturvzz oh! After I read Crocodile ehn!! my confused mind right now is picturing a CRAWLING life crocodile on a white plate with cutleries by the side... kai **Shrugs.. Dont worry.. If Crocodile and snake are the last meals on Earth eehhnn.. Amma fast till my intestines give out... heheheheh Now Deer and Horse.. They picSSHur out really good in my 23 years 5 months 14 days young and confused mind oh... Think Coral Blue offers Deer sha.. I am not sure though...

    Mehn Egbon'e (French version of Egbon.. **winks) me i will not lie oh! i am not a Risk taker like you sam sam.. If its is not SHicken, Beef or turkey and of cause all the mami water fish (THAT I KNOW OH) I will not eat.. Biko.. Omolomo cannot come and use his stomach and be doing Test and see experiment... Ask Marie Curie the scientist.. that didnt end up well with her.. :)

    P.S;You know the Aeroplane thingy on your template ba?! it best defines your Blog aswear... You are a real Ajala SomeboRRy.. Shuo! Finland, Sweeden, France.. hehehe tHis are places we only see on magazines.. Keep Slaying Tofunmi.. Keep Ajalaing.. **Wears Mr. Nigeria Smile.. Cheers.

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    1. Yes oh, starting the Nigerian Blog awards campaign early. We haf kuku learnt from GMB abi na PMB sef. And yes I try my best to set a good example for my aburos...Don't worry, you too will get there IJN! I sha will need someone to take over my ajala crown one day...as per the young shall grow and all that.

      Loved your comment as usual, I was just (in the words of my Adolf), shining teeth as I read it lol!

      Have a lovely week. X

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  6. I think the max I have strayed is duck meat in Malaysia. You def have experimented with orishirishi meats oh.

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    1. Duck meat ke?! Lara that's not even strange! With all the travelling you've done...oya repeat after me, I will be more adventurous! Good luck (and hope you don't throw up lol)!

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  7. Torr!! I can't eat these things mbok, I'm not adventurous with food.

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    1. In my defence, I'm an FFO and my mama raised me to obey Genesis and subdue the earth. Dad on the other hand is a picky #ajebutter lol

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  8. Clara you tried. I automatically ask whats in food before i eat. First time here. This is an awesome site.

    www.pynk360.com

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    1. Lol at trying. I am the original FFO/longthroat that's why...

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  9. Woowwwwweeeeee. I think the strangest thing I've ever eaten was alligator (fried and yum), escargot (yum), and I think that's about it. You're definitely more nutritionally adventurous is me.

    Xoxo,


    La Deutsche Diva — The Denglisch Blog
    German on top | English on the bottom

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