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So, we have this unofficial GoT cookbook and a lot of the recipes require either ingredients one doesn’t typically have lying around the house or meat products that aren’t particularly commonly consumed in the U.S. like dove, pheasant, and mutton.

Anyway, I wanted to try one out and we got lamb. If I ever had it before, I must’ve been really young and don’t remember. Unfortunately, I didn’t do a good job preparing and didn’t have the stuff I needed for any of the lamb, mutton or goat recipes. I wound up making a lamb roast rubbed down with pepper, salt, thyme, chives, and cinnamon, glazed in a mixture of the aforementioned with honey and mustard, and covered in carmalized apples and onions, which is what I do for my pork roasts.

I’m not sure how to describe lamb. It’s very distinct from beef, chicken or pork. Very tender though. So what are some of the less common meats you’ve eaten, for better or worse?

Lamb grosses me out, I just can't stand the texture.

I basically live on 50 cent chicken thighs so I can't really comment much on the actual topic.

I had lamb at a seder meal. It was delicious, though I also find it hard to describe the flavor.
I had gater before, but it tasted like chicken.
I once had octopus and squid, though many may not consider that odd. I liked it.
Frog legs and pheasant legs are nice. Both taste like chicken.
Deer tastes like some really gamey ground beef to me. It's really good in stew.

I didn't consider alligator or deer weird enough to mention but I've had those. Alligator is nothing special and isn't worth the price unless you're trying it just because. Venison is so lean it's usually mixed with ground pork. I'm glad to no longer have a chest freezer so well meaning people can't bury me in deer sausage anymore until I'm feeding it to the dog just to get rid of it. Probably threw out thirty pounds after Harvey came through.

Just plain venison I haven't had too often but you can use sherry wine vinegar to make it less gamey.

I've had plenty of wild hog too if that counts, although 'pork but with a stronger taste' probably doesn't warrant inclusion in the thread.

I kind of regret not eating any of my rattlesnakes but eh. Not really something I would ever think about till afterwards.

E: oh and I'm not sure how common crawdads are in other places. Pretty rich so a little goes a long way and usually best mixed into rice or something. I think of them as little baby lobsters so I don't have to think of them as aquatic cockroaches but I'd still rather not peel and eat them directly and it used to gross me out as a kid, the sound they'd make scrabbling at the styrofoam inside an ice chest.

The reason deer tastes gamey is because you're only allowed to shoot the ones that have nuts. Deer raised for meat are typically female or eunuch like cows are, that's when you can taste the "default" venison flavor, rather than testosterone and beefy meat. It's still more or less beef, although it has a slightly different qualia to it.

Lamb is quite plentiful in England.  It's available in all the supermarkets, and many restaurants will offer lamb dishes.  Having said that, though, I'm too keen on the taste.  Plus it's usually pretty fatty.

Goose is also rather plentiful here.  At least, in my memory it wasn't something I saw much when I lived in the USA.

The most unusual meat I ever ate was alligator down in Florida many years ago.

Yeah it was definitely fattier than I expected. Nothing wrong with a little fat though.

Yeah I though it was weird Bucky was talking about lamb like it’s rare, but I guess it’s just a cultural difference. Likewise, I’m surprised to hear people eat alligator- seems like too much effort and not enough meat.

History Channel or Discovery or someone had a show called Swamp People that followed guys that gator hunted. Pretty sure it was most or all of their income. You hook them on pre-rigged line, check it daily, and if you have one you pilot your boat up to it and shoot it in the head.

Octopus.

I've had lamb a few times; I like it, but they don't sell it at Walmart.

I eat calamari (deep fried squid) fairly often; it's delicious but rather rubbery.  You can often find it at restaurants.  

Now that I think about it, I have never eaten pheasant.  That's rather odd-- considering how popular pheasant hunting is in my area and that I know someone who raises the things.

I'm not sure venison is unusual, but I eat some a few times a year.

By far, the weirdest thing I have eaten was steamed mussels.  

I live in the United States, far from the coast.

 

I think that you will have to go hunting yourself if you ever want dove or pheasant.

They sell lamb and quail here around Easter and Christmas. They sell rabbit at Easter too which is kind of hilarious.

Severed pig heads are another festive treat found in the freezer section for the holidays.

Oh yeah, most of you will think scrapple is disgusting. But it’s fantastic and delicious.

Scrapple is in the same category as head cheese. That category is called 'no fucking thank you short of the only alternative to death by starvation'. And even then I wouldn't LIKE it.

Scrapple is delicious. You’d love it.

I tried calamari once and it was okay. Then I tried regular squid and refused to eat anything like it ever again. It tasted like an old boot, and I got sick and my shit turned to liquid.

Lamb, Goat, Mutton (Which I shot myself), Deer, Horse, and a few different game birds (Pheasant, partridge, Grouse, Pidgeon, Duck, Goose). 

Seafood wise: Squid, Octopus, and pretty much every type of shellfish except Sea Urchin (those things creep me the fuck out).

 

Obviously, that's just the more "odd/unusual" items.

Can anyone confirm if grasshoppers taste like popcorn? I always see that claimed but it has to be bullshit.

Octopus, squid, and eel are quite common in Japan and all meats I’ve tried when there. Takoyaki (octopus in balls with a special batter and sauce) is delicious, squid was forgettable, and eel was excellent with the sauce but I felt bad because they’re being way overfished.

Game birds are common in the UK so I don’t consider them weird, but I have had pigeon, swordfish, reindeer, and ostrich. The pigeon was the best, surprisingly.

Pigeons eat trash, why would you eat a pigeon.

It was a nice restaurant where they breed and feed the pigeons with foix gras and caviar.

That sentence and those pigeons just ooze pretentiousness.

Nice to see you got the point.

Points are sharp and dangerous. This is why blunt impact is the key to zombie survival.

One time mom dared me to eat a whole dead baby mouse from the freezer, and I did. I earned $5. We used to breed mice at that time, to sell and for our snakes.

One time some family member's friend gave us a piece of deer they had hunted. Mom cooked it up and it was delicious. We have chicken about three times a week, so it's rare for us to have something special like this.

I wouldn't consider this weird, as in this part of the U.S. seafood restaurants serve this, but I've had mussels a few times. Or whatever shellfish it was.

No one has mentioned these, so I don't know if they are uncommon or not, but quail are good. I've had them once, fresh from uncle and aunt's backyard quail cage.

If I've had lamb before, I don't remember it well, but I think I've had it.

Your mom dared you to eat a dead mouse you found in the freezer? Be careful who you tell that to...

Actually it’s a good story, she should tell it to more people.

We didn't find it in the freezer, we used to breed mice so when we put them down to be snake food, we kept them in the freezer.

christ your family is fucking mental. we should call the fbi

You know, some people may think my family is crazy, but we're not. We just have some silly and random personalities. And many moods.

Well I think your family sounds fine. Your mother in particular sounds like an interesting person. Feel free to share more stories about her.

Well, when my mom is in a good mood, (which is pretty often) she randomly bursts out singing. Sometimes singing about something that someone just said. She sings in a goofing off way, and I think she gets it from her dad (my grampa).

Grampa jokes around a lot, and sometimes pretends to be a zombie and fake eats us. He's not always in a good mood, though. When he has a headache, (which is pretty often, due to his back and neck issues) he can get very grumpy, sometimes yelling, arguing, and complaining about things that make no sense to be upset about.

Last night mom had to get out of the house, and met with her friends to talk, taking my sister, dad and I along. They decided to meet at McDonald's, which I am sick of. We stayed there for 2 1/2 hours before dad decided to leave, because he was getting sore from the seats. He took his car from work to get here, so he was able to go. We stayed another half hour before we left too. When we got home, we found the den (computer/school room) doors open, (one of those doors where the knobs are made to not turn, and so just by pushing they open) and my 1000 piece jigsaw I was putting together was all broken. I had put a chair behind the door, so the cats couldn't get in, but it was pushed out of the way. Marigold, our Pit Bull/German shepherd mix, had opened the door with her weight. Grampa said it was open when he went in there, but he closed it again when he left. So that means the dog had already been in there, but left without messing with the puzzle, but forced her way in again to investigate the cardboard on the table (she thinks cardboard is delicious). I was already frustrated because I was almost halfway done with that large puzzle, but then mom discovered chewed-up pieces of puzzle outside of the room. More were found, and I got a bit mad at the dog, calling her a stupid dog. The puzzle was new, bought a few days ago (and expensive at the place we went to; almost 30 dollars.), and was a beautiful picture of colorful frogs. Mom was nice, as she always is, and looked up on the website located on the box to see if they could order it online. I cleaned up the mess, while mom couldn't find it on the website. So she looked up the name, and found it, along with another pretty puzzle, this one with butterflies. She let me choose; the other puzzle, or the frog one. I chose to get the same one as I lost, since I wanted to finish it. Gramma paid for it, since she's nice and she wanted to. But then mom asked me, "Do you want the other one, too?" I was surprised, and I agreed. Mom says she'll probably hear about it from dad later, but she liked the other one too, and she's kind like that. It'll come on Monday, in two days.

fuck 

Mice and snakes?  Sounds like a nightmare.

Not a nightmare. I don't have fears of mice and snakes; we think mice are cute and snakes are beautiful. Now spiders would be the nightmare.

Actually, on the same day, mom said I'd get $10 if I ate a mealworm. We had them as treats for our mice, and they were alive. I tried to squash the thing to death so I could eat it, but at the last second it started moving again! I threw it back onto the table, giving up the ten dollars.

I haven't really eaten a lot of weird mammal meats. Maybe duck(no I have not eaten dog).

In terms of seafood, I've eaten a lot of weird things, some I don't know the name of. I remember once my dad and I were walking along the beach in Korea, and we came across a little mini-restaurant on the beach. It was a stall run by two old ladies who were literally selling whatever they caught on the rocks and the tide pools nearby on a plate, for 10 dollars each. We bought two and I remember my plate having raw octopus legs, sea urchin eggs, slices of raw fish, a couple of mussels we were meant crack open ourselves, and something that looked a lot like an uncircumcised penis. 

Geoduck perhaps?

I had catfish once. It tasted disgusting. Just too fishy. Like inhaling a muddy pacific plant.

Catfish isn't really an unusual meat unless you're not from the United States... lol

No, I'm from Oregon. I'd just never tried it before so to me, it was unusual.

Fried catfish is incredible, but in Oregon you were undoubtedly eaten frozen farm raised garbage.

Yeah, sounds about right.

I've had rabbit and venison before. They were actually quite good! I recommend everyone try them if they're affordable in their region (there's plenty of rabbits and venison where I come from).

Not sure if this counts as a meat but I used to eat salt and vinegar crickets as a snack all the time. I only ate them to be cool and 'edgy' but then I realized they were actually really good. I just had to avoid looking them in the eyes haha

Yeah, counts as meat. It was a living creature, after all. I've heard they taste like sunflower seeds, but I sure ain't trying them.

Sunflower seeds is a good way to describe the taste. Very airy sunflower seeds. They also kind of remind me of popcorn hulls because they get stuck in your teeth like those do and feel the same, lol.

Lovely. Bugs in your teeth.

Gotta get that protein!

Didn't you get grossed out by it at first? Even a little?

Yeah, it was really hard for me to try the first one because I was grossed out but once I did and realized it wasn't bad then I wasn't grossed out anymore. 

YOU'RE NOT DEAD!

You're a monster.

Oh boy, well this is awkward... 

 

I absolutely love trying new things, so I've eaten a fairly wide variety of "unusual" meats.

• Rabbit
• Lamb
• Ostrich
• Kangaroo
• Alligator
• Octopus
• Squid
• Duck
• Deer
• Elk
• Wild Boar
• Eel
• Crickets
• Rattlesnake
• Snail
• Pronghorn
• Frog
• Squirrel (I was tricked as a child.)
• Bison
• Pheasant
• Quail

...That's about all I can think of. xD

Some of these probably aren't particularly unusual, depending on where you're from. Just thought I'd list everything the average United Statesian probably wouldn't find at their local fast food joint.

It doesn't seem at all an unusual list to me. If a kangaroo, octopus or eel get anywhere close to firing range, you can bet I'll be trying it, too.

Since my list doesn't seem particularly unusual to you, might I ask what you WOULD consider unusual?

Well, I can't say that I'd ever willingly try balut. And the thought of eating a fish with its head left on and eyes lolling at me while I devour it doesn't seem particularly appetizing (whether or not the eyes end up as part of the feast). Oh, and any animal that's still alive going down is a definite no, as well. But, I do enjoy trying new things as long as they're prepared properly and the cook doesn't suffer from pyrophobia.

@lkiriakos  Thought I'd throw you another bone being the nice guy that I am. ;)

Much appreciated. :")

Ahh. Yes, that definitely makes sense. x_x
I have less than 0 desire to try balut, and I would NEVER be cruel enough to eat something that's still alive. Adding to that, I really don't fancy the idea of eating any of the various fermented meats around the world (such as lutefisk and Surströmming).

On the other hand, I'm actually not bothered by eating meats with the head still attached. In fact, there's a restaurant around here that serves roasted pig's head that I'm planning to hit up. :3

I had a turducken, except my roommate deep fried one of my pet goldfish and put it at the center. Be careful who you start prank wars with...

That's horrible!! I would NEVER forgive anyone who did that!

Yea.. We're not friends anymore. But I did manage to spray paint a goldfish on his car before I moved.