Exotic Foods

A recent fascination with Anthony Bourdain’s show No Reservations has awakened my need to indulge in a bit of nostalgia.  I remember the exotic foods that I’ve tasted.  Sadly, my own experience has not stimulated a need to pursue this path.  Most of my experiences in the exotic food realm have been incredibly disappointing.  As you can see from the list below, most of the flavors and consistencies are very similar with a predominating salty and rubbery factor that contributes to my own ambivalence to pursue this recreational exploration.  The exceptions being my experimentation with sushi, caviar and exotic fruits.  Here’s what I’ve tried to date:

1.  Sea Cucumber 
Flavor:  bland, with a hint of fish
Consistency:  rubbery and gelatinous

2.  Jellyfish
Flavor:  salty gelatin
Consistency:  firm gelatin

3.  Shark’s fin
Flavor: a rather strong salty and fishy flavor
Consistency:  gelatinous and gummy

4.  Awabi (Abalone sushi)
Flavor:  strong salty, fishy, and unpleasantly muddy
Consistency:  similar to tender conch

5.  Alligator
Flavor:  mildly fishy, but, mostly flavorless
Consistency:  a cross between chicken and a firm fish, a bit rubbery

6.  Frog legs
Flavor:  wet, fleshy, undercooked chicken
Consistency:  wet, gooey, and fleshy

7.  Escargot (land snail cooked in the french way with butter and garlic)
Flavor:  very similar to clam, but, with a stronger more concentrated flavor
Consistency:  very tender, almost melt-in-your-mouth, but, not in a pleasant way

7.  Uni (Sea Urchin)
Flavor:  extremely unpleasant and muddy, I tasted nothing of the sweetness I’ve seen described… possibly this was poor quality urchin… I might give it another chance
Consistency:  mushy and a bit slimy

8.  Hotate (Scallop Sushi)
Flavor:  mildly sweet, fresh, taste of the sea
Consistency:  very tender, delicate, and pleasant

9.  Mangosteen
Flavor:  sweet, peachy, with a hint of lychee
Consistency:  soft and creamy

10.  Dragon fruit or Strawberry Pear
Flavor:  very mild kiwi flavor, but, mostly just sweet and bland
Cosistency:  creamy flesh that has a hint of crispness (like a cross between a jicama and a kiwi)

Tying for last place and bordering on the mildly exotic:  black sapote (chocolate pudding fruit), cactus pear, sapodilla, mamey sapote, fresh lychee, longan, gooseberries, carambola (star fruit), apple banana (genetically altered), and pummelo

Mildly exotic:  Kobe beef, venison, buffalo, rabbit, quail eggs, and caviar (Ossetra, Sevruga, salmon, whitefish, and tobiko)

Barely exotic:  Octopus, conch, eel, oysters, squid, langostine, chicken feet, assorted seaweeds, and cocoa nibs

The Winners (to be eaten again):  Hotate, Mangosteen, Dragon Fruit, all of the items tying for last place, the mildly exotic and barely exotic.

The Verdict:  My tastes seem to run to the mildly exotic with an emphasis on fruit and sushi.

Things I want to try:  cloud berry, acai fruit, soursop ( guanabana ), cherimoya, malay roseapple, star apple, and miracle fruit