I guess I found one of my limits

[vacek]

I am currently in SE Asia from Sept. 17 - Oct. 4.  Right now I have spend the week in Indonesia.  From Surabayu my distributor took me into the coal country where many of the power plants are.  Four hour ride in, 5 hours of seminar and then 4 hours back.  Anyway, we stopped for "dinner" and it was getting dark.  Anyway, this restuarant was outside on 15X15 raised platforms.  You sit on rugs lounging on the bamboo sides.  Anyway it was dark.  They served several dishes, typical of Asia.  I tore off a leg of chicken (about 1/3 size of ours in this instance), not too bad.  Started getting dark, reached over and tore off another piece.  Bit into it and got goo.  Couldn't figure that out, but laid it down and went after the rice... By the way, no utensils.  Later went for another piece, and again goo.  Turn on the Iphone to  get some light, take a look and found half an eye and brain.  I eat a lot of things when traveling international, but this one got me.  I wasn't hungry for a day or two.

You learn a lot about how things get done with low technology when in other countries.  A huge amount of material is moved by motorcycle and bicycle.  I will try to post some pics when I get back.  In the meantime, am looking before I bite.

[mechanic]

You don't have to travel overseas to find that kind of eats.  My grandma used to cook squirril with gravy over the top, and she cooked heads and all...nothing wasted.

My wife was not too pleased when she licked the gravy off a chunk!

Be careful what you bite into...and what bites you...lots of strange insects there.....

[tacklebury]

My step dad likes to cook his fish with the head on.  That doesn't really bother me too much, until he sucks the eyeballs out.  He's NOT what you'd call a quiet eater either...  Different times and ways many places.

[vacek]

I spend about 6 weeks a year in Asia so eat a lot of interesting things which never bother me...Protein is pretty much protein... Fish eyes are pretty common.  I just wasn't expecting the chicken head and that along with the overly sweet sauce and long day....   .  I grew up eating chicken feet, we called them scratchers, and being Czech a lot of sausages from organ meats, scrambled eggs with brains... etc.  I don't like the idea of Squirrel head.

[Old Syko]

You don't have to travel overseas to find that kind of eats.  My grandma used to cook squirril with gravy over the top, and she cooked heads and all...nothing wasted.

My grandma cooked them the same way.  My grandpa would dig out all the heads into a bowl for himself.  He would let them cool a bit then pick them up in one hand and use the handle of a table knife to crack them open so he could suck out the contents.  Nothing was wasted.

[RON17T]

Man you guys must have been really hungry growing up

[kynardsj]

My grandmother cooked squirrels that way too. I remember my cousin and my grandfather going for the head so they could eat the brain. I stayed with the hind legs and gravy over some biscuits.

[vacek]

I just returned yesterday from my twice annual trip to SE Asia.  All in all did Singapore, Indonesia (where I got the unwanted chicken head), Vietnam and finally the Philippines.  While in the Philippines I finally tried balut.... a fertilized and partly developed duck embryo, still in the egg and boiled.  I ate 2.  Not all that bad if you don't look.    Basically you first crack the large end of the egg and carefully peal the shell then membrane.  A little salt then tip it up to drink the soup.  Then peel on down and fork out the remaining.  This along with camel udder (Brunei 2 years ago) and the unsuspecting chicken head are top of my list for some strange food. 

I did get a good case of food poison in Jakarta but that was from a top end restaurant.  Puked my guts out while getting a foot massage.  They ran me down to the hotels clinic where some nurse/PA gave me a large shot of something into my vein.  Slept 14 hours, got up and headed to Vietnam.  Other than a chronic case of the runs, I made it back in good shape.  It was a long trip. I left of Sept 17 and returned yesterday.

[Victor3]

You don't have to travel overseas to find that kind of eats.  My grandma used to cook squirril with gravy over the top, and she cooked heads and all...nothing wasted.

 Careful there.  

"While conducting a study of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in south Florida in 1997, a University of Kentucky research team observed an affected patient who was originally a native of Kentucky and had a history of eating squirrel brains."

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/science/brains/

[mechanic]

You don't have to travel overseas to find that kind of eats.  My grandma used to cook squirril with gravy over the top, and she cooked heads and all...nothing wasted.

 Careful there. 

"While conducting a study of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in south Florida in 1997, a University of Kentucky research team observed an affected patient who was originally a native of Kentucky and had a history of eating squirrel brains."

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/science/brains/

 Yep...thats probably what happened to Grandma'.  She died in 1993, and her mind went the year before she died.  Of course she was born in 1896............

In her day you ate what you could find.  There was no going to the store and buying food. 

[halfbreed]

Mechanic, I fully understand about your grandma not wasting anything. Neither did mine. But, she did not last as long.
 Times have changed, and so has conditions, much more crowding in both livestock pens, and wildlife areas, which makes the CJD much more possible.
 Good link there swampman.
 There have been quite a few cases of deer in the tri-state area affected with CJD. the little bite of brains is just not worth the risk anymore. I personally never ate the brains, but have friends who still love them in the gravy.
 John

[gypsyman]

I remember coming home from Jr. high, probably around '68 or '69. My dad had stopped at a local bar and picked up a muskrat dinner. He was eating it with the head on. Turned me off real quick. Took many years to try 'rat. It does taste alot like rabbit, but I really do need to have it with the head removed. gypsyman