So twisted.
For my birthday, my lovely girlfriend got me something called a beer class at L’Epicerie Market in Culver City. This was exciting as it turned out to be a multi-course set meal with a glass of beer per dish. Yet, as exciting and delicious as the beer and meals were, there was a particular course worth its own blog. It was one of the strangest meats I had ever eaten: frog legs. Continue Reading»
The King of Fruit.
In a world full of apples, pears, bananas and peaches, it’s comforting to know that out in the crazy world of ours, there are still fruits waiting to be eaten. I’m sure it seems weird to be reading an article on an unvegan website about fruit, but I must confess I am a huge fan of fruit. After all, this is a site against vegetables, not fruit. Who could really hate nature’s candy? While in China I came across two fruits that break the mold of those average, everyday fruits: the Durian and Mangosteen. They are also known as the King and Queen of fruits, respectively. Continue Reading»
Couldn't just bring the whole cow?
If you live in Argentina, Bife de Lomo isn’t exactly a strange meat, but anyone traveling there from the US is bound to find this cut of beef strange. No, it isn’t from some strange part of the cow, and is in fact essentially the same as a Filet Mignon, but this Argentinian beef should never be confused with the typical Filet Mignon. Weighing in at at least 12 ounces, this beef simply melts in your mouth, saving you all the annoying time associated with chewing and allows you to get more meat in your mouth faster. Continue Reading»
A little stretch before eating at Don Pichon.
The Asado beef of Argentina is world renowned and delicious because of the fertile lands of The Pampas. Yet, when you begin to head south towards the end of the world, beef takes a backseat to lamb. In the land of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia, Patagonian Lamb reigns supreme. Continue Reading»
They have no idea what's coming.
Some of you may be wondering where I got that amazing picture of a sheep in the back of a car. The answer lies in this entry.
Now, mutton isn’t inherently a strange meat. Lamb chops, lamb gyros and lamb meatballs can be found all over the USA. It’s most definitely one of the top meats consumed in the USA, but the mutton I ate in the far east wasn’t normal by any means.
My day in Inner Mongolia, China, began just as any other. My Chinese friend was cracking jokes as he always does, but this time he made a joke about how we Americans would be catching our own dinner that night. This was a scary thought, but as we embarked on our journey for the day, I forgot about it while lost in thought in the Inner Mongolian countryside. Now and then, we would pass flocks of sheep, walking around and eating everything they could see. Then, we stopped at one of the flocks.
“It’s time,” my friend said. Continue Reading»
Mmm marbly.
Kobe Beef is a world renowned form of meat that seems to have taken upon mythical status. It is exotic, yet signs for Kobe beef can be found everywhere. Technically speaking, most of the “Kobe Beef” outside of Japan isn’t really Kobe beef at all. The correct term for this is Kobe-style beef, which employs similar concepts but isn’t quite the same. Many restaurants just say Kobe beef because no one really knows the difference and to tell customers the difference would scare off potential buyers. True Kobe beef is only made in the Hyogo prefecture in Japan, which the city of Kobe is the capital of.
The best way to get real Kobe beef is to go straight to the source, Kobe, Japan. I was lucky enough to find myself in Kobe one day, so I didn’t have to add a thousand dollar plane ticket onto what would already be the most expensive steak of my life. Continue Reading»
No veggies here!
It’s been a while since I’ve written about one of my strange meat escapades, so here’s a new one.
Hiking in the Cordillera Mountains of the Philippines, I got to experience some of the freshest food I’ve ever eaten. Along the way, I stayed in local homes and ate the way that the locals ate. I quickly learned that Chicken Adobo is a local specialty and although adobo can be found throughout the Latin American world, I found it to be a bit different in the Philippines. Continue Reading»
Just your normal buffet...
In honor of the Detroit Red Wings being in the playoffs and beating the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks last night, I decided today would be a great opportunity to highlight the consumption of octopus. (For more information on why that is a reason to highlight octopus, please click here)
My first octopus-eating experience came while I was living in Japan. I attended an event that had a typical array of buffet-like foods, when I suddenly came across bowls of tentacles. One of the bowls had boiled octopus, while the other was fried. Taking a bit of each, I sat down to eat that eight-armed wonder of the sea. Continue Reading»
It doesn't taste like wool.
Alpaca wool is known to be some of the softest and warmest wool in the world, which made it even more intriguing to me as a meal. When I was traveling in Peru, I knew the meat of that woolly animal had to be tasted.
My quest wasn’t easy, and the translations on the menus didn’t make it any easier. During the course of the trip, I happened upon a dish called “German Nicket to the Pleasure,” “Red Shoe,” “Chicken a la Coca-Cola” and the most frightening of all, “Chicken Locust.” At a restaurant in Puno, I ordered the seemingly simple “Spaghetti with Meat Sauce.” When it arrived, it was spaghetti, some sort of yellowish sauce and a massive chicken breast just plopped atop the noodles, where you might typically picture a diminutive meatball. Continue Reading»
Tastes like horse...I think...
While visiting a friend in the city of Yangshuo in Southern China, I decided to try dog. Although I grew up with a dog and loved the creatures, it was time for me to experience that aspect of Asian culture. A bunch of us headed out to a restaurant and went into our own little room. While my Chinese friends placed our order, I sat in anticipation for the event.
After the order had been taken, my friend turned to me to apologize.
“Why?” I asked.
“It’s not the right season for dog,” she replied. Continue Reading»
Moo!
I’ve reported on on in-vitro meat before, and now it seems that dream of death-less meat is closer than ever. According to the Times of India, this lab meat could even be ready in a year. Yeah, that’s pretty soon. Apparently the key is stem cells.
Continue Reading»
Anthrax for sure
Last week, an unexpected parcel arrived. I immediately suspected anthrax and was ready to detonate it in the street when I noticed it was from my future brother-in-law. For some, this may be further reason to suspect anthrax, but Dustin has never me reason to believe he’d want me dead. I opened it up and found a pair of sausages with an awesome letter welcoming me to the family. Truth be told, had I known sausages were in the mix, I’d have popped the question long ago.
The letter also informed me the sausages came from a friend of a friend of his in New York who had recently started up a sausage company called Charlito’s Cocina. I was excited to try them and although it took me a few days to get to it, I was safe knowing the dry-cured sausages could handle it. But aside from being dry-cured, what kind of sausages were these? The answer is Trufa Seca, which means they were full of black truffle. Aside from that, these were pork through and through with sea salt as the final flavoring ingredient. According to the website, the pork was a heritage breed and pasture-raised, which made me feel even better as I sliced off my first bit.
Continue Reading»