This Summer my father and I have been incredibly adventurous when grilling. While we love classics like grilled chicken and grilled pork, we also enjoy experimenting with grilled pizzas and grilled cheese. Bacon, avocado, corn — you name it and we are tossing it on the grill. How about you? Are you unconventional when it comes to grilling?
The other day, Party asked me how I feel about eating foods that I can't identify. Since I've often found myself at food events that serve an overwhelming number of complicated bites, I do it all the time. But despite the fact that I've eaten lots of random (and unidentified) foods, there are still scores of foods I've always wanted to try but have never gotten around to sampling. Although some New York gourmands claim poutine is becoming routine, I've never had a chance to try it, so it's at the top of my list. And I've also always wanted to try belon oysters, black pudding, blowfish, boudin sausage, and wagyu beef from Kobe, Japan.
I'm sure you've got a running tab, too — so I'd love to hear it! What's on your must-try list?
On Sunday night I found myself at Cochon 555, a one-night roving food festival that celebrates all things pork. While I made the rounds trying everything from pork head to bacon-Rice Krispie treats, I thought, "wow, I'm an adventurous eater!" Take this plate for example. Every bite consists of some pork product made by Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats. However, there was a large crowd around Farr's table, so I didn't get to see the menu. No matter, at this point of the evening I was starting to feel like a little piggy and I gobbled up each item without ever knowing what they were. Could you do the same?
Last week my sister and I went to dinner at a new restaurant, Pizza Nostra, that recently opened in San Francisco's Potrero Hill district. While the flat, crusty pizzas piping hot from the wood-burning stove were delicious, it was the grilled octopus with chickpeas, celery, and lemon antipasto that stood out in my mind.
Although she'd never had octopus, my sister boldly dove in and was pleasantly surprised by the mild taste and slightly chewy texture. We both could not get enough and swore that even our mother — who's afraid of eating more exotic cuisine like octopus — would enjoy the perfect combination of flavor and texture in the dish. However, my mother is not as adventurous as my sister and she doesn't really enjoy trying new things.
Be it a restaurant, recipe, ingredient, or culinary technique, how do you feel about the matter? Do you like tasting new experiences?
Meat used to be a simple option. Pork, chicken, beef and if you were adventurous you could get duck or lamb or even buffalo. But thanks to the folks at Exotic Meats you can get a wild assortment of meats delivered right to your front door. Choose from mildly adventurous such as frog legs and rabbit or go wildly adventurous with crocodile, turtle and rattlesnake.
I don't know about you, but this makes me horrified and hungry at the same time.
