Finnish nudity

[Upphew]

"Marmite is made from yeast extract, a by-product of beer brewing."

YUK!

What's so special about this Marmite? Why do you guys like it? I've never tried it, but it sounds really gross!

I don't understand peanut butter either. It's too salty and it sticks to your palate.

Think about gross: cheese that has mould in it! One would presume that any food with mould would be uneatable... and not to mention surströmming

[elisouli]

Upphew wrote:
Think about gross: cheese that has mould in it! One would presume that any food with mould would be uneatable... and not to mention surströmming

Actually I was thinking about that yesterday... It seems that many "delicacies" are a bit gross... Like natto, hákarl, haggis...

Has anybody tried kimchi? People say it smells really bad...

[sammy]

Has anybody tried kimchi? People say it smells really bad...

Based on my very limited experience, acquired at the Korea House restaurant in Helsinki, I'd say that's not true! But who knows if that was 'toned down' a bit.

Many cheeses (Gorgonzola, Limburger, what have you) smell rather a lot, but usually the whiff is not as such included in the actual taste. Or perhaps it is, but when you've started liking the cheese you do not notice it anymore.

Gross... well if you think of Roquefort cheese for example, it may thrill you to know that the particular fungus that is used in the cheesemaking originally hails from -you guessed it- Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in France, where it lurks in the local caves, waiting for a change to jump on and digest any possible prey that happens to wander in by mistake...

[Hank W.]

Kimchi stinks when its being made if its done traditionally by fermenting. But the ready product isn't anything that pungent. I mean garlic and pepper...

[sammy]

Kimchi stinks when its being made if its done traditionally by fermenting. But the ready product isn't anything that pungent. I mean garlic and pepper...

Yep those two tastes definitely dominated! Yum. I think sauerkraut smelled much 'stranger' when I first tasted it all those years ago.

[elisouli]

sammy wrote:
Gross... well if you think of Roquefort cheese for example, it may thrill you to know that the particular fungus that is used in the cheesemaking originally hails from -you guessed it- Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in France

Tokaji and some Riesling wines are prepared from grapes that are affected by Botrytis cinerea. Isn't that the same fungus that lurks in everyone's kitchen?

[sammy]

Isn't that the same fungus that lurks in everyone's kitchen?

Possibly - comforting to know that "we are not alone" But then again, leaving a bottle of grape juice open on your kitchen table for a few weeks is unlikely to result in a bottle of Sauternes (No, I haven't tried)

[Desundial]

From nudity to stinky foods. Is this some kind of sick communal brain wave?!

My nominee: norwegian cheese. the caramel colored stuff.

[Hank W.]

We got a block of that Norwegian cheese in the fridge... now you mention peanut butter... but the taste is more like toffee or something. Its peculiar but not bad... or maybe theres a more fermented variety. Definitely theres worse delicacies.

[Rob A.]

And surely we need to mention the infamous Durian in a thread like this...see this previous thread:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1035&p=8679&hilit=durian#p8679

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian

Well, I like it...we get it here from time to time ...and I see from the wikipedia link, it's almost durian season again.... Apparently it is best eaten at the instant it falls from the tree...only a few varieties apparently can "travel" and they come frozen...

...but I can only eat it for so long before the smell finally disgusts me...but before that it is absolutely delectable....and that's the frozen stuff...

Here's how one travel writer described it:

its odor is best described as pig-sh*t, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia.


And mouldy cheese...well, back when I still ate cheese, I would sometimes purposely leave a chunk of cheddar in the fridge and until it become covered with a blue/white haze....mmm, num, num...

[elisouli]

Rob A. wrote:
its odor is best described as pig-sh*t, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock.

I think I found the most disgusting delicacy : it's got to be this cheese!

Casu marzu (also called casu modde, casu cundhídu, or in Italian formaggio marcio) is a cheese found in Sardinia, Italy, notable for being riddled with live insect larvae. [...] Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not.

Several food safety issues have been raised with casu marzu:

* Anecdotal reports of allergic reactions.
* A risk of the decomposition advancing to a toxic state. (Folk wisdom in Sardinia holds that the presence of still-living larvae is an assurance that this has not yet happened.)
* Risk of enteric myiasis: intestinal larval infection. Piophila casei larvae can pass through the stomach alive (human stomach acids do not usually kill them) and take up residency for some period of time in the intestines, where they can cause serious lesions as they attempt to bore through the intestinal walls. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea.

Yummy!

[elisouli]

And oh, I forgot to mention, I'll never get used to that turd-looking sausage that they eat here in Tampere.

[Hank W.]

We have that warm in "my local" on Tuesdays.
- Just a dark version of "ryynimakkara"...

BTW - I can't understand the lingonberry thing - I eat veriohukaiset & mansikkahillo.

[elisouli]

Veriletut are ok. It's the appearance of mustamakkara that makes it so disgusting! And the texture - those ryynit! Hyi saatana!

[Rob A.]

I think I found the most disgusting delicacy : it's got to be this cheese!

Casu marzu (also called casu modde, casu cundhídu, or in Italian formaggio marcio) is a cheese found in Sardinia, Italy, notable for being riddled with live insect larvae. [...] Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not.

Hey, you left out this part...

...with some liquid (called lagrima, from the Sardinian for "tears") seeping out.

...Nice...larva p*ss...and they call it "tears"...


And I suppose this needs to be mentioned....

...the Pufferfish--"Fugu".... I don't suppose it's disgusting to eat, but it must be a rather "exciting" meal...sort of a dietary version of Venäläinen ruletti....

The poison, a sodium channel blocker, paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious, and eventually dies from asphyxiation. There is currently no antidote, and the standard medical approach is to try to support the respiratory and circulatory system until the effect of the poison wears off. It is alleged that non-lethal quantities of the poison remain in the flesh of the fish and give a special desired tingling sensation on the tongue, which leads to the fingers....