“That is so disgusting! I can’t believe you are eating that!”
She rolled her eyes and screwed up her face at her brother as he tucked in to the smoked mussels.
I gently reminded her of our rule…
“You don’t have to eat it, but you are not allowed to be rude about it.”
“Sorry” she mumbled, “it’s just that it looks so weird. There is no way I am eating that!”
“Just because something looks different doesn’t mean it tastes bad, or that you should try it” I say in my best calm and confident parenting voice.
“What’s the weirdest food you’ve eaten” she asks me.
I wrack my brain for an example to illustrate my point.
“When I was in Japan I had soup with pieces of octopus tentacle in it, it still had the big suckers on it. That was different, but it tasted great.”
“That’s not very weird! What other weird food have you eaten??”
“Well… once I was at a sleep over with friends and the girl who’s house it was freaked us all out by showing us a huge pot with a whole ox tongue in it!”
“eeeuuuwww”
“It was very strange, just like a human tongue but much bugger, with taste buds and everything, but no mouth!”
There was a chorus of ‘disgusting’ and ‘so gross’ from around the table.
“So did you eat it Mum???”
“Um… er no. It smelled very odd and I just…er… ”
Accusatory looks are thrown at me, and I feel my calm confident parenting moment crumbling around me.
“It was a tongue!” I say defensively, I was only a kid!”
“Yeah well” she snaps back at me “those mussels smell funny, and I’m only a kid, and there is no way I am trying that!”
Ok kid, you win… you win.
What’s the weirdest thing you have ever eaten?
Photo Credit: kennymatic
Funny. I would try anything and always up for a good food challenge. I have eaten pigs ears and chicken feet which both were delicious. And yes I love Haggis.
Have a nice weekend.
Julie
I always think haggis looks quite nice once it’s cooked… just as long as you don’t think about what’s in it! LOL
We used to regularly eat tongue (or lengue is what we called it back home. HEAVY Mexican influence on food!) If you get it corned, and cook it right, it’s like the most tender delicious silverside you’ve ever eaten. One of my husbands favorite meals is corned tongue sandwiches now. I LOVE it spiced and thrown in tacos. And it’s so CHEAP!
I also ate snails once on a trip to France (tried not to think about the fact that it is a giant foot!). And my brother-in-law will bring us roo and wallaby he’s shot once in a while.
A real American thing most people seem to find odd when you’re living overseas? Sweet potato casserole. Cut up baked sweet potatoes, maybe spiced with cinnamon, topped with marshmallows, and baked again.
As an adult the idea of corned tongue sandwiches actually sounds quite good! I am not sure I could eat snails though… and I can not under any circumstances mix sweet food with savory food so a casserole with marshmallows is definitely out! LOL
This is priceless!!! Your daughter is such a clever cookie!!
I love sushi (not something I ever thought I would say). By the way, two of my three kids love sushi, as well. We have all eaten and love squid and alligator. My husband and I ate snails on our honeymoon and fried pig skins are an occasional snack. As a good old southern gal, I do indeed LOVE sweet potato casserole and it is more like a dessert than a side dish. I mash the sweet potatoes with sugar, cinnamon, butter and eggs. We make it with pecan, butter, flour and brown sugar on the top instead of marshmallows. Just fix it as a dessert, but don’t miss out.