As you can tell, I am bored....sooooo

What is the strangest foods you ever saw in MENA?

For me, I saw and knew many of these buuut still nothing I would eat:
.... escargot, tripe, frog's legs, brains, camel's feet, boudin, leban, sheep's head (the whole thing, cooked and skinned,including the eyeballs), cicada and squid in ink

but I did eat:

sea urchin, octupus, truffles, camel's milk

Truffles aren't bizarre! They are the most amazing things on the planet!!!!!!! (IMO of course, I'm a HUGE truffle fan)

I watched the Bizarre Foods show on the Travel Channel when they did Morocco. I wouldn't have eaten half of the things that he tried (basically every organ meat imaginable), not so much because of the food itself, but the way it was kept and preseted.

My husband says there is nothing better than sheep's head. I told him he can have ALL he wants.

I thought it was strange to eat pidgeon. All I could think of was the "flying rats" that we have here. My husband asked me if I was crazy -- of course they were farm raised!

I saw part of that show on Travel Channel and I'll agree that while most of the food looked gross, some of it didn't. Couscous? bizarre? Fresh fish just caught off the port in Essaouria? Give me a break! (the only thing gross about the fish was that the stupid guy ate the whole thing - head and all - and even the Moroccans were looking at him strange!)

I did try the sheep head thing - by force, and the family was laughing at me the whole time. But there's didn't just include the eyeballs, but also the teeth and hooves! This was years before Hamid and I were together, and I remember him pretending to try and bite me with the teeth! My reaction was the funniest thing they had seen!

Oh yeah, putrid meat.....Yikes. Other than that I can it it all.

True Jenn truffles to me, are not bizarre... unusual probably better word. But yes they are amazing! But I think some people would say they are bizarre maybe

I didnt go for the sheeps heads either, nor some of the sketchy organ meat. We are just so spoiled here, Adnan was surprised when he first got here that we often just buy and eat the chicken breasts. In his family, as in most, everything from the bird (or beast) gets eaten, not just the 'choice' pieces.....

Awesome thread Henia! I was surprised about the pigeon too. During my first trip to Morocco in Fez back in November '06, my fiance, his mother, and one of his sisters and I went to a restaurant. His Mother ordered "sandwiches" for all of us. I didn't recognize it, so I asked Driss what the mystery meat was. He laughed at my astonishment when I was told it was pigeon. I had to pass on that....too many visualizations in my mind of pigeons drinking car oil/rancid water cocktails outside and eating whatever else. I had to go trough the Sheep Head thingie too at Eid-Al-Adha this year in January. It's like a rite-of-passage. I was also surprised that they left the eyes and teeth inside! They consider the head to be a delicacy. My father-in-law proceeded to offer me one of the most "prime" pieces...the tongue. I just couldn't bring myself to say no thanks to Pops, but I couldn't fathom eating a tongue either, so I opted for a small taste of the "jaw" and even that made me queasy. They even eat the sheep's "bowels" as Driss called it, but here in the South it's called "Chitterlings", which I have never been fond of, since childhood. Did anyone grow up in a family that cooked "Chitterlings" and recall their unique "aroma"? On a different note, I do love the goat couscous in Morocco.

Esalaam Iysha
Lovely picture of you !! Somehow I just prefer mutton to goat... not sure why. I did not go for the sheep head either during Eid. But for me the worst were all the snails in the souq. I cannot stand them. Relative joked with me, that they already feed me snails... after that I *did* exam all foods presented to me vverrry well!

i didnt eat or even see anything strange in syria. but ill tell u i just cant eat hummus at all. i feel it leaves a sandy feeling on my teeth. there was some dessert we ate at least thats what i think it is that kinda resembled pasta but sure didnt taste like it. kinda played games with my mind a little bit. ur eyes tell u its like a ravoli but u bite in and your brain doesnt know what to think cuz ur eyes told u somthing else.

i did not try the sheep head stew they eat during the holiday eid this past january. but i did see how they prepare it. NO thANK YOU! but i would have tried it if it would have been ready. i had to return back to the US towards the end of eid so luckily i missed out on that part. but i did try sheep testicles, heart, esophagus, liver, kidney, stomach, brain, etc. not a big organ meat fan but i am willing to taste anything.

i also saw that moroccan bizarre food episode. that putrid meat looks AWFUL (and by the way andrew zimmerman described it.. wow!) but abdou says that stuff is delicious. so who knows. i'd give it a taste but i wouldn't buy a whole jar of it first! lol

i've also tried lamb brains in morocco. they were tasty but i wouldn't want to eat a whole plate of that.

everyone knows how i feel about sea urchin. ... ugh!

can't seem to remember anything else too bizarre in the MENA countries i've been to. i definitely wouldn't call hummus bizarre (one of my all time favorite foods)

This would be a time when I will be really really happy that I'm a vegetarian.



I did have frog legs when I was younger. There was a french restaurant in town. I can't remember them having too much taste at all really. Just the sauce they were in.
I never could make myself try the snails though.

Esalaams
Snails give me the willies.... Everytime I would go to the WC at night, one of those devils who be stuck to the door handle. I swear they jinn in disguise. My husband would make fun of me and my phobia, saying I was having a “DEE-Dee-dee!” moment. Noooo, they just scared me !!!

Not exactly *bizarre* but unusual foods I've tried in Egypt were camel meat and hamam (pigeon). The camel meat was pretty good but the haman was pretty tasteless. I'm not a fan of organ meats or inards so liver, kidney, tripe, intestines, brain, etc. is OUT.

My husband is forever eating liver. BLECH.

I cannot eat pigeon 'cause of the visions but I don't think I'd eat any chicken or foul period over in Egypt just cause I'm afraid of getting bird flu.

I LOVE escargot!!! omg that's my favorite appetizer smothered in butter/garlic sauce that you dip the crusty bread in afterwards. YUM!!!

AGREED.

although quite often i've thought, maybe it's not the escargot that i love, maybe it's just garlic bread.....

I hated liver growing up and then I had some grilled liver on bread from one of those street vendors in some little town in Morocco. It was sooooo yummy. I think it has something to do with the freshness, the spices and how its cooked. With Idir now here we tried to recreate it on our grill, it's okay but not just the same. We will cook it about once a month.

with organ meat, I think you really have to know how to prepare it. Roman cuisine is famous for using all the bits and nothing I ever had there was anything but fabulous.

It is rumoured that they eat liver to built their stamina (as well as other parts)

I tell ya...Middle Eastern men are serious about eating whatever is good for their "stamina"!!!! Aren't they!!!!???!!!!

i know! my fiance ALWAYS brings up that i should always have tons of almonds in the house and prepare calamari often for that reason! lol

One time when his parents came to visit us, it was the first time that I had met them. This was after we were married but before he got stuck in Morocco. We were sitting around resting after having dinner and my husband just came right out and asked his mom what kind of foods would help with his "stamina". I just about spit my tea out!!! But she just started naming off stuff and how to prepare it and they both had this big conversation about it. I could tell my father-in-law was getting a kick at how I was red-faced about it.

Since then, I've gotten comfortable at how open they are about stuff like that.

Yeah...Arab men don't play with the whole "stamina" bit. But none that I've ever known would ever consider taking something "pharmaceticul' to help. Funny huh?

Would you say that it's true...that once you go Arab, you'll never go back to anything else? lol

What??? Calamari and almonds....I had no idea.
My husband forced me to try octopus. Tasted like seasoned rubber bands to me.

bleh.
i find this kind of compartmentalizing, fetishizing, generalizing about entire ethnic groups utterly repugnant and distasteful. once i met MY HUSBAND i'll never go back to ever even thinking about any man that isn't him. his ethnicity is besides the point. ethnicity as a factor for who you form relationships with? sounds bigoted to me.

I gotta agree with Melly.. ALHAMDULILLAH i am a Vegetarian!!!!!!!!!!

BUT my husband and SIL convinced me to eat some shrimp... Reluctantly I said ok.. SOOO.. Hanan whipped us up some dinner and left it at our flat.. We all came home.. set up our dinner... and my husband took off the lid to the pot with the "shrimp" in it... i LITERALLY had to swallow back the vomit that came up... There were all these Critters face up STARING at me.. a whole pot of them.. with these black little eyes

I couldnt do it.. I never knew they look like little lobsters!!!!!!!!!!

My husband got annoyed.. But I honestly dont think I have even seen them with their heads on

and I agree with you Allousa lol It is true



Um.. where'd you come from??!! and could you go back?

Mmm no wonder almost every sweet has almonds in it Men eat alot of kidney and liver (I have heard calamari too, but not that often) for short bursts of stamina" as my husband calls it they also swear by hops, passionflower (lol)
The women swear by jasmine oil and figs, .... and give large doses of cilantro (coriandre) in their men's food.
Kinda reminds me of those Siberian Ginseng little vials I saw in every market when I lived in Cali

Alousa: Yes, I would have spit my tea out too...they are sure not shy about that conversations.
Slbois: seasoned rubber bands? LOL they cooked it waaaay too long. It is should be cooked similar to shrimp (not long)

LOLOLOL Spanish fly anyone?

You don't even know me and yet call me a bigot. That's funny. I actually have a "COEXIST" bumper sticker on my car. The comment about not going back to anything but Arab is not a sexual remark. I think most of us on this site would agree that the Arab culture that we've come to know is far more enchanting than anything we've known. At least it is for me. I was married to a good 'ole boy American and was not anywhere near happy as I am now. I've learned so much about the world (not just Arab culture) and I could never go back to who I was before.

I find your passing judgment on someone that you know nothing about repugnant and distasteful.

I can imagine that it's got to be tough to be a vegetarian sometimes. I have friends that are and I've been out with them before and people give them such a hard time about why they don't eat meat. Good God, what's the big deal! People like to eat what they like to eat!

I'm used to eating several small meals and whenever I'm eating with my husband's family, they keep piling the food on my plate. My father-in-law is so sweet to always make me my own little plate while everyone else eats off of the big one. But I can't ever finish what they keep piling on. My husband and his mom start arguing about trying to make me eat more. Not argue in a bad way. It's funny though.

I did have to chuckle though about the eyes staring out of the pot. I'm sorry...I know it must not have been funny to you at the time...but I can just picture that.

no one here has YET to mention raw oysters.. !!!!

That is supposed to be one of the BEST for ...........

Waaaaoa I missed that one. I guess their cartoony pic mezmoried my eyes into passing it by. Waw I doubt she was compartmentalizing anyway Newbie. Sounds like trouble with a T is stirring here. Any negative comments I think should be PMed... MENA has enough closed threads, surely not wanting more. Thannks bunches! Also fill out your profile, so we know who you are. Sooo we donnot think you are a lurker or troll or whatever they are called. Thanks!




Yes that is a classic, but in MENA they rarely eat anything raw so...

I LUVVVVVVVVV calamari. OMG!!!! One summer when we were taking a vaca up in the north of Morocco, a place called Yasmine Negro. It's right at the border of Ceuta. There is this little cafe that made hands down the BEST fried calamari I've ever had in my life! AGH!!!!!!

I really like most kinds of seafood but I never quite got into Oysters. I recently tried some that had been saut'ed in some garlic sauce and I was able to choke it down. Never liked scallops either.

What made it Worse was that my son turned to my Husband and said "Mommy almost threw up!!!!!!!! "



BUT I am quite thankful I found alot of Vegetarian food in Alex, Egypt..

Thank you Momen's !!!

Surprising MENA is very vegatarian friendly. Vegan on the other hand ..... weeeeeeeell!

I made the mistake of getting Vegetarian Cheese in a Bottle in a American grocery store... I thought it was gonna be like a alfredo sauce.. Well come to find out.. It really was VEGAN (I guess they think vegetarians dont eat dairy?).. and it was like Mayonnaise.. with no flavor wicked gross!

My husband HATES to waste ONE DROP OF FOOD (sunna) BUT alhamdulillah he let me throw the jar away !!

BLAH!!!!!! That sounds really gross!!!!! I gotta say, you are a braver woman than I to even try it!!!

Off topic for a quick minute...

I'm really thankful for all you that I have met on this site. It's been so hard going through this the last few years. My friends and family have been supportive, but they just really don't understand what it's like. It's very comforting.

i like hummus its by far my FAVVVVV and escalope(basically chicken breast in flour and stuff fried) and i loveeeeeeeeeeeee anything Garlic!! but as far as real ME foods, i dont eat em cause they use onions ALOt and i dont do onions. and i dont eat the raw meats....or the mutton or anything that isnt beef or chicken. Geo cooks Italian food so usually we eat that, or just 'regular' food. except at family dinners when we have the 'BBQ' mmmmm i loveeeeeeeee their bbq chicken!!! mmmmmmmmm i miss Geo's food lol. I swear i lose weight when we arent together cause im not eating great food, i usually am just eatin junk here lol. but thats okay i realllllllly need to lose the weight.

Sheep's stomach, mom used to make soup out of it. It had to be cleaned thoroughly and soaked first. Ugh, remembering the smell makes me want to gag. x.x

oh...i just threw up a little bit in my mouth....uh! I don't even want to think about the smell.

Ok I am offically sick and it aint morning sickness~ :x.x:



Alousa that was very kind of you. Glad you are here and we are here to help ((((hugs))))

When my husband's family celebrate Eid Al-Ahda...they will roast the brains of the sheep. Hicham says they love it.

I've been really brave up until now, but I don't think I could do that. I just don't think so. Have any of you tasted it?

yup Allusa... I agree... VJ is a great help.. and my MENA friends have been great dealing with my tantrums.. and rants about CAiro Without them.. I think i'd be on some serious med's.. rocking back and forth.. taking myself to a happy place.......

Henia - even though I don't know any of you, I earnestly want all of you to be reconnected with your loved ones. Outside of my father's death, this has been the hardest to deal with. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Do you find when you try and tell people what you're going through, those that hear it for the first time...they always say, "Oh, I just thought you married someone and they come straight over?" If I had a dollar for every time that I've heard that!

deemabrouk - your wedding pics are really beautiful. What was your wedding like?

Allousa: I so do want you get reunited too dear. Many ppl here have been very supportive and helpful to me during this whole ordeal. My mother, who by the way is not too thrilled about my Algerian husband (she assumes he is the "typical arabe"...whatever that is) she says to me, why don't we just get a ticket and come home

AGH! That's sad! I hate the whole "OMG, you married an Arab man. Does he make you wear a burqa? Oh, he's going to take your children" That crap REALLY pisses me off!

I'm SOOOOOO thankful to my husband and his family. They've opened my eyes to the world. I've grown so much as a person and have become more tolerant and open in my thinking. It really has been like a whole new world. And I don't know if this is true of your man, but I know that my husband loves me in a way that I have never been loved before. I mean with his whole heart. Does that make sense? I feel that from his whole family. That they do things with their whole heart. I'm not saying that ALL Arab men are shiny happy people...no one race is any how...

And I'm curious to know if any of you have experienced the same feelings as well in that now I have really begun to learn my husbands culture and experience it, I almost feel like I don't belong anywhere. What I mean is that in America, there is alot of prejudice against Arabs/Muslims because of 9/11. I mean open prejudice that people are proud of. And on the flip side, there are Arabs/Muslims that are very prejudice about Americans. I am so saddened by all of this because I really see us all as just the same. We might dress different, eat different or pray different. But we still have the same dreams and stuff. It's like I'm defensive of both sides and it makes me feel like I don't belong to either anymore.

Does that make sense, or am I rambling? It's getting late you know?

henia - Are Algerians close to Moroccans from a culture standpoint. I've met many ME people before, but not many Algerians. Just curious.

ha haa my wedding was out of control... nothing I could of imagined in my Whole life. I love my husband with all my heart for the wedding he gave me... He bent over backwards to give me the most amazing wedding I could of hoped for

1 band/ singer, another CrAzy singer, Swords on fire, Guys with drums, procession with a rose drink?, dancing, cake... And its all on video !!

That sounds really really fun! I did the big wedding when I got married the first time to an American guy. I just didn't want to do that again the 2nd time around. I had even said that before I met my now hubby. We just had a civil wedding, but the honeymoon...OFF THE HOOK!!!!

i'd so starve in mena