Weird Food Club New York City

Hurricane Irene gave us a reason to smile

2011-09-10T23:05:00.012-04:00

Everyone on the East Coast prepared for Irene as if the end of the world was coming. We boarded up our windows and stocked up on water and canned food, as the government instructed us all to do. Some of us even evacuated our homes.

My family and I decided to spend the night of the wicked storm together in Bergen County, one of the more elevated areas of New Jersey.

We had a great evening together and even decided to eat dinner with candles lit, to celebrate the impending power outage early. The storm came at night. Wind whistled. Thunder roared. Lightning struck. Massive downpour of rain flooded streets.

When all cleared up in the morning, we took a stroll outside to check the damage. Yes, small rivers formed in the streets, and branches were scattered around. Yes, a few trees were downed. And yep, we didn't have power.

Yet there was one great thing that surprised us all: a fantastic sea of mushrooms covered our neighbors' lawns. It was the greatest harvest of wild mushrooms that any of us had ever seen in our lives. Thanks to Irene, conditions were perfect for thousands of fungi to spring up literally overnight in our suburban town.

Being Russian, our eyes bulging with excitement, we ran with our bags and knives to go mushroom hunting. We looked for lawns that were marked as not chemically treated and collected these completely under-appreciated, misunderstood and even feared things called mushrooms, with permission from property owners (who while expressing their concern for our safety allowed us to do as we liked!).

We collected multiple bags of gorgeous chanterelles, russulas, and boletes. Some of these species can sell for up to $30 per pound! Needless to say, we went home with our booty happy as clams, and proceeded to clean, cut and cook these beauties on our grill and in the fireplace, producing the most spectacular meal.

Nothing tastes better than the food you hunt or gather yourself!

WARNING: mushroom hunting requires expertise! Before attempting this yourself, please review these guidelines to avoid mushrooms that are not only bitter but lethal!

Tourbie

2011-08-24T22:28:00.003-04:00

Classmates from my alma mater developed a start-up for visitors and locals to meet and share cool experiences in New York. It is called Tourbie and is still in beta, but you can find my Weird Food tour on it! Plus, here is a short profile video we shot at the High Line:

Kat V. from Tourbie on Vimeo.

Insect Cocktails at White & Church

2011-07-30T18:55:00.022-04:00

Grasshoppers at Toloache was just the beginning of our insect exploration. Once again, we challenged our fears and common sense at White & Church (281 Church St), a TriBeCa newcomer that is already generating buzz for its cocktails with grasshoppers, spicy worms and scorpions.

Their cocktail menu includes:

Summer: Batilda de Coco, oatmeal milk, sugar, and dried grasshoppers carefully placed in a weaved bamboo leaf sphere. This cocktail was delicious, gorgeous and certainly bizarre. To get over the fear of eating bugs, WFC member Alex convinced herself that the grasshoppers looked cute on its cotton-ball-soft foam, "as if they died and were now sitting on clouds in heaven". Perhaps a bit of self-hypnosis is necessary in this kind of situation!

9/10 for taste, innovative presentation and weirdness factor

Rosemary: cinnamon flavored rum, apple juice, lemon juice, with toasted honeybees and a sprig of rosemary. Unfortunately, White & Church's supplier discontinued honeybees, so Rosemary is now served with grasshoppers. While we were disappointed that honeybees were no longer available, Rosemary was actually our favorite by taste.

8/10 wins points for taste and weirdness factor

Why not? consists of Don Julio tequila, Cointreau, sugar, lime and avocado topped with Mexican dried spicy worms. This bland frozen margarita inspired cocktail would not exist without the exciting spicy worms. The combination of avocado and citrus was just not working, and thus left us disappointed. The spicy worms tasted like fish food, and were seriously overshadowed by their companions grasshoppers and scorpions.

5/10 wins points for worms, loses points for taste

Blue Velvet is a dangerous mix of Crème de Menthe and Sambucca, rimmed with black sesame seeds and topped with a scorpion.

7/10: wins points for scorpion and presentation, loses points for mouthwash taste and inconsistency (we ordered 2 and they were different in taste and color.)

Watch WFC member member Mike trying "Blue Velvet" scorpion cocktail:

... and a grasshopper.

Most cocktails at White & Church are in the $12-14 range. Note that White & Church runs a happy hour on ALL BUT insect drinks Tues - Sunday 5-7pm, when you can try their other amazing concoctions half off.

Also of note were some dishes at White & Church: zucchini blossoms, literally tempura fried flowers of the zucchini plant (beautiful but not exactly a meal), and artichoke croquettes.

Dusseldorf weird foods

2011-07-21T21:36:00.019-04:00

Here are a few bizarre food items I picked up while in Dusseldorf, Germany:

candy that tasted like cardboard with sour poprocks-esque filling inside
caviar spread in a toothpaste tube
deer terrine
Killepitsch, a local liquor that tastes like cough syrup and sounds like "Kill a b*tch"
pistachio spread that got taken away by airport security
bubble gum in a tube
chocolate with absinthe filling
chocolate pasta that tasted a lot like regular pasta
candy cigarettes (there were rumors these were banned in the US, but in fact it was real candy/fruit-flavored cigarettes that were banned)
candy that looks like eggs -- so much fun!

Other items not pictured:

chocolate with chili peppers
chocolate cell phone from The Chocolate Museum in Cologne, Germany

I also had the opportunity to attend a cooking class with Frank Petzchen Cooking School where my coworkers and I learned how to make Mustard Soup with Blood Sausage Ravioli.

See recipe posted further.

Recipe for Dusseldorf Mustard Soup with Blood Sausage-Apple Ravioli

Ingredients for 4 people

Soup:
200g celery
60g onion
30g butter
500ml chicken stock
20g roux (1:1)
200ml cream
80g mustard

Ravioli:
80g black pudding (blood sausage)
30g apple
30g onion
majoram
8 wan-tan leaves
1 egg
chip/ French fry fat

Preparation

Mustard Soup:
Cut celery into fine slices.
Cut onion into slices, melt in butter and fill up with chicken stock.
Cook celery until tender, puree and strain it.
Boil the broth and use roux to thicken it.
Add cream and season to taste.
Before serving add the mustard with a blender.

Black pudding/apple ravioli:
Chop blood pudding, apple and onion into small cubes and then fry in a pan
Season with majoram and let it cool
Apportion the mix on the wan-tan leaves and glue the sides with egg
Deep fry the ravioli in chip fat and place two ravioli in each soup bowl.

Taiwan in New York

2011-06-03T00:53:00.016-04:00

Last Sunday WFC went to Passport to Taiwan in Union Square. In its 10th annual installment, this is the largest Taiwanese American outdoor festival in the States.

We were happy to find a Dracula Popsickle and Crystal Meat Dumpling among the multiple food stand offerings.

Dracula Popsickle is made out of pork blood, mixed with rice flour, corn starch, sausage and rice. It is baked, briefly deep fried, and rolled in crushed peanuts. Served with cilantro.

You can watch this tutorial video by food writer Josh Ozersky with Public's chef Brad Farmerie on how to make it.

The blood popsickle tastes a lot like boudin noir, but has a more prominent pork blood taste and smell. The peanuts add a nice crunch and the cilantro balances out the smell.

Crystal Meat Dumpling was unlike any other crystal dumpling I've ever seen. The rice dough was a lot more translucent than that of other dumplings. It was wrapped in saran wrap for convenience, and was stuffed with all sorts of meats (I will never know which!) and shiitake mushrooms. I can't seem to find any information on the crystal meat dumpling. It will remain mysterious.

A more popular recent Taiwanese culinary export is Taiwanese Shaved Ice. Many other countries have their own versions of Shaved Ice (or "Shave Ice" or "Snow Ice"), a dessert made by shaving a block of ice and topping it with various sweets. The Taiwanese version is often topped with fruits, condensed milk, syrup and red beans. (WFC Factoid: red beans are sweet because they are cooked with a whole lot of sugar, not because they are naturally sweet!)

SeriousEats lists places where you can try Taiwanese Shaved Ice in New York, including:
- Excellent Pork Chop House (3 Doyers Street)
- Ten Ren (75 Mott Street)
- Dumpling Man (100 Saint Marks Place)
- Vivi Bubble Tea (49 Bayard Street)

So far I've only tried Shaved Ice at the Flushing Mall food court, which had an impressive variety of toppings.

As Shaved Ice becomes more popular, perhaps it will soon be as ubiquitous as bubble tea!

Free Veal Brain and Cricket Tacos today only!

2011-05-05T09:59:00.005-04:00

Dos Equis's "Feast of the Brave" truck is a godsend to all weird food eaters this Cinco de Mayo: today only you can get FREE tacos with ostrich, veal brain, tongue and chapuline (cricket) fillings!

Today's "Feast of the Brave" Truck location:
- Park Ave and 47th street

If you miss your free tacos today, you can catch the truck in NYC until May 7. For the latest truck locations and photos, go to facebook.com/dosequis or Twitter at @FeastoftheBrave.

Bizarre Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-24T10:47:00.019-04:00

What would be a Weird Food Club Easter without a Bizarre Easter Egg Hunt??

1. Balut

Balut is a duck egg with a nearly developed embryo inside, commonly sold as street food in the Philippines. You can try it at Maharlika (351 E 12th St / btw 2nd Ave & 1st Ave). If you have the courage to try balut, order it as soon as you walk in, as it might take a while to prepare. Plus, don't forget to try the sisig (pig snout, ears, belly with egg).
More about balut here

2. 1000-year-old egg

In Chinese cuisine, these are duck or chicken eggs that preserved for at least 100 days in a clay-like mixture of red earth, garden lime, salt, wood ash, and tea and wrapped in rice husks. In the process, the egg yolk becomes dark green or gray and assumes a sulfuric smell, while the white turns into brown jelly.
You can try a century egg with lean pork or with jellyfish at XO Kitchen (148 Hester St btw Bowery & Elizabeth St).
More about 1000-year-old egg here.

3. Eggs of Unusual Birds

Whole Foods in Lower East Side (95 E Houston St) and Tribeca (270 Greenwich St) carry ostrich, pheasant, duck and quail eggs. Ostrich eggs are the largest of all eggs, measuring on average 5.9 in long, 5.1 in wide, and weigh 3.1 lb. I also randomly stumbled upon ostrich eggs at a farmer's market on Upper West Side ($30).

Eating ostrich eggs can give you a stomachache if they are not cooked properly. If attempting to boil, it will take 90 minutes and the outside will turn to tough rubbery consistency. Our recommendation is to make a giant scrambled egg party out of it and save the shell for decoration!

More about ostrich eggs here

WFC member Jaclynn with Ostrich Egg

Read about 3 other bizarre egg dishes.

4. Scotch Egg

(via Flickr)

A Scotch Egg consists of a hard-boiled egg, encased in sausage, coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried. It is commonly served cold, with a pickle. You can try it at The Breslin (16 West 29th Street), $8. Be sure to also order the Breslin's gigantic stuffed pig's foot for 2 (beware that our group of 8 couldn't finish it!) Other notables on their menu are rabbit, chicken liver and headcheese terrines.

5. Hakone's Owakudani Black Egg

I tried these on my recent trip to Hakone, Japan. These are simply eggs boiled in sulfur spring water in Hakone, a town filled with onsen (hot spring resorts). These eggs look cool but they taste like regular boiled eggs.

We had some other interesting things in Japan, including bizarre items in a conveyor belt sushi place.

6. Twin Eggs
Closer to home, you can sometimes find eggs with two yolks in your regular supermarket. We were so lucky, we got 2 twin eggs in the same dozen! Make sure to pick up the non-organic, stuffed-with-hormones type to increase your chances.

1. Raw twin egg 2. Boiled twin egg

Happy Hunting!

Adventurous food in Taipei, Taiwan

2011-04-09T22:02:00.013-04:00

The scariest things I've tried to date are snake blood, snake bile, and snake venom cocktails on my trip to Taipei, Taiwan.

All of these liquids were diluted with plum juice to make palatable, but I definitely was waiting for something bad to happen to me (like death) for about a week after I had these adventurous cocktails.

Snake cocktails and snake soup can be found in Snake Alley, in Hwashi covered night market in Taipei. Establishments in this part of town also sell turtle meat, and deer penis wine. All of these delicacies are said to have virility benefits. The turtles looked way too cute to eat so I didn't get those. Pig snouts and grilled insects looked interesting as well.

Taipei scores big points on the adventurous food scale, and even more so for one of their biggest modern food innovations: the toast dessert at Dazzling Cafe. It's a giant half-loaf of white bread scooped out and filled with ice cream, fruits, macarons, condensed milk, chocolate and syrups! This brilliant invention needs to be exported to the US immediately.

We also visited the Modern Toilet restaurant, where meals are served in mini toilets and look like poop and/or pee. I hope they open one in New York!

If you’re looking for bizarre food, don’t look much further than your fridge!

2011-02-08T00:00:00.011-05:00

If you ever look in your fridge and see nothing but anchovies, peanut butter and toast – you’ve hit the jackpot! At least, so claims Steve Wiley, who recently sent me his book “Are You Gonna Eat That?!” – a compilation of the weirdest culinary concoctions made out of the most common ingredients found in American kitchens.

I loved some of these crazy food combos that could only have been invented by starving (and/or bored) children: chips & whipped cream, uncooked pasta dipped in chunky peanut butter or cereal and orange juice.

Accompanied by juicy photos, some of these combos might actually be good:
• Cantaloupe with cayenne pepper
• Cream cheese on toast with orange marmalade and cocoa puffs
• Corn flakes with beer – a potential hangover cure that Zane Lamprey might enjoy??

Whereas others are truly bloodcurdling:
• Tuna salad and nutella on toast
• Cola with peanuts inside the bottle
• Bananas and fried egg yolk - YUCK! :)

If ever in need of entertainment, flip through this book, and point randomly to find your next snack. Or better yet, make your own crazy concoction!

Next WFC Event: "Eating Locally, Thinking Globally"

2010-09-10T16:30:00.012-04:00

You are invited to a monumental event I've been planning for the past couple of months. I'm very passionate about sustainable food (part of eating "weird food" is using all parts of the animal and minimizing waste) and have long wanted to do something educational on a bigger scale.

Collaborating with my alma mater we have brought to you "Eating Locally, Thinking Globally".

Enjoy an afternoon of locally-sourced food and wine while learning more about the movements for local and sustainable food.

Experience the delicious side of the food movement while hearing how New Yorkers are working to highlight local and sustainable food production, both here in New York and across the globe. We’ll draw on the expertise of including Ellen Gustafson, co-founder and director of FEED Projects and the 30 Project, who will provide insights about how our eating in New York can affect food systems internationally.

A certified sommelier will guide us through a tasting of 4 regional wines paired with creations from the chefs of Great Performances Catering, using seasonal ingredients from Katchkie Farm in Columbia County, NY. Great Performances’ CEO, Liz Neumark, will give us the story behind the food.

Event Name: Eating Locally Thinking Globally
Date: Sunday Sept 19 1-3pm
Location: Mae Mae Cafe, 68 Vandam Street, between Varick and Hudson Streets, New York, NY
The event is open to the general public.

Blood dishes fantastic and real

2010-06-22T22:46:00.025-04:00

As I was watching the latest True Blood episode (S3:26) this Sunday I was impressed by the creativity behind the sumptuous vampire meal made out of human blood: carbonated blood wine willingly donated by a human that ate tangerines all week, blood bisque with rose petals, and blood gelato.

I'm no vampire, but a meal out of willingly donated human blood would definitely pique my interest, and I wouldn't be surprised to find a chef who has experimented with the idea, especially with this trend of making dishes out of human bodily fluids (see post on human milk) Next thing you know, we'll be seeing human shirako (a.k.a. cod milt a.k.a. fish sperm), the difference of course being that there would be no shortage of supply no matter the season.

Back to thinking about blood. There are plenty of dishes that can be made out of it. We've documented a couple on this blog that we tried at Congee Village (100 Allen Street): congealed duck blood and the various pig's blood porridges.

However, much more can be done with blood than we could ever imagine! Cate Newton of phlebotomist.net documents recipes for 6 unique dishes from around the world in her post: blood milk (Kenya, Tanzania), blood pudding (Western Europe, Korea), blood tofu (China), blood soup (Sweden, Poland, Vietnam) - this is beginning to sound a bit like the vampire blood bisque, blood pancakes (Finland), and blood bread (Finland). Those Finns sure love their blood...

Blood pudding (a.k.a. blood sausage/boudin noir/Blutwurst/Morcilla/Soondae) is actually one of my favorite dishes. You can have some at Casimir (103 Avenue B) and plenty other French restaurants in New York.

The most creative and palatable of the 6 recipes Cate listed is probably blood pancakes (Veriohukaiset). Finally, a Finnish dish that's NOT boring! Moreover, if you want to have it the real authentic way, this one requires reindeer blood, which makes it ever more exciting than pig or duck. That's what I call a proper and delicious cure for anemia! If you're ever low on iron, you know what to get.

Unfortunately, the few Finnish restaurants that exist in New York don't serve this incredible delicacy, but you can always make it yourself. You can procure blood at butcher shops, most likely in Chinatown somewhere, and blood labs.

Human breast milk worth trying again in your lifetime

2010-05-20T14:35:00.030-04:00

Someone commented on my last post that jackfruit wasn't weird enough to write about on this blog, so I decided to step it up a bit: I tried human breast milk!

I've been meaning to try some ever since I read about 2(!) restaurants that served food made out of human breast milk: Storchen in Winterthur, Switzerland and Klee Brasserie in New York.

Storchen was banned from serving breast milk dishes in 2008, and Klee chef Daniel Angerer didn't even attempt to serve it to the public, he merely documented his attempts at making cheese on his blog.

In hopes of trying his amazing maple caramelized pumpkin encrusted "mommy's milk" cheese with texturized concord grapes, I emailed Angerer about a month ago to have a private tasting. Alas I did not receive a response. So I gave up on the idea until this weekend, when a friend of mine who recently had a baby offered a taste of her breast milk, which turned into a spontaneous tasting party.

Neither the other tasters nor I had any problem with tasting our friend's milk, and the parents were cool with it. The baby seemed fine with it too (she's already been fed and was happily sleeping beside us).

The milk tasted like 1% cow milk but a little sweeter. Interestingly, the consistency (i.e. fat content) of breast milk can vary depending on the length of time since last feeding. Unlike sheep's milk or horse milk, it was quite pleasant and mild. If you've ever tried baby formula, it tastes a lot like the real deal.

While I can't recommend a source of human breast milk in New York other than your own network of recent moms, I do want to mention that if you do try this out on your own, be aware that certain infections can be passed with breast milk.

If you know anyone with excess breast milk, (which tends to happen, unless you have twins, triplets or octuplets!) you can encourage them to:
1. experiment with making spectacular dishes out of it
2. donate it to a milk bank.

Yes, I agree that I've reached a new level of depravity, however the benefits are undeniable:
1. satisfying curiosity
2. supporting local and sustainable eating.

Something else to chew on: Since no animals were harmed, would PETA approve?

Answer: yes! In fact, in 2008 PETA sent a letter to Ben & Jerry urging them to use human breast milk. Unfortunately, B&J did not see this as a viable business opportunity, even though 17% of consumers (including me) voted that they'd like that. So... who wants to start a new ice cream company with me? ;-)

EDIT: a new ice cream parlor called "Baby Gaga" in London serves breast milk ice cream! If you've tried it, comment!

Man, I wish I was in China...

2010-05-05T12:07:00.002-04:00

...to try this bacteria dictyophore wu chicken soup.

Click on the image to see other funny Chinglish signs in Shanghai.

Jackfruit, Durian, Taro and Okra Chips

2010-04-26T11:07:00.012-04:00

I've been searching for jackfruit products in NYC after trying it fresh in Thailand. Yesterday I stumbled upon Danielle Sweet Jackfruit Chips by New England Herbal Foods. I found these at a random deli in Williamsburg, but they're also available at Whole Foods.

Jackfruit is the largest fruit that grows on trees. The fruit is about the size of a watermelon and is covered in hard cone-like points. Some describe the smell of the unopened fruit as rotten onion, but not as strong as that of durian.

It is worth noting that jackfruit and durian look similar with their green hard pointy shells and people often confuse the two. Unlike durian (soft wet texture with sweaty sock/rotten onion smell), the flesh inside jackfruit has a much more appealing bubble-gum taste and rubbery texture.

Danielle Sweet Jackfruit Chips (9/10) have a mix of banana and pineapple flavor; they are crunchy, naturally sweet and totally addictive. Plus, you don't need to feel guilty eating them since Danielle's vacuum frying approach using no ingredients other than the fruit or vegetable and non-hydrogenated palm oil makes these healthier than most other chip snacks.

To our pleasant surprise, this line of chips includes other Weird Food Club-worthy flavors: durian, okra, whose texture reminds me of snot, and wild taro, a root vegetable that is toxic raw. I might stop by a Whole Foods to check out these other flavors as well. See list of all flavors here.

I guess we won't be eating monkey any time soon...

2010-04-14T16:16:00.008-04:00

Researchers found a strain of a virus related to HIV in the flesh of primates illegally imported into New York City for human consumption.

Apparently, there's a whole underground market for bushmeat in the US. Bushmeat is a general term that used to refer to terrestrial wild animals (think "game") but now usually means endangered species hunted unsustainably, especially in Central and West Africa. Meat from some of these animals (monkey, cane rat, Malayan fruit bat) is considered a delicacy by West African communities and are consumed cured or smoked. The meat is smuggled into the US via parcels and personal suitcases, sometimes uncooked (blood and all).

Due to the virus, I'll pass on monkey meat at this point, but I wouldn't mind trying cane rat and/or the fruit bat. Those don't sound like endangered animals to me - any NYC-based West Africans want to volunteer to cook me one?

Read more about this here.

Dim Sum at Jing Fong

2010-04-03T12:09:00.031-04:00

Last Saturday we ate to our heart's desire at Jing Fong (20 Elizabeth Street, 2nd fl), a dim sum house. Dim Sum is an ideal way to sample a large number of small dishes in one sitting, and it works out even better in large groups of friends. It is recommended to arrive at Jing Fong before noon, and Saturdays tend to be less crowded than Sundays. We arrived a few minutes after 12, and the place was already packed. We got a table at the elevated portion of the gigantic over-decorated ball room, and felt like we were part of a wedding party.

Duck feet: 3/10
My most anticipated dish was the chicken feet, however, duck feet looked much more interesting. While chicken feet were covered in sweet and sour sauce, duck feet were steamed and doused in soy sauce. Becauase of this, duck feet looked much like they should naturally, with webbing between toes and all! Despite WFC member Josh's pleads that duck feet were terrible compared to the chicken feet, I had to get them anyway.

The duck feet didn't taste bad per se, but neither did they taste good. There wasn't much to eat on them and the skin was a bit tough. We only got them so we could pose with them for photos - they are very photogenic. (I can't say the same about myself though)

Tripe: 4/10
I loved the look of this tripe dish, because you could see the honeycomb texture of the reticulum (the second chamber of a cow's stomach). The dish came with a stew of cabbage and cassava. The peculiar cow smell of the tripe was too overbearing for me so I didn't eat much of this dish, but WFC member Anastassia loved it!

Sesame seed balls with durian paste: 4/10
These looked promising until you bit into them and tasted the durian. I've had fresh durian before and it actually was significantly less horrid than I had anticipated, having heard that the smell of durian was so offensive that it was illegal to eat it in public places in Southeast Asia.

The durian paste in the sesame seed balls had a sweet rotten onion taste, but it developed only a few seconds after you bit into it. To Josh, the durian paste literally tasted like garbage. Food critic Richard Sterling's description of durian is much more colorful: "its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock." This sounds a little bit like my description of huitlacoche. To me, durian seemed better tasting than huitlacoche, especially concealed in sweet dough and covered in sesame seeds.

Our Dim Sum experience was not all bad. We also had some palatable food, my favorite of which were pork (7/10), fried tofu (6/10), and pastry dough with honey(7/10). The best part, of course, was snatching up dishes we liked from the moving carts and the buffet, and the bill at the end (~$13 per person)!

A grocery store that has everything

2010-03-29T14:11:00.024-04:00

Being Russian, I occasionally go to Net Cost Market @ 8671 18th Avenue, Brooklyn. People refer to it as "the Baza" (base) because it contains absolutely everything. They have another location at 608 Sheepshead Bay Rd.

Here is a sample of disturbing things you can find in the meat section.

"Pig Baby by pc $65.39"

"Pork Pig Feets $3.24"

"Beef Tongue $9.45"

"Beef Liver $2.46"

"Beef Cow Feet Frozen $2.24"

"Turkey Neck $3.30"

"Turkey Gizzards $4.40"

"Veal Brain $3.67"

"Veal Heart $4.82"

"Veal Kidneys $1.91"

"Veal Tail $5.69"

Interestingly, the veal tail and the baby pig are the most expensive items per pound ($4.99 per pound).

Disclaimer: I did not purchase any of these items.

Wild Game Festival @ Henry's End Part 2

2010-03-23T23:45:00.009-04:00

We went back to Henry’s End to try other items on the Wild Game Festival menu: turtle soup and ostrich. We tried to pry out of the waiter what kind of turtle meat they use for the soup, but it turns out the turtle meat already comes in ready-to-cook form, most likely from 1-800-ExoticMeats, Exotic Meats and More, Gourmet Wild Game or from any number of other online wild game and unusual meat dealers.

Turtle Soup: 5/10
WFC member Jaclynn said that “the turtle soup tasted like Chef Boyardee” -- a spot-on assessment! The turtle chunks were small and barely noticeable, and the soup itself was quite saucy. There was nothing special about this soup and it was tepid in temperature, so it gets a relatively low score.

Ostrich: 2/10
Whenever I try something that tastes bad, I have the urge to give it a 1/10 score. But then all I have to do is remember natto and huitlacoche to realize ostrich that tastes like rotten meat is relatively palatable. I’ve had ostrich burger before and it was fine (although on the dry side), but there was something seriously off with these ostrich filets. They were like the BeanBoozled jelly beans with rotten egg and vomit flavors that taste good for a few seconds, but then the actual flavor hits. The ostrich seemed tasty the instant you put it in your mouth, however, a few seconds later turned into something only a bear would eat (bears like slightly rotten meat). It was truly bizarre. Logically, most of the dish was left uneaten. We're not sure if all ostrich meat tastes like this or if we just got a bad batch. Anyone care to weigh in on this?

Wild Menu Plate: 7/10
This was a sample plate containing elk, quail, and boar belly. I second our earlier review of the elk chops – these are delicious. Boar Belly and Quail seem like an odd couple. One is very fat and wild, and the other is skinny and timid. Elk was just a third wheel in this dish but clearly the attention whore.

We knocked down a few points off the rating for this and other dishes for being served barely warm and for no signs of any thought behind presentation.

Wild Game Festival @ Henry’s End Part 1

2010-03-11T09:15:00.010-05:00

Whatever you do, get to Henry’s End (44 Henry Street, Brooklyn) before the end of the month for the annual Wild Game Festival. Not only will you get to eat some unique dishes but you’ll get to do so in an elegant, yet comfortable atmosphere with above average service. Four star restaurant it is not, but it is definitely worth the trip.

We decided to pair our wild game with one of several Belgian beers available, which is recommended if you prefer a substantive beverage with your substantive entrée. Otherwise, make it a full bodied red.

Manuel ordered the bison, Merillat and Jessica the Elk Chops, and Antelope for myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to try any of the bison since Manual had a “no sharing” policy. It’s important to note that Manuel and Merillat came to Henry’s End on their first date, they are now married, and make the pilgrimage back once a month. It’s that good!

The Elk Chops were AMAZING! Tender. Juicy. Flavorful. Jessica claimed it was the best dish she’s ever had and that is some statement considering we have dined at many of the city’s top restaurants and her brother is a chef.

Elk Chops: "best dish ever!"

My antelope was very good, although just a tad shy of excellent. Is antelope, by its very nature, more gamey than elk? That got me wondering, what exactly is antelope? Sort of like reindeer? Will it taste like venison? So I did what I always do when I’m curious about something, I opened my Google homepage:

Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species found in the family Bovidae. The term refers to a “miscellaneous” group within the family encompassing the species which are not cattle, buffalo, bison, or goats.

Thanks, Wikipedia!

Mmmm....Antelope, a "miscellaneous" animal

Very tasty!

In any event, the miscellaneous meat was terrific. However, don’t forget the Elk was better and the bison might win out.

What am I eating?

2010-03-08T12:55:00.002-05:00

"Ooh! This ice cream's on fire!"

2010-03-07T14:53:00.009-05:00

I was in Minneapolis, MN last week for work, and coincidentally it was Minneapolis Restaurant Week. I went down to Oceanaire Seafood Room (1300 Nicollet Avenue), which is considered one of the best restaurants in Minneapolis to try their $30 prix fixe.

I was eating alone and had great oysters, Australian barramunda, and a panna cotta. All were stellar. While I was finishing my panna cotta, I struck up a conversation with a neighboring table, and somehow ended up migrating there permanently.

Our server was extremely friendly the entire night, and he said that since he rarely sees strangers start up conversations, he gave us a bottle of white wine and told us to prepare for another special surprise on the house.

The surprise was a Bombe Alaska, a.k.a. Baked Alaska Flambé. A Baked Alaska is a dessert made of ice cream (ours was chocolate) on top of a slice of sponge cake (chocolate again), covered in meringue. The entire dessert is then briefly placed in the oven to harden the meringue without melting the chocolate.

A Bombe Alaska is a Baked Alaska that is then lit on fire via alcohol (e.g. rum or cognac) that is poured over the dessert. He referred to our dessert as simply "Flambé" (French for "flamed"), which is a cooking technique in which alcohol is added to create a burst of flames (lots of things can be flambéed). I had to figure out the exact name of this dessert so I could recommend a place in NYC. You can get it at Sardi's Restaurant @ 234 W 44th Street in New York. They have a Baked Alaska (on fire) every day, $22.

The anatomy of a Baked Alaska

The dessert is absolutely stunning visually, and it is incredible that the ice cream remains cold after being lit on fire. The meringue acts as an insulator and protects the ice cream from the heat.

Our flambé was not only a show-stopper visually, it was also incredibly delicious. I am a huge fan of meringue in general (I tried to make it at home, so far without success) and the ice cream was yummy. I managed to eat a good portion of the flambé even after finishing my panna cotta. Actually, I couldn't stop eating it - it was that good. The Baked Alaska Flambé was one of the best desserts I've ever had: (10 out of 10).

Lesson learned at Oceanaire: talk to strangers - you might get a flaming surprise (although it might not always be the good kind)

Cocks and Quails at Casa Mono

2010-03-02T16:13:00.015-05:00

Casa Mono is a small and fashionable restaurant @ 125 East 17th Street, occasionally graced by celebrities. Casa Mono makes the most of its tiny size by squeezing many small tables in, even in most unusual spots, but they don’t take reservations for large groups. If you end up waiting for a table, Bar Jamon around the corner is a good place to get a drink in the meantime. I went with two of my good friends, together we sampled cock’s comb, quail, a tagine special, rack of lamb, and razor clams.

Cock’s Comb with Cepes ($13)
This dish sounds more dirty than it really is – cock’s comb is the skin on a rooster’s head (the kind that has eyes and a beak). I’ve had almost every part of a chicken (except chicken assholes, a Korean comfort food, that I am looking to discover in New York) and I’ve never had comb before, so this was an exciting find for me. The comb is a rarely used ingredient, and I found out why – skin is difficult to make exciting. Casa Mono’s parboiled appetizer combs are heavily seasoned with salt and garnished with some greens. The presentation is beautiful and Casa Mono scores points just for experimenting. I was able to feel the texture of the comb (soft, chewy) and but the taste was obfuscated by the salt. I am normally against the cop out of deep frying, but cock’s comb would definitely have been better off dipped in batter and dunked in bubbling oil, but then it would taste like anything else deep fried and would lose all of its uniqueness. Overall, cock’s comb is worth a try, but it’s not a very appetizing dish (3 out of 10).

Quail with Gingered Cranberries ($16)
Quail is a small and delicate bird and tastes very much like pigeon. A whole quail is probably the same size as the whole frog I tried a few weeks ago, and has about the same amount of meat on its legs. Quail was a bit too timid, proper and delicate for WFC, but it is much loved in Mediterranean cuisine. I might have loved the quail too if it had been less salty. Actually, I might have loved every dish at Casa Mono more if they were less salty. Call Dr. House – we should check if the Chef has an unusual salt deficiency! (5 out of 10)

Tagine Special, Razor Clams a la Plancha ($15), Rack of Lamb (6 out of 10)
Tagine is a method of cooking food in a clay pot. A medley of vegetables or meat with couscous or rice is cooked over several hours, enabling all the juices and flavors to penetrate all parts of the meal. Casa Mono’s tagine was flavorful but not very substantial, the clams were unusual in shape but not in taste, and the rack of lamb was easily the most delicious of the four entrees but too small to be completely satisfying.

Like the restaurant itself, the portions of all the dishes at Casa Mono are notably small. Each of us ordered an entrée, but we all left hungry and thirsty (from the salt). Sad but true – we ended up going to Whole Foods to continue our dinner. Maybe only celebrities can survive on 2 grams of food for dinner.

Other items of interest on the menu include: Duck Egg with Mojama ($16), Sweetbreads with Fennel al Mono ($19), Tripe with Chickpeas ($13), Confit Goat with Rainbow Chard ($19), but we’re not going back there to try them. Tell us if we’re mistaken about Casa Mono (I really hope we are)!

Lessons Learned:
1. Casa Mono raises blood pressure
2. Cocks have skin
3. We are too fat to be celebrities

We found live octopus!

2010-02-22T22:23:00.015-05:00

After our pathetic failed attempt at live octopus, I was in despair. But thanks to Alex, WFC member and avid fan of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations", we found a Korean restaurant in Flushing that is authentic enough for our appetites. (Although, I later discovered that simply typing in "live octopus" on yelp gives us Sik Gaek (16129 Crocheron Ave, Flushing, NY) as the second result but I digress...)

WE FOUND LIVE OCTOPUS!

AND IT WAS INCREDIBLE!

Live octopus lived up to our expectations for a truly bizarre food. I had never eaten anything that still moved in my mouth. Never did my food try to escape from my plate before. The tentacles wrapped around our chopsticks, the suckers stuck to our tongues and moved around our mouths. We couldn't ask for more from this perfect live octopus, so we award the live octopus sashimi at Sik Gaek a 10 out of 10 rating. The dish comes with jalapeno peppers, garlic, dipping sauces and is sure to incite curiosity, fear, excitement, laughter - all of the above.

We were also curious about the hot pot, which was highly recommended on yelp. We saw a neighboring table with it and the sheer gigantic size of it made us want to order it. We didn't realize how horrible it would be to watch a living octopus boil in front of our eyes until it was actually brought to us.

We did not feel good about it. It was sad to watch and we felt worse about ourselves.

We documented this dish on video just so you don't have to get it if you are ever faced with the option. Please be advised: this video is disturbing.

Even though "squeamish" is the last word to describe Weird Food Club members, we didn't have the stomach for this. Despite being absolutely delicious, the live octopus hot pot gets a 1 out of 10 for cruelty, and we do not recommend nor condone it. Perhaps we should have attempted to kill the octopus by striking it in the nerve center (between the eyes) but we were too shocked and ignorant of its anatomy to do so.

After boiling in the water, the octopus was cut up for us with large scissors. Its tentacles were juicy and tender, and we felt that we gave it justice by enjoying it.

RIP Mr. Octopus.

Although arguably equally cruel, the live octopus sashimi just didn't seem as evil as the hot pot, and we think it is an absolute must-try-at-least-once-in-a-lifetime for all adventurous eaters.

In search of live octopus...

2010-02-22T00:12:00.024-05:00

When I came across Sushi UO's menu containing live octopus, live abalone, live scallop, live giant clam, live pen shell and live orange clam, I thought I hit the weird food jackpot. Sushi UO at 151 Rivington St is a hidden gem, most people say, so I could not contain my excitement and even brought a video camera to record my experience there.

Unfortunately for us, we discovered that Sushi UO's definition of "live" is merely "very fresh", and although the sashimi was delicious, this misnomer was a huge letdown for us weird food fanatics. In our opinion, if it doesn't have a heartbeat, it's not alive, and we don't like gimmicky marketing.

Sea Urchin Roe at Sushi UO

But we didn't let this ruin our night. We enjoyed the sea urchin roe (7 out of 10), which was delicate and creamy, but presented on a plain white dish rather than in the spiky urchin shell.

Their perfectly grilled sea eel on the other hand was truly sumptuous (9 out of 10, only because it is not "weird") and might be the item worth coming back for.

Bacon It In NYC

2010-02-18T17:36:00.022-05:00

Bacon usually goes with pancakes, eggs, or some other breakfast entree. Occasionally, bacon is used with other dishes: scallops wrapped in bacon, bacon-wrapped cocktail wieners, the classic BLT, and also chopped up in salads and added to other veggies.

Coincidentally, I started coming across some non-traditional uses of bacon and wanted to dedicate this post to NYC-based baconites and their creations. Behold!

1. Chocolate-covered bacon

Sure, we've all had chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered cherries, and chocolate covered raisins. However, this wonderful marvel is sure to please. Sold at Roni-Sue's Shoppe at Essex Market, about a quarter pound (~$10) of this item will give you and your friends a fixation that you won't be able to shake. Coronary insurance not included. Recommendation: 8 out of 10.

Photo: Choco-bacon lover from Roni-Sue's Shoppe giving away samples at the 2009 Chocolate Show

2. The Bacon Martini

On Avenue A there's a joint known as the Double Down Saloon that serves up "booze, booze, and more booze" making one consider the reason or reasons people drink to begin with.

First, bacon-infused vodka. Second, Slim Jim garnish. Third, drink. Getting the drink down was tough. If you want to re-live the experience, it might help to have a few drinks somewhere else first, so you're prepared for the atmosphere as well as the actual beverage. Review: 5 of 10.

3. Bacon Bubble Gum

Okay, so there isn't exactly any real bacon in this one, only artificial flavoring. However, the trip to Dylan's Candy Bar on the Upper East Side is worth it. I found this gem on the lower level. Verdict: 3 of 10, only a must for the most hardcore bacon lovers.

4. Bacon Ice Cream

A few people cringed upon hearing this phrase. Do not. Embrace. Applewood in Park Slope has one of the greatest desserts ever devised (Its other food is exceptional as well). Bacon ice cream over a maple cake that was so heavenly, even this self-ascribed savory-salty tooth gobbled it down with delight. Word of caution: we were informed that the restaurant does not offer this item daily, so be sure to call head and tell them you're a bacon guy (or gal) as I did. Overall 10 of 10. This is arguably the best bacon incorporated item, ever! Or if you can't make it to Applewood, try making your own bacon ice cream at home

Weird Food Club mailing list

2010-02-11T17:40:00.004-05:00

Hello!

As the organizer of Weird Food Club outings, I am running into a now common problem of restaurant capacity. We often have lots of people who want to go (yay!) and too few reservation spots (nay!).
So... I am creating a WFC mailing list.

If you would like to be notified of the next WFC outing by email, please send a note to weirdfoodclub [at] gmail dot com.
Once a new event is organized, we will send an invite to everyone on the mailing list. The first people to respond get the spots!

We swear we won't send you any spam.

You can also use this email address to contact us about anything - tips, comments, ideas.

Thanks and I look forward to eating weird stuff with you!

Whole Frog at Kenka (22 St. Mark's Place)

2010-02-06T12:29:00.013-05:00

Kenka is where it all started. I tried bull penis at Kenka on a dare and from then on, the weird food just wouldn't stop. Now when I think back, bull penis doesn't even seem so strange to me and when I recount the story, even though everyone generally tends to cringe they continue to ask with wide open eyes what it tasted like.

I went back to Kenka last night to try their whole fried frog. I've had frog legs before, but they weren't prepared well (too dry). Frog legs can often be found in French and Thai restaurants, but rarely can you find a place that will serve you a entire deep fried frog.

The frog at Kenka was lightly breaded, deep fried whole, placed on two skewers, served on a small mound of cabbage and lettuce, and covered in kewpie mayo. It was absolutely delicious. It tasted very much like tender fried chicken and its legs look a lot like skinny drum sticks.

I liked playing with the frog's feet and even tried chewing on those scary long curly toes. But more fun than anything is the fact that you can tell what animal you're eating because you can see it in its entirety. It was delightful! Playing with my frog and eating it made me feel like a wacky kid.

Not all frogs are edible. Edible frogs tend to be brown. Bright-colored frogs may be poisonous, so don't go out and eat your exotic pet frog.

Like alligator, in terms of taste, frogs could really be a great replacement for chicken, except they cost about $9/pound whereas chicken is $1-2/pound. Frogs are not very meaty, either. Someone should start a frog farm and feed them some roids to compete with chicken on equal terms. I can just see the future of frog meat markets: "Organic, free range frogs!" I'm actually not sure if this frog was steroids free - look how enormous it is. It's almost the size of my head.

A whole frog is definitely worth trying, and I rate it 7 out of 10. It's fun, not too bizarre, and tasty, plus at Kenka one whole frog will only set you back $8 (but order something else in addition if you're hungry). Kenka's awesome menu and prices continue to blow my mind. Next time I go, I'll have to try their turkey testicles, deep fried garlic, cow intestines, and pig feet.

Fun Thai Food in Financial District

2010-01-29T20:30:00.009-05:00

I'm having this coconut ice cream in a young coconut shell as I'm typing this. It's delicious and fun and it's from 35 Thai (35 Lispenard St). They have a similar pineapple ice cream served in a baby pineapple!

This coconut ice cream is very light (feels like there's very little fat in this, possibly because they used a good portion of coconut water to make it instead of cream/milk), so it is a completely different ice cream experience than the rich, butter-like frozen nitrogen ice cream served at Lulu & Mooky's that we tried a couple of months ago!

I was also very tempted to get frog legs from Cafe Sage (108 John St) but they are cash only and I only had $5 on me. You can get their frog legs
a) in red curry sauce with red onion.
b) In garlic and pepper sauce
c) In basil and chili pepper sauce.

I'll have to try them next time!

Weird Food Club recommendations for NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2010

2010-01-26T10:04:00.011-05:00

Img via The Modern

2010 Winter Restaurant Week is Monday-Friday, January 25-29 and February 1-5, 2010. Although most NYC chefs stick to their tried and true butternut squash soups, duck confits and panna cottas, luckily, a few of them take the opportunity to experiment with their menus. Restaurant Week is also a fantastic opportunity for you to try rare and/or expensive ingredients on the cheap -- all selected dinners are $35 so hurry for reservations.

1.Brasserie 8 and 1/2
Fluke Tartare (Avocado & Sea Urchin, Mango Vinegar, Cucumber)
Slow Braised Goat (Chicken of the Wood Mushrooms, Polenta)
Blood Orange Mirror Cake (White Chocolate Mousse, Passion Fruit Coulis)

2.The Modern
Braised Tripe with chickpeas and harissa aioli or steak tartare with quail egg
Saffron Tagliatelli with cider braised rabbit, wild mushrooms and baby zucchini
Hazelnut Dacquoise with milk chocolate chantilly.

3.Industria Argentina
Mollejas al Verdeo (Crispy sautéed sweetbreads, scallion and white wine sauce)
Milanesa de Pescado (Skate wing milanesa, brown butter, cappers, cauliflower purée)
Bombón Suizo (Dulce de leche Argentinean-style Tartufo, warm dulce de leche sauce)

4.Trattoria dell'Arte
Toredelli Bolognese (wild boar & porcini stuffed pasta with a three meat ragu, baby arugula)
Veal and Wild Mushroom Marsala (shaved black truffle)
Gelato

5.Rouge Tomate
Gravlax (a Scandinavian appetizer)
Duck with kumquat and coriander (avail. Regularly)
Passion fruit curd

Also try:

Caviar @ Petrossian

US Kobe beef skewers, Fish shaped Japanese waffle ice cream @ Inakaya

Wild boar stew with soft truffle polenta @ Osteria del Circo

Salmon Kulebiyaka @ Firebird

Huitlacoche Crepes @ Maya

Raw Tuna Pizza @ Mercer Kitchen

Squab @ Mr. Chow

Thai food that needs to be discovered in New York

2010-01-21T14:12:00.034-05:00

Jackfruit

Apologies for my long absence and silence. Yours truly has been sampling unusual culinary creations in the Kingdom of Thailand, where street carts, night markets, cafes and restaurants had a vast selection of fun edible stuff. Here’s just a small taste of what I found.

STREET FOOD THAT IS NOT SCARY

Jackfruit ice cream in a cone. Jackfruit itself is rubbery and tastes a bit like bubble gum.

Sweet sticky rice with sesame seeds served on a palm leaf, eaten with toothpicks.

One can eat many things on a stick.

BLACK JELLY

Chow-Guai is a vegetable jelly made from a Chinese plant. It's black and is eaten with ice and palm sugar. This is a dish shrouded in mystery -- no other information can be found about this.

DRIED SOUR FRUITS

BUGS! OF ALL SORTS!

Crickets, beetles, larvae! Play the slideshow to see me eating them. These bugs were sold from a street cart. I picked out the ones I wanted to try, they were scooped into a plastic bag for me and sprayed with some kind of salty soy sauce-like spray but remained crunchy. We only saw one bug cart like this throughout the duration of our trip, so I don't think they are very popular. My eyes lit up when I saw this street cart, so I'm glad we decided to try the bugs that same instant and not to wait to find another one later.

SNAKEHEAD FISH

This is a grilled snakehead fish. It is called so because its head looks like it is covered in snake-like scales and because of its other peculiar features: this freshwater fish breathes atmospheric air with primitive lungs and feeds on other fish and small animals like frogs and rats. Not much of a fish now, is it?

SOMETHING I FORGET THE NAME OF

This is a Muslim dessert crepe that one purchases with a bag of colorful palm sugar strings. We were told it would be unbearably sweet and kind of dry but it turned out moderately sweet and delicious. It was a little bit like eating cotton candy in a crepe. We tried it in Ayutthaya.

KHAO SOI NOODLES

Khao soi noodles are deep fried and crunchy, floating in a very rich coconut milk-based curry.

VAST FOOD COURTS

This food court at the Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok is the largest food court I have ever seen in my life. It had an extraordinary selection of restaurants, stalls, cafes, mini-grocery shops and bakeries. I haven't seen a larger food court even in Japan. Does anyone know of a larger food court? My favorite finds here were the marshmallow taco, hot dog pancakes and a bear-shaped bread bun.

This is a reminder that a whole world of weird food exists beyond the shores of our city, but to stick to the focus of this blog, I will try to research for you guys where you can sample some of this stuff on our soil.

Varutha Moolai and other specialities

2009-12-16T17:25:00.007-05:00

You haven’t really eaten in New York unless you’ve eaten with the Gastronauts. This club enables New Yorkers to eat things at restaurants that typically aren’t on those restaurants’ menus.

Last month, I joined them for an evening at Southern Spice in Flushing, Queens. Every time I attend one of these meetings, my excitement level goes through the roof. The regular members are fun to talk to and conversations are informative and interesting. It’s always a pleasure to take part.

First the Rabbit Masala. While most pieces of rabbit were of the regular size and shape variety, I had strong urge to grab the one and only skull. The meat wasn’t better nor worse than the rest, but there was much less of it. Most of what can be seen here was bone and I had to move on. Sort of gamey, venison-like, tasty. (7)

Vowvaal Mean (pomfreet steamed in banana leaf) Tender fish came right off the bone, although I prefer other fish flavors over this one. (5)

Sura Puttu (Shark Scrambled) Not bad, not great either. Again, something with the flavor just wasn’t like the shark steaks on the grill I remember growing up as a kid. I think it was the flavoring. (5)

Crab Masala Uthappam Like crepes filled with masala crab meat. I could have eaten fifty of these. Absolutely heavenly! (10)

Varutha Moolai (Goat Brain) Very rich and tender. A salty, creamy sauce covered the zombie food. Compared with the brain quesadillas, I would make a second trip back to La Superior as opposed to giving varutha moolai a second go. But overall, it was a very tasty dish worth trying. (8)

Weird Drinks Party Part 1

2009-12-15T20:31:00.026-05:00

The Soviet Chemistry Lab

Buratino, Baikal, and Tarkhun are brands of sugary carbonated soft drinks usually consumed at kids' birthday parties but I'm only now discovering their dark secrets!

Buratino (6/10)

Named after the Russian version of "Pinocchio", this drink has no equivalent that I've ever tasted in any other culture. It's somewhere between faint apple and orange soda, but neither one of the two in particular. This drink is the least sugary of the 3 Russian sodas, and scores points for stirring up nostalgic memories of my last birthday in Russia.

Baikal (4/10)

The Soviet answer to Coca-Cola, this drink is sweeter than Coke, but it doesn't have that umph! of the secret ingredient in Coke.

It is named after the Olympic star of all world lakes: Baikal Lake is at once the most voluminous, the deepest, and the clearest of all freshwater lakes in the world, and is located in Siberia. I love the label on this drink showing a muddy-brown tidal wave of Coke imitation soda threateningly hovering over the pristine waters of Baikal.

Tarkhun (4/10)

It looks like it came from the Chernobyl nuclear plant and tastes equally radioactive. Its 26g of sugar per 250 ml serving do not really mask the chemical flavor of the drink. The scary part is that the contents do not list any food coloring so the radioactive green color must be the effect of mixing all other ingredients (or maybe they just forgot to list it).

I've always thought that the word "Tarkhun" had no meaning, but the English translation "Tarragon" on the label led me to discover that the primary flavor in this drink is tarragon, an herb related to wormwood, which is used to make the most famous green drink of all - absinthe. So Tarkhun must be the kids' version of absinthe.

Like absinthe, Tarkhun needs to be properly mixed with a complementary mildly-flavored liquid in order to be enjoyed. Independent of all my absinthe-related realizations, we fortuitously discovered that Tarkhun and Birch Tree Juice complemented each other very well and made an actually tolerable, even enjoyable cocktail (5/10).

Natural

Birch Tree Juice (4/10)

Birch sap, much like maple sap (used to make maple syrup) is collected by drilling small holes in young birch trees and by letting the sap drip out into a bottle. It contains water, enzymes, proteins, amino acids and sugars and is considered a healthy tonic. On its own it tastes like sugar water.

Kvas (8/10)

This is a fermented drink derived from rye or rye bread. It is very dark brown in color and tastes a bit like carbonated yeast. "Kvas" is derived from the word "acid" in Polish and the origin of the drink dates to 5000 years, around the same time humans discovered beer.

Although it contains up to 1.4% alcohol, Kvas is considered suitable for children. It is popular in all post-soviet republics and is ubiquitous in Eastern European groceries and restaurants. Kvas is similar to non-alcoholic beer.

In the spirit of Russian feasts, we "chased" our fabulous drinks with sumptuous red caviar sandwiches.

All of the above can be procured at most Russian/Ukranian/Eastern Bloc food stores, such as:
B & B International Food @ 12-17 River Rd Fair Lawn, NJ or
Net Cost Market @ 608 Sheepshead Bay Rd, Brooklyn, NY 11224

Grasshoppers, Huitlacoche, Cactus Fries @ Toloache (251 W. 50th Street)

2009-12-05T11:15:00.012-05:00

The other day we ventured out beyond our biggest fears by going to a restaurant that had grasshoppers on its regular menu. We figured if we want to be taken seriously as a Weird Food Club, we have to have tried at least 1 insect in our lives.

Yes, grasshoppers are horribly scary-looking, but not that much worse than crawfish (if you think about it), and people in Oaxaca, Mexico eat them like popcorn. Besides, they're a great source of protein!

So we asked for a bowl of crunchy grasshoppers as a starter at Toloache.

In this picture, Rob demonstrates how tiny the little fried buggers were. They were so small we could barely see the head and the legs, which made it that much easier to put them in our mouths and swallow. They were very crunchy and sour (we debated whether that was the actual taste of grasshopper guts or just lime juice).

We also got 2 portions of the grasshopper stuffing used in Toloache's tacos, fruit guacamole, cactus fries, avocado fries and Huitlacoche.

Grasshopper Taco Stuffing (4/10): was hot, moist, and even more sour than the dried grasshoppers. The cooking and stirring of the stuffing chopped up the grasshoppers into smaller pieces, so it was difficult to find one with its legs and head intact. We had to spoon the stuffing onto our chips and eat it like a choppy paste. You could only sometimes detect a crunch of a leg, but the stuffing was mostly uniformly hot, moist and incredibly limey.

I've learned that eating insects is not so bad, and I'm going to continue my search for bigger and scarier insects in New York (comment if you know where I could get some!)

Cactus Fries (6/10): tasted just like you'd expect cactus to taste - a little bit like aloe in texture, and somewhat tasteless.

Avocado Fries (8/10): this was a lesson that everything can be deep fried... and occasionally come out amazing. Avocado fries were more succulent and flavorful than cactus fries.

Fruit Guacamole (9/10): the individual ingredients were not unusual at all - avocado, strawberries and pomegranate seeds, but the combination was absolutely heavenly.

"You don't like this? It tastes like truffles!"

Huitlacoche (2/10): literally means "raven shit" in Nahuatl, and is sometimes referred to as "corn smut". Both of those names are exceptionally appetizing so there was no way we'd pass on it.

It smelled like sweaty socks. And the texture was pretty... shitty. If it smelled like excrement with the same texture, I probably wouldn't be able to eat it. But I could do "shit texture" plus "smell of dirty socks" for a couple of bites.

Huitlacoche was almost as bad as natto (the worst food I've ever tried). Ok, to be fair, huitlacoche had more of a rotten mushroom texture - a little bit chewy and sometimes gooey.

I had 2 spoon-fulls of huitlacoche on a piece of tostada chip, while Felix was swallowing the stuff like it was jam! He said it tasted like truffles. I've never had truffles so I can't compare the taste/texture/smell, but if it's anything like huitlacoche, I'll need to organize a Weird Food Club outing just for truffles.

Luckily for us in the States, the demand for huitlacoche among high end restaurants is growing and the USDA recently allowed some farmers in Florida and Pennsylvania to intentionally infect corn with huitlacoche. There shouldn't be any shortage of it any time soon!

Pork: The Other White Cheek

2009-12-03T17:22:00.003-05:00

Sure, there are pork chops, bacon, and even pork brain Mexican food, but none are finer than pork cheek.

My girlfriend and I dined at Thomas Beisl, which serves up some classic Austrian dishes at respectable prices.

For starters, get the chicken liver terrine w/ cranberry compote. A word of caution: it’s very rich and since my girlfriend is not the pate type, I was forced to gorge on this heavy concoction which I could have used less of. In other words, it’s necessary to share, ideally with three or four people, but two will work if you have a craving and plenty of bread, which your server will bring you at will.

Then, finally, with great anticipation, came the cheek. It was succulent and delightful. It had a that fatty pork taste, like a pork chop, but even more tender. It was served over sauerkraut which was essential for my enjoyment of this dish. Overall, it was absolutely delightful.

Rating (1-10)

6 for the terrine, 9 for the cheek.

I’ll Have the Other Duck

2009-11-22T18:51:00.001-05:00

Geoduck (gooey –duck) is not really duck at all but a large, strange-looking freshwater calm indigenous to the Pacific Northwest. Mirugai, as it is known in Japan, is hard to find in the city, I was excited when my girlfriend took me to Soto as a surprise.

Soto is perhaps one of the best (and affordable) sushi restaurants in NYC and my new favorite. It’s not Masa and it’s by no means cheap, close to $100 for two, but considering the quality and relatively inexpensive pricing, it was well worth it. I preferred the atmosphere here to Megu’s gaudy space, and the service was satisfactory.

Aside from the incredible freshness of everything served, the most exciting part of the evening was when the Mirugai came. With a texture like squid, and natural flavor masked by the sauce, it wasn’t the sashimi experience I had hoped for, but it was fantastic none-the-less.

The Mirugai earns an 8/10.

Alligator at Mara's Homemade (342 E. 6th Street)

2009-11-20T16:36:00.007-05:00

In a long row of Indian places on E. 6th street, Mara’s Homemade can easily be missed. But this small place that serves Cajun specialties deserves some attention, at least for the fact that its regular menu lists alligator.

Gator Bites 6/10
Gator Bites is an $11 appetizer that is easily shareable among 3-4 people. The gator bites consisted of small pieces of white Louisiana alligator meat marinated in a Cajun sauce, dusted in seasoned cornmeal, fried and served with Remoulade Sauce for dipping. Our waitress informed us that the alligator is shipped from Louisiana, fresh, and is deep fried on premises.

The bites looked and tasted like chicken nuggets, but were slightly smaller in size and a bit tougher and sinewy in texture. They went very well with beer.

Fried Pickles 7/10
Fried Pickles ($6) were prepared and served the same way as the alligator bites. I was actually more in love with the fried pickles than the alligator. The pickles were deliciously sour, and that burst of flavor was a real surprise each time you bit into something deep fried because our brains are trained to expect some kind of meat rather than a pickle in breaded/deep-fried form.

Crawfish, the southern name for crayfish 6/10
Crayfish/crawdads/crawfish are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related. 98% of crayfish harvested in the US come from Louisiana, where the standard culinary terms are crawfish or ecrevisses. Louisiana crawfish are boiled live in a large pot with heavy seasoning (salt, cayenne pepper, lemon, garlic, bay leaves, etc.) The crawfish at Mara’s Homemade were as red-hot as they looked. They were unbearably spicy but really fun to play with. I personally liked to dangle them by their little feelers and looking them in the eyes before eating them. They look like tiny lobsters the size of shrimp, and are really good in $16 crawfish cheesecake (quiche with pieces of crawfish) but not so great on their own.

Congee Village Part 2

2009-11-16T21:12:00.018-05:00

To follow up on our previous post, more needs to be said about
Congee Village (100 Allen Street). Congee Village is a goldmine for the culinary adventure seeker. Half of their menu consisting of 250 original Chinese Cantonese dishes should be listed on this blog. Duck Tongues and Congealed Duck Blood featured earlier are just scratching the surface of the ridiculously long list of bizarre items that they serve daily:

Sea Cucumber, Abalone (sea snails), Geoduck, Conch, Live Shrimp
Duck’s Blood, Pig’s Blood Porridge
Shark Fin Soup, Turtle Soup
Bird’s Nest
Frog
Roasted young pigeon
Goose Web (goose feet)
Jelly Fish
Duck Tongue
Goose Intestine, Baked Fish Intestine in Clay Pot (which must taste a lot like kani miso – crab intestines)
Pork Stomach, Pork Stomach Porridge

Duck Tongues
Our greatest surprise was that duck tongue had a little bone in it, and overall didn’t taste that great. While I am a huge fan of cow tongue, duck tongue tasted nothing like it. We preferred the taste of goose intestines to the duck tongue!

"Eating duck tongue feels like you're making out with a duck"

Alex of www.guanabee.com and veteran Weird Food Club member felt like she was “making out with a duck” and found it so freaky she couldn’t have more than one. I was able to swallow 5 tongues, and Arseny laid waste to about 10 tongues.

Pig’s Blood Porridge
This rice porridge with floating cubes of congealed blood tasted similar to the duck blood dish described earlier. The cubes had a defined iron taste to them, and were fairly inedible. If you like blood sausage, it doesn't mean you'll like this.

Kevin believes duck blood is almost as bad as kani miso, the worst thing he has ever tried. I would like to nominate natto to the “worst thing I’ve ever tried” contest. Eating natto feels like you’re chewing on excrement. Apparently, we’re not the first to nominate these two items as the worst food ever. This lively discussion is way ahead of us.

Shark Fin Soup
We intended to get the $13.95 bowl of shark fin soup, but we were accidentally given a $45 bowl of “supreme” shark fin soup. There may be a subtle difference between the supreme and the poor-man’s shark fin soup, but we certainly couldn’t tell them apart.

Shark fin soup is considered a luxury dish in Chinese culture and is served at special occasions like weddings. Like many unusual things I’ve tried (jellyfish, bull penis, sea cucumber), shark fin has very little flavor of its own and is used for its noodle-like texture and ability to absorb flavors from soup broth and sauces, as well as for its rarity.

The practice of shark finning is controversial due to its brutality and its contribution to global decline of many shark species. Shark fins are removed from the shark and the rest of the still living shark is thrown into the ocean. The finless sharks are unable to swim, sink to the ocean floor and die.

If ever faced with the choice to get shark fin soup, we do not recommend that you get it. The taste, texture and the entire experience do not justify supporting the shark finning industry. I truly regret that I tried it.
Additionally, shark fin contains high levels of mercury and is dangerous for young children, pregnant women and may cause male sterility… so that makes it really not worth it!

Conclusion:
Congee Village is a place to check off a bunch of crazy food on your “to try” list, but none of it was a truly satisfying experience. Our best advice is don’t order just the weird stuff at Congee Village, unless you want to leave hungry.

I'll Have the Duck (Congee Village Part 1)

2009-11-11T17:41:00.007-05:00

Chinese isn’t just General Tso’s and Beef & Broccoli anymore. Congee Village is a staple in the LES and this week, I ordered Duck Tongue & Sugar Peas with XO Sauce as well as Duck’s Blood with Chives. The Duck Tongue was slightly chewy but the XO Sauce made it tasty. Also, the name is a misnomer since the dish actually consists of many duck tongues, around 30 of them.

The Duck’s Blood was gelatinous and had an unpleasant smell to it. That and the aftertaste made the blood less appetizing and ultimately the “loser” of the night.

Rating (1-10)

I have to give the duck blood a (1). It was absolutely terrible. It has a smell and taste that ensured my consumption of only a few pieces. It wasn't the worst thing I had ever eaten, which was kani miso, but it definitely wasn't appetizing in the slightest. It was a big let down. I had drank turtle blood fortified with sake in Tokyo and the experience was amazing for two reasons: 1) Drinking blood sounds hardcore and 2) the sake-turtle blood cocktail tasted good. Okay, it tasted okay, but it was tolerable. Congealed duck blood didn't blow me away like I was hoping it would.

The duck tongue gets a (6) but that's probably generously attributed to how refreshing the greasy XO sauce-covered fatty tongue meat was in comparison to the blood. Think raw clams/oysters texture meets marinated chicken flavor.

Recommendations: Share an order of duck tongue between 4-6 people with plenty of beer, skip the blood.

Pigeon at Blue Ribbon Brasserie (97 Sullivan Street)

2009-11-11T14:55:00.015-05:00

Ever since I spotted one of these alien-like pigeon coop structures in Egypt, I've been meaning to try pigeon. Pigeon is a national delicacy in Egypt, and is consumed in other countries, including France. Because most people associate pigeon with dirt and disease, pigeon meat was re-branded as "squab" and can be found in quite a few places in New York.

It is on the regular menu at The Egyptian Kitchen (35 1st Avenue), a sketchy little hot-food bar in the East Village, but they don't have it every day. If you want good hamam mahshi (pigeon stuffed with rice/wheat), you'd need to go to Queens or get a special order for a group of 50+ at Casa La Femme (140 Charles Street). Congee Village (100 Allen Street), the mother of all weird food, has a pigeon dish as well.

We wanted a high-class pigeon experience, so we went to The Blue Ribbon Brasserie where we ordered:
Rating(1-10)
Beef Marrow & Oxtail Marmalade 10/10
Steak Tartare 9/10
Sweetbreads 8/10
Pigeon 9/10
Rack of Lamb 9/10
Red Trout 8/10
Flounder 8/10
Duck 9/10

All of these dishes were stellar. The pigeon dish came with 2 legs and a couple of small slices of breast. It tasted much like duck, although actual duck was juicier.

Pigeon was the reason we went to Blue Ribbon in the first place (and it was worth it), but the highlight of the evening was the bone marrow & oxtail marmalade. Benjamin, our server at Blue Ribbon, was kind enough to explain the long cooking process for bone marrow:

Bones cut by the butcher -> Bones cleaned -> Bones put in brine for 1.5 days to drain the blood -> Bones baked -> Bones arranged on plate -> Oxtail marmalade added (there's a long process of preparing that as well) -> Parsley, bread added.
The eating process was equally fun: the bones come with wooden sticks that are used to scoop the marrow and push it out of the bone. The texture was delightfully gelatinous and paired well with crunchy slices of toasted bread.

We loved our food at Blue Ribbon so much, that we forgot to ask the burning question on all of our minds: "where does the restaurant procure its pigeon?". Now we'll never know! One thing we do know though is that if the economy gets any worse, we'll be able to survive by hunting in the city... at least until there are no more pigeons left.

Lesson Learned at Blue Ribbon: pigeon is perfectly edible and now we know we can survive in this city if all hell breaks loose!

Afterwards we checked out honey wine (the generic modern word for mead) a few blocks away at Camaje (85 macdougal st). The wine smelled and tasted like honey but had the usual consistency of white wine. I was hoping it would be a bit more dense. Nothing of the sort. Just a regular wine that smells and tastes like honey!

The best part of Camaje was the awesome living-room like furniture arrangement they've got in the front. It felt like we were hanging out on a couch at someone's house with a coffee table full of magazines, books and even a chess board -- great hang out spot.

Wild Game at Les Halles (15 John Street) limited time only

2009-11-11T14:31:00.011-05:00

We went out with a few coworkers to celebrate the end of a project, and we chose Les Halles [pronounced: "leh al"], which is our go-to place for nice lunches on the company card - it's delicious and only a block away from the office, and there's no f-ing way we'd pay for it ourselves.

They are having a whole menu of new wild game specials until Nov 13, including wild boar, which has been on my to try list for a while. They also have pheasant. An entire Wild Boar entree sounded like too much to handle for lunch, so I got the wild boar terrine and the petatou de chevre (a tower of potatoes and olives with some chevre on top). I am now in a food coma. My coworker and I are looking for a nice quiet conference room to take a nap in.

Those two look like they're having fun, no? This is what my terrine was made out of.

So now I can cross off "wild boar" in my list of foods to try, but honestly the wild boar terrine didn't taste any different from regular terrine. So next time you see it: pass.

I'd love to try their pheasant though.

Bread in a Can?

2009-11-09T18:12:00.007-05:00

This weekend I partook in an old New England tradition: baked beans, hot dogs, and brown bread. This bread-like substance comes out of the can dripping in molasses and it eaten with butter.

Rating (1-10)

Bread wasn't too bad (6), although I didn't love it. More dry than I expected. According to the nutritional facts, it's mostly sodium and sugar. Surprisingly little fat content, but then again, that's why you add butter.

Ensalada de Nopalitos

The previous evening we ate steak, baked potatoes, and, you guessed it... ensalada de nopalitos (cactus salad). I picked up some pickled catcus at Zeytuna in lower Manhattan, found a recipie online, and went to town.

Rating (1-10)

The pickling definitely added flavor to the vegetable which mixed well with the other peppers, corn, and spices (8). I am definitely going to make this again.

Not to Be Outdone

2009-11-09T18:03:00.005-05:00

I must say, I was a little jealous of Kat and her penis-eating habits. So my girlfriend and I had to go to Kenka, eat the penis, stingray, and pig’s feet in an effort to one-up my friend and colleague.

Rating (1-10)

Penis (5) wasn’t as bad as I was anticipating. The stingray (7) was the “winner” and the pig feet (3) were least appetizing. Although, I’ve been hearing good things about pig’s feet so I intend to eat it elsewhere and give the dish a second chance.

Haggis at St. Andrews (140 W. 46th street)

2009-11-04T23:50:00.012-05:00

Ever since I saw Andrew Zimmern’s episode on making haggis in Edinburgh, Scotland, I’ve been hoping to cut open an intestine bag full of… cooked intestines myself.

Except, Haggis is not made of intestines. Haggis is a Scottish dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. Yum - heart, liver and lungs are my favorite!

My research pointed me to a couple of places in New York that serve haggis --ChipShop in Park Slope (383 5th Avenue) and St. Andrews near Times Square (140 W. 46th street). I had a couple of tickets to a new Broadway production of Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs”, so the choice between the two came down to location.

St. Andrews looked like a decent enough place for being in the middle of Tourist Central. Their menu listed haggis, along with a decent selection of scotch, and boasted of its kilted bartenders, with a joke attached no less. When you see someone wearing a kilt, you are supposed to ask “What are you wearing under there?” The proper answer to that, of course, is “Shoes!” Unfortunately, our server was not wearing a kilt, and we failed to peer into the bar area, so we can’t testify if indeed they have kilted bartenders.

Most of us ordered the homemade haggis with neeps ‘n’ tatties (turnips and mashed potatoes in Scotts-speak), which is on their appetizer menu. I was licking my chops waiting for a bag of organs, but it turned out that the haggis they serve is “open haggis”, possibly in order to avoid scaring the tourists who can’t handle the sight of entrails.

Open haggis consisted of a small serving of the core of the haggis (the boiled ‘pluck’ part) neatly placed on top of mashed potatoes and topped with turnip puree, all in one neat cylindrical shape. The tower was sprinkled with some parsley and surrounded by a moat of gravy. The presentation was flawless for the less adventurous eaters, but was slightly disappointing for us weirdos. We wanted the whole shebang – stomach and all.

On the bright side, this dish tasted GREAT. It was completely edible and delicious. It tasted like Sheppard's pie with a little bit of heart, liver and lung tanginess. We were all very happy with it, although some of that can be attributed to the scotch consumed prior to and during the meal.

Rating (1-10)
Presentation: 8 (wish we had the original type of haggis in the stomach, but the castle-like structure of this open haggis was beautiful)
Taste: 8 (pretty darn good, although I expected a more pungent flavor. It was overall pretty mild for its reputation)
Texture: 8 (you can eat it even if you chew with dentures!)
Price: $10.95 (it was a satisfying meal for just an appetizer too)
Best part: St. Andrews is smack in the middle of the theater district and the food happens to actually be good -- it makes a fabulous choice for a pre-show dinner.

Please comment: Has anyone tried haggis at ChipShop? Is it any good? Is it deep fried? Anyone know a place that serves closed haggis?

We are all zombies now... Brain at La Superior (295 Berry Street, Williamsburg)

2009-10-30T15:04:00.018-04:00

Just in time for Halloween, this entry is about eating brain. Now, everything you know about brain is true. Zombies eat it. Eating brain will turn you into a zombie… and if not, it will at the very least give you multiple sclerosis. So hop on the bandwagon, and eat some brain already... All the cool kids are doing it.

You can try brain at at least two places in New York City. Les Enfants Terribles (37 Canal Street) has deep fried sheep brain as a dinner special (call in advance to confirm that they have it that night), and if you’d like to eat brain on any night of the week, go to La Superior (295 Berry Street, Williamsburg).

I met La Superior's chef Nacxi Gaxiola through a friend. Nacxi didn't hesitate to tell me that he serves brain as soon as I mentioned this blog. He loves to find unusual combinations of ingredients for his dishes and is currently working on perfecting his pig face soup recipe.

We tried La Superior’s Sesadillas (quesadillas de sesos or pork brain quesadillas without the cheese) -- they were tiny little bites of brain goodness. My favorite Weird Food Club enthusiast Arseny described the brain's texture as similar to "soy bean paste".

To make sesadillas, Nacxi boils the brain, sautés it, adds some scallion, parsley, and other greens, puts it in the quesadilla shell and I assume does something else to it (didn’t hear the rest of the secret recipe…) Whatever it is, $3 is worth it so you can mark off “brain” in your long list of things to try in order to up your chances of developing idiopathic diseases. You can also try La Superior’s Taco Lengua (beef tongue taco) and pig feet.

Rating (1-10)
Presentation: 6 La Superior scores points for coming up with the idea of putting brain in a quesadilla, but the scratched plastic plates they were served on did not impress
Texture: 5 Wish the brain was less cooked to get the total gross, goopy effect
Taste: 7 Ttasted like ground pork, the added parsley was great
Price: $3

Surgeon General's Warning: Eating brain may cause side effects like dizziness, blindness, cerebral atrophy, involuntary facial spasms, and walking with arms outstretched. Weird Food Club members experienced at least four of these side effects.

Fictional Foods and Beverages

2009-10-28T12:07:00.008-04:00

I hosted a housewarming party last weekend for my family, who are all huge Potter-fans. I wanted to make something interesting, so I decided to make butterbeer. We were debating whether butterbeer exists outside of the Potter universe, but this was a question easily resolved by a quick wikipedia search. Butterbeer is exclusively a J.K. Rowling invention.

Here's the recipe that I tried.

Ingredients:
1 cup (8 oz) club soda or cream soda
1/2 cup (4 oz) butterscotch syrup (ice cream topping)
1/2 tablespoon butter

Directions:
Measure butterscotch and butter into a 2 cup (16 oz) glass. Microwave on high for 1 to 1½ minutes, or until syrup is bubbly and butter is completely incorporated. Stir and cool for 30 seconds, then slowly mix in club soda. Mixture will fizz quite a bit. Serve in two coffee mugs or small glasses.

Result: it turned out way too sweet and too buttery to drink more than 1 tablespoon. It was fizzy and buttery though - just as it's intended to be.

Other butterbeer recipes like this might be better.

This spawned another discussion on the topic of mead and ambrosia.

This recipe for ambrosia salad made out of canned fruits sounds completely lame. My coworkers think ambrosia should taste like barfi, an Indian dessert made out of cashews/almonds and milk.

Barfi (great name for a delicious, yellowish dessert wrapped in edible tin foil!)

And although mead is not a fictional drink, few people make it nowadays, so it qualifies as "weird". Manhattan Meadery took on the challenge of bringing it back to the people. You can try their mead at the following places in New York:

Astor Wine & Spirits – 399 Lafayette St, New York NY
Chelsea Wine Vault – 75 9th Ave, New York, NY
Big Nose, Full Body Wine Shop – 382 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Spuyten Duyvil – 359 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Abigail Cafe and Wine Bar – 807 Classon Ave. Brooklyn, NY
Camaje Resturant – 85 Macdougal St, New York, NY
Perilla – 9 Jones St, New York, NY

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream @ Lulu and Mooky's (129 Allen St)

2009-10-23T21:15:00.017-04:00

The only chemistry lesson that left a lifelong impression on me was a demonstration of what liquid nitrogen could do to an organic object like a flower, or a human hand…

Now you can have your own delicious and hopefully emergency room-free chemistry demo at Lulu & Mooky’s, a tiny new LES ice cream parlor where a dude in a lab coat will make you liquid nitrogen ice cream from one of 45 suggested flavors or one of your own invention.

Watch out though – not all flavor combinations will taste great. Our mango-kiwi monster tasted like tuna and garnered 6 votes for “yucky”. Rosemary & burnt sugar flavor got 5 “yum” votes though! Other favorites were red sour cherry & pear, and ginger.

Liquid nitrogen (or LN2) has been a darling ingredient of many molecular gastronomists, and for good reason. Making ice cream with LN2 has several advantages to the regular fridge and/or ice approaches:
- fewer crystals form, so the ice cream ends up with a very buttery texture
- the freezing process is almost instant, so ice cream can be made fresh for each customer.

Watching ice cream being made with funky fog is part of the fun, but because it took 2 minutes to process each order, we were wondering how Lulu & Mooky’s would handle big crowds in the summer time. As a group of generous business consultants and entrepreneurs, we offered lots of free business advice to the dude in the lab coat – we’ll see if L&M will listen! ☺

Rating (1-10)
Presentation: 9 (We loved watching LN2 in action, but we would have liked to see the parlor decorated with more color or possibly with photos of extremely attractive people eating their ice cream – we told L&M they can always use our slideshow!)
Taste: 7 (hit or miss. Avoid the mango-kiwi combination, as well as flavors #46 and 47 - click on the slideshow to discover what they are)
Texture: 8 (very creamy)
Price: $4 for 1 cup (2 scoops)

How I ate The Queen of Jellyfish in Queens

2009-10-21T11:59:00.002-04:00

If you’ve tried jellyfish once, you’re a newbie. If you’ve tried jellyfish in three different dishes in one evening, that’s what I call a real accomplishment.

And that’s what we did at the last Gastronauts outing at Waterfront International Enterprises, Inc. (A.K.A. Fu Run) @ 40-09 Prince Street, Flushing, Queens. Do you need any more reason than Jellyfish Three Ways to spend 2.5 hours in the subway? Nope, you really don’t.

Fu Run was packed with roughly 60 gastronauts by the time Kevin, his girlfriend Jess and I arrived. We started with bottles of Tsingtao (the restaurant quickly ran out of them, and we had to make do with pitchers of Bud Light) and skin jelly (we still have no idea what that is).

The menu was shockingly long (16 courses), and not a single item could have been considered usual fare by any means. A few things on there were downright mysterious – is tiger vegetable a piece of a tiger? what is blotch soup?

The star of the evening, of course, was the jellyfish. Crunchy and absolutely tasteless, jellyfish is like tofu – it will taste like anything you put on it. Jellyfish with hot sauce tasted like crunchy noodles of hot sauce, jellyfish with scallion mostly tasted like crunchy scallion.

The Prom Queen of Jellyfish Dishes was Jellyfish Leg – gorgeous to the sight and completely vapid on the inside. I took many photos of this beautiful thing but got absolutely nothing out of it when I actually stuffed it in my mouth.

My favorite item on the menu was stew of miscellaneous fish with home style cookies. This dish was delicious, beautifully presented and filling. It really felt like a friend’s grandma made this stuff. On the other side of the spectrum, the least tasty dish on the menu was lamb stomach - it felt like a sheep was hanging under my nose while I was eating a goopy piece of meat.

Highlight of the outing: pics of me eating agaric ended up on the Gastronauts website and I got an email from Gastronauts founder Curtiss letting me know that I looked like his high school sweetheart.... maybe next time dinner will be on him? I'll make sure not to bring my boyfriend ;-)

Rating (1-10)
Presentation: 8 (Jellyfish legs are sexy)
Taste: 4 (It is absolutely tasteless!)
Texture: 7 (Crunchy!)
Price: Jellyfish on its own is probably a pretty cheap thing to eat (just go to Brighton Beach, catch some and cook it at home), but the overall 16-course meal was $50.
Will I ever go back to Flushing again? Only for live baby octopus.

Gastronauts: a great discovery

2009-10-19T12:33:00.000-04:00

In our quest for weird food, Kevin and I searched for other likeminded food-crazy freaks who may have already created a list of NYC restaurants worthy of our patronage. Fortuitously, we came across Gastronauts, a club for adventurous eaters.

With a mailing list of over 2000 subscribers, Gastronauts founders Ben & Curtiss organize a monthly outing to restaurants that serve unusual food. Seating is very limited (depending on the size of the place), and RSVP spots go as quickly as galoshes in the Soviet Union.

Receiving membership to the club involves writing a short paragraph about yourself. I think I wrote a book about all the weird stuff I’ve had: my favorite bull penis, bacon-flavored cheerios, marmite, bone marrow, lard, durian, pig and chicken feet, steak tartar, blood sausage, Kobe beef, horse steak, horse sushi, etc. No surprise, membership was granted with a short response from Curtiss: “You had us at bone marrow. :)” I know, I might have come off a bit overzealous.

To all skeptics who believe there are only four places in NYC that serve unusual food, the Gastronauts list of 43 restaurants so far visited contains:

Waterfront International Enterprises, Inc. (AKA Fu Run) – jellyfish, triple pork intestines
Roberta’s – fluke (whale tail), sea urchin, fennel pollen, etc
Lamb and Jaffy – peach soup, octopus, squid, calf brains, etc
San Rasa – polose (Jack Fruit), baby goat ox tongue, etc
Himalayan Yak – all parts of yak, etc
La Fusta – sweetbreads, tripe, tongue, liver, etc
Su San Seafood – live baby octopus, etc
Grand Dakar - knuckle soup, tripe and feet stew, etc
Trestle on Tenth – blood, liver sausage, etc
Mokeytown – rattlesnake, frog leg terrine, warm turtle salad, etc
Xiao La Jiao – rabbit, pig ear, bullfrog, etc
Henry’s End – wild boar belly, quail stuffed with figs, etc
and many more...

Bull Penis (Kenka, 22 St. Marks Pl)

2009-10-08T16:25:00.002-04:00

Kenka in the middle of St. Marks Pl is probably the best of the tourist-friendly yet quintessentially New York places for the adventurous eater. You'll know you're in the right place when you see the gigantic statue of a Japanese raccoon dog (Tanuki) with huge testicles and blinking light-bulb eyes outside the restaurant. The giant testicles definitely set the course of the night down a certain theme, for we came to the place to sample their most famous dish -- Bull Penis.

Alcohol tends to help with the touching of penises of any species, so we started off with huge mugs of Sapporo and sake. We had quite a large group at Kenka. Believe me, when you eat Penis, you want witnesses - so I recommend going here with a group of good-hearted friends, rather than a date... unless you want it to become more awkward than it probably already is. :-P

Our own Kenka expert Kai (former Kenka employee) recommended specifying that you want bull penis "with the head" when you order. I assume that the bull penis is so big, that you could potentially get a piece that doesn't have it??!

In terms of taste, my fellow adventurous eater Alex said: "It tastes like a blow job covered in sauce." So think of that next time you try bull penis. The restaurant also has a cotton candy making machine outside, so if bull penis is not your idea of dessert, you can always have pure sugar.

The best part about bull penis and Kenka in general, is that it is very affordable: $5 beers, $5.50 penis.

Rating (1-10)
Presentation: 7 (Decent. If they presented the penis on a silver plate with shavings of gold, I'd give it a 10)
Taste: 6 (mostly tastes like sauce)
Texture: 8 (cartilage)
Price: $5.50
Will I eat it again? Yes, but not for nutritional purposes.

About the Creators of Weird Food Club

2009-10-08T16:12:00.002-04:00

Kevin & Kat at the office, displaying items they scored at The Free Store . Unfortunately, the Free Store is now closed (tends to happen with non-profit social/arts projects). Kevin and Kat were very sad when the Free Store closed. They needed a new outlet for their energy and love. Luckily for our readers, Kevin & Kat's love is now directed toward Weird Food Club.

Welcome to Weird Food Club

2009-10-08T15:52:00.000-04:00

Friends have noticed that whenever I go to a new restaurant, instead of trying a staple dish to assess how well they make it in comparison to other places, I tend to get the weirdest thing on the menu. Whether it ends up good or bad is not a question in my mind at the moment of making my order. I only care about trying something new, unusual, sometimes yucky that other people would dare not try.

With the popularity of food critics like Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain, and even travel show hosts like Samantha Brown, and their bizarre food excursions, weird food itself is becoming of interest to many people.

I love to travel, but with a full-time office job, like many people, I only get a limited number of vacation days. However, luckily, my partner in crime / bizarre food enthusiast Kevin and I live in New York, the most diverse of culinary melting pots, so we bring to you a blog about all the weirdest foods you can find in New York City.

This is one of the first google image results for "weird food". Wouldn't you want to try these delicious chicken feet?