STRANGEST DISH YOU EVER ATE... (Something rarely found on a restaurant menu)

[Warpy]

85. People I know who like sea urchin

hold it in a gloved hand and scoop out the raw innards with a spoon. Frying probably toughens it.

I've eaten a lot of weird things. Crabs and crawdads used to make people sick in Boston when I'd eat them. Fried grasshopper wasn't bad, kind of nutty, but it took a lot of work to pull all the chitin off them so it didn't get stuck in my throat. Fried rattlesnake was good, very good, but there's not a hell of a lot of meat on those things. Think one big snake for 2 people. Huitlacoche tortillas are really good, with a truffle-like flavor. Just open the can and dump it into the blender without looking at it. Trust me, you'll thank me for that.

I got sick to death of clams and lobster since I was plugged into the local barter system back east and knew a lot of fishermen. The only way I now like lobster is in something and I might as well use cheaper monkfish for that if I can get it.

My last good fish chowder was back east and I used a bunch of codfish cheeks I'd gotten cheap. It's amazing how much good meat there is on a fish head and people raved about the chowder as long as I didn't confess to what was in it. Mmmm, fish head stew.

Some day, I'd like to try geoduck and abalone, but those are on menus a long way away.