7 Weird Travel Foods

It doesn’t matter if you’re in Banff or Beijing, you need to eat. It’s something that I’ve often budgeted poorly for in my travels and something I need to improve on, but on the plus side that means I’ve encountered a few odd edibles! Full disclosure, when I say weird foods, I don’t mean things that are overtly cruel like eating live octopus. I just mean things that I don’t necessarily encounter very often, or things that I’ve heard a lot of people turn their nose up at. That said, here are some foods whose very mention would turn people off, but that I boldly (or unwittingly) dove head first into, for better or for worse.

#1. Cow Tongue

I was nine and living my best pool-life in Mexico when I first got a taste of cow tongue. The resort we stayed in had a pool side buffet that was open for lunch while the other restaurants closed, presumably to clean up from breakfast and prepare for dinner. I wasn’t picky as a kid but I didn’t really find myself drawn to anything exotic. I wanted something that I knew. The sign above the beef tongue just said beef as far as I recall, so not knowing any better I grabbed that and some beans for my lunch.

I don’t know if it was because I didn’t have the vocabulary to describe texture, or because I had never really thought about it before, I just knew that the beef tasted the same … but didn’t taste the same … all at the same time. That said, it was good, enough so that I had it for lunch every day, even after Dad explained to me what it was.

#2. Haggis

Unlike with cow tongue I was an adult the first time I tried haggis. For my family’s first meal in Scotland it couldn’t be anything else! We all ordered haggis with neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes) and tucked in. As we had suspected, it was delicious!

The media seems to present haggis as some backwoods, lunatic dish only to be eaten by the bravest souls because the main ingredient is offal. Not awful, offal; the internal organs of the animal. The liver, heart, intestines, lung, all that good stuff. Of course, if you ask anyone who has actually tasted offal they’ll tell you it’s actually pretty good!

We had a little secret though, which was that Granny Lostman makes an amazing turkey stuffing using chicken hearts and gizzards, and it was one of my favourite foods as a kid. It still is! They’re essentially the same meats so we all figured we’d enjoy it, and we most certainly did.

#3. Black Pudding

Black pudding, or blood sausage, was something I first had in England. I didn’t know what it was when I read it on the menu, so I figured why not order it and find out. It was served to me as part of a full English breakfast, similar to the picture above. See that dark half circle? That’s black pudding. One sniff was all it took.

The scent of blood washed over me like a wave, and I was fully ready to turn my nose up at it. Mom hit me with the old “How do you know you don’t like it if you haven’t try it?”

I tried it. I didn’t like it. Mom traded me her tomato for it, and I’ve not bitten into another one of those bloody messes since.

#4. Spam

The one on the left is Spam. The others are similar, but not quite the same! I first tried it when Forest, Dragon, and I had a get together to watch some Kdramas. We decided to try our hands at making Budae Jjigae, a much beloved Korean dish whose name translates to Army Base Stew. It was created during the Korean War when locals would add the American imported hot dogs, spam, and cheese into their own strew for a bit of extra protein. At the time it was considered a peasant dish, but it grew to become a delicacy that even fancy restaurants serve.

Forest and Dragon had both tried it before, but as I hadn’t, Forest sliced me a little peice of spam to try while the rest of the stew simmered. I instantly regretted putting it into my mouth. The girls insisted that we put it in the pot anyway, and I’m glad they did because the spam went from tasting like something I might feed a cat to a wonderful, salty, spicy treat! I might have had to fight them for it had we not put so much in!

#5. Escargot

Yup! Snails! I had occasion to try them while the family was out celebrating Granny Lostman’s birthday. I found them underwhelming in a very strange way. I would have expected them to be either delicious or disgusting, but they were just rubbery. I couldn’t really taste them because they were smothered in butter and cheese. If that much fat is needed before something is considered edible, maybe we really shouldn’t be eating it.

#6. Marmite and/or Vegemite

If there’s a difference between the two I am unaware of it. I just know that Aussies and Brits love it, and my British Mom spread a bit onto toast for me so that I could try it when I was in England. You either love it or you hate it apparently, and I’m afraid I may have offended her by not finding it that great. I don’t hate it, in fact I like the true flavour of it, but the aftertaste is so bitter that I can’t see myself eating it again.

#7. Kangaroo

I actually had this in Canada, though I was traveling at the time. It was minced kangaroo, made into a burger. It was lean, and slightly sweeter than average, but if the waiter had told me it was a chicken or turkey burger I would have believed them. I definitely want to try a kangaroo steak next time, with no marinade or rub so that I can get the proper flavour of it. I’ve heard you can get them in Australia, so if I ever find myself that way I’ll make sure to order it!

Are there any weird foods that you’ve tried in your travels? Did you like them or leave them? Let me know in the comments!