What’s the most exotic meat you’ve ever had?

38 comments

1. I’m not a big fan of that kind of thing. My answer is probably moose, since most don’t eat it

2. Bison. Tastes alot like beef but it’s leaner. Btw yes we do farm bison, they are harder to control than cows but it is possible to farm them

3. Alligator or Goat.

4. Rattlesnake. I remember thinking it tasted like chicken.

5. Goat (love it) and Lengua (cow tongue, hate it)

   I don’t think these really count as exotic, but they’re not the most common with typical American food

6. Raw horse is probably up there. Some might find alligator, antelope, frog, and rabbit weird. I look forward to visiting east Asia for dog some day.

7. I had fried shark in New Orleans. Didn’t really taste that distinctive.

8. Yak. I’m a bit baffled by these other answers, all of which are native in America.

9. Elk

10. Kangaroo

11. German shepherd

12. Not in the United States, but on vacation in Peru. It was cuy. Cuy (guinea pig) in Cuzco, Peru. It wasn’t on purpose. We thought it was baked chicken. It was at a buffet restaurant.

13. Kangaroo. Didn’t really taste all that different from other red meats though it was definitely leaner.

14. Gator, raccoon, deer, bear, elk, bison. There was a hunter at work and he would bring to our potluck lunches all sorts of chilis, jerky, and sausage made from his harvests.

15. Not me but my father who went to an Explorers Club dinner in NYC in the 60’s and ate mastodon meat from an animal found frozen in the Arctic.

16. Baby chickens who haven’t hatched yet. It’s a thing in China and it’s just as horrifying as you think. You crack open their eggs and just take a chomp.

17. Human?

18. Whale. Tasted like a harbor full of soggy green beans. Not for me

19. Guinea Pig. It’s a delicacy in Peru. It was ok, just like very tough chicken

20. Bison, though it’s been quite a while since I last had it. I’ve also had venison many times.

21. Alligator.

22. Ostrich, alligator, reindeer, grasshoppers.

23. Had an alligator burger at a place on the pier in Cocoa Beach, Florida. It was $20 or something but still delicious.

24. Pig trachea…

25. I’m probably unusual in that I’ve had the chance to try a few exotic meats due to my career.

    Spending much of my childhood/teenage years in Maine I grew up on venison, and had the opportunity to eat Atlantic salmon that had been out of the water less than 12 hours, and I had moose a few times too.

    As an adult in the professional culinary world I’ve had the opportunity to try: Bear, boar, snake, emu, ostrich, bison, toro, and gator. I might be forgetting one or two but that’s all I can think of, unless duck belongs on the exotic list too.

26. Muktuk (whale)

27. Elk Jerky. I am not a hunter but it makes me want to be one. It was amazing.

28. Mountain Lion. It was really tender.

29. I would say Deer Meat.

30. Kudu, in Johannesburg. Dry and tough, didn’t care for it.

31. Horse and some sort of fermented shark in Iceland. Some species of fancy pigeon in London. Also chocolate covered grasshopper.

32. Reindeer. Santa did not give me any presents that year.

33. I’ve embraced the #AllMeatsMatter and off the top of my head for “exotics”…

    Rattlesnake, python, cobra, rabbit, squirrel, trash panda, pheasant, Guinea fowl, wild boar, alligator, crocodile, kangaroo, reindeer, moose, elk, bison, lion, ostrich, emu, water buffalo, camel, antelope, something similar to an antelope, shark, whale, fugo (I was cautious on that one, but hey. YOLO/ YOEO!)

    I’m sure I’m forgetting (or I’ve tried to forget…) stuff and I -KNOW- there was stuff in Thailand that I didn’t want to know what it was.

    I have declined horse, dog, cat. Otherwise, if it’s on the menu – game on!

    Edit: add Lutefisk.

34. Do snails count? They tasted like clams. Mmmmm

35. I had guinea pig while I was in Ecuador. It was actually quite delicious.

36. Mammal: toss up between black bear or ground hog. Definitely would recommend bear if it’s not eating trash, cause if it’s dumpster diving then it taste like greasy wet dog smells. Ground hog will make a turd but I’ll be okay not eating it again.

    Reptile: Gator tails and rattle snake. Both are delicious other, other white meat that’s not baby.

    Mollusk: Octopus. Very chewy and nothing special flavor wise that I could discern.

    Fish: Shark meat. Kinda cooks up like tuna steak or swordfish. Pretty good on the grill.

    Insect: Crickets. Fried crickets are kinda like that half French fry that gets stuck on the fryer basket and refried a few times.

    Honorable mentions:

    – Swedish Moose Jerky. It’s a different spice blend compared to American beef or venison jerky, but still delicious.

    – Cow tongue. Honestly didn’t know what it was a was pretty good (ate while on a Carnival Cruise).

    – Flying Fish Roe. I eat a lot of sushi and had some *Tobiko Nigiri* and would 11/10 recommend.

    – Squirrel. Tree rat is a fine delicacy.

37. Camel in Qatar. Can’t say I was a huge fan of it. Like it wasn’t disgusting, but clearly less good than other red meats.

38. Green sea turtle is probably the most exotic, followed by horse.

    Copperhead is strange but they’re not hard to get around here so I don’t really consider it exotic. I’ve also had iguana but, again, it is pretty easily obtained in certain areas. Same for lion fish. I eat a not insignificant amount of squirrel, but they’re stupid easy to get if you live on any amount of land on the east coast. Northern pufferfish and dogfish are not exotic at all but most people will not have had them unless they fish themselves, so not sure how they fall.