Obscure food you love - "you probably never heard of it"

[vertexwindi]

This thread is for raising awareness about obscure foodstuffs you love.

I love coxinhas. They're basically snacks consisting of chicken wrapped in fried dough that are very popular in Brazil but not very well-known outside of it. They're also delicious with Tabasco sauce.

 

[Guardian G.I.]

Halva - a confection of Middle Eastern origin, widespread from Northern Africa to India. It got here from Russia, which borrowed it from Central Asia.
Here it's made from sunflower seeds, because sesame, used in Middle Eastern and Central Asian recipes, doesn't quite grow here. It's sold in the form of candy bars (occasionally covered with chocolate) or small cakes. Back in the day, it was sold in tins; I also remember my parents buying a brick-sized piece of halva once in my early childhood - it took us more than a week to eat it.
It's delicious, but it easily crumbles and sticks to the teeth.

 

[friedshrimp]

Spanish croquetas, and most South American dishes (ceviche <3).

And I also like a lot the shrimp rougail, a Madagascarian dish I think, that you mix in shrimp with this special sauce made with tomatoes and spices. it's delicious.

 

[skaytec]

I like pig's ear, it tastes very good with parsley and garlic.

 

[AA 102]

I love Lai Chi, it's a Chinese fruit that tastes like grapes.

 

[NQ 952]

Balut. Oh my god is it delicious.

 

[Dr.Research]

The Norwegian kakemann (literally cake man). Its a pastry-type thing shaped like a man in a Santa hat. Its typically sold around Christmas in grocrries and convience stores. Its a nice treat. Best part, pronouncing it with a bad Norwegian accent sounds like 'cock man'.1

 

[AnOminous]

Philippine watermelon sour soup.

 

[Abethedemon]

Pupusas, Salvadorian tortillas, are really delicious.
I also really like Sisig, or filipino pig snout.
When it comes to soup, I rather like Ciorbas.

 

[Positron]

Blood clams. I used to eat them a lot when I was a child (my grandma was absolutely crazy about them), but these things are now hard to find because of health concerns.

Snake soup. I can't quite figure out what does snake taste like (those who say it tastes like chicken is being misled by the rich chicken-broth stock), but the soup is hearty and fragrant with added herbs like chrysanthemum and lemon leaf.

 

[Yawning Bulbasaur]

Natto, soybeans which have been fermented by a bacterium commonly found in straw. Not the most popular food item in Japan, and everyone else I know who's tried it has absolutely hated it except for one other person (who of course is half Japanese)

 

[c-no]

As far as favorite obscure foods go, don't know if baklava counts as one. It's a sort of pastry consisting of thin sheets of filo layered on top of chopped nuts and glazed with honey. Only place I can get it is at a nearby pizza joint.

One other obscure food I enjoy was ube bread. Ube is a type of purple yam used in Filipino cuisine. The bread itself makes for a good snack and the only place I can get it would be Filipino bakeries.

Balut. Oh my god is it delicious.

View attachment 142193

Didn't you say the fetus tasted like sin and you felt God looked at you and said "what the hell man"?

 

[NQ 952]

Didn't you say the fetus tasted like sin and you felt God looked at you and said "what the hell man"?

and it was delicious

 

[IceGray]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonton_noodles

I prefer the dry variant where less soup is used.

 

[vertexwindi]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonton_noodles

I prefer the dry variant where less soup is used.

Oh man these are great.

Now I'm hungry.

 

[AnOminous]

As far as favorite obscure foods go, don't know if baklava counts as one. It's a sort of pastry consisting of thin sheets of filo layered on top of chopped nuts and glazed with honey. Only place I can get it is at a nearby pizza joint.

I love almost every variety of baklava, having encountered it in a diner run by Greeks, who of course made the Greek variety, but my current favorite is a variety made in Israel that gets sold in a couple wine/liquor/hipster type stores.

 

[Male Idiot]

Parlour candy. Basically what we put on the Christmas tree.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szaloncukor

That coconut one is great!

http://www.avenuecalgary.com/Restaurants-Food/10-European-Christmas-Treats-to-Try-This-Year/

 

[fuzzypickles]

Bolivian silpancho is a delicious platter of meat, eggs, rice and salad that I had with a friend of mine from Bolivia over the summer. It's pure heaven, especially with hot sauce and Paceña (a very strong Bolivian beer that from its flavor, you would never guess would get you buzzed instantly).

 

[AnOminous]

It's not really obscure and it's not really a food in and of itself, but rodizio is awesome.

It's more of a practice in some Brazilian restaurants where they just bring you one meat dish after another, punctuated by things like roasted pineapple, until you can't eat any more.

 

[vertexwindi]

Oh shit I know a rodizio restaurant, I used to go there a lot as a kid because my mum loved it so much.

The meat was always really good but I think I was allergic to it because I had horrible stomach pains every time we visited. A real shame.