In the three years we’ve been traveling the world, we’ve eaten some weird food. But what’s the most bizarre food we’ve encountered. That’s the question we’re answering on this, the penultimate episode of Season 4 of our comedy/travel/advice podcast. (Don’t worry: Season 5 is right around the corner.)
For Sheila, the answer was mashed potatoes covered in fish eggs she found -- and loved -- in Spain. Your challenge is to replicate the recipe the next time you sit down for a traditional ‘meat-and-potatoes’ dinner in the West.
Evo’s palate is a little more adventurous than most, so ‘eating bizarre’ is what he does. If you listen, you’ll hear a lot about eating some tasty grubs, whole frogs, live termites, crabs-in-the-shell, offal soup, grilled intestine, and more.
What’s more interesting is how our concept of favorite foods have changed (or in one of our cases) not changed after three years exposure to new dishes and flavors. Take sushi and pizza, for example. One of them should never be eaten outside of America, and the other might kill you. And then there’s laab moo, a dish we probably won’t find at many Thai restaurants back in America.
One thing is for sure: living abroad for three years has opened up Sheila to spicy food. And Evo has accepted that eating soup for breakfast is pho-king incredible.
Next week is the last episode of Season 4, but it’s not too late to get postcards from us for a couple more months and to become our supporter for the soon-to-launch 5th season of our podcast. Do both on Patreon, and you’ll be the first to know when the next season drops. Plus you’ll get access to all the previous bonus episodes we’ve published.
See you next week for the final episode (before we start something new!)
Insane Computerized Transcription Of This Episode
We're using a new service this week to create this section. It's called Descript, and it's arguably better. It would also likely be a lot easier to massage this to a good transcript you actually want to read... but where's the fun in that? Also, no time stamps in this one. Not that they were all that helpful over the last 10 episodes, right?
If the food itself is making a weird sound you might not want to eat it.
Oh, oh, oh this one time so this one time one time this you know what this one time this one-time. Oh my God this one time good podcast another question this week, my love also not voicemail little bit. That's fine. I listen losing battles. I don't fight it any longer this one comes from Eric in Ireland, and he asks us quite.
Simply. What's the most? Czar food, you've tried as you travel the world. That's a great question Eric. Thanks for asking. I'm Sheila D. And I am Evo Terra. We are Shiva. You are listening to this one time the podcast strange foods. Maybe I know this one you've got an answer wow great. I know I know, but I can't I don't remember what it's called.
I just remember eating it and when I saw it I went. That looks disgusting and it's in a weird container, okay, and oh, but I'm going to try it anyway. Well. That's the idea that bizarre food should look weird sometimes smell weird, but definitely look weird occasionally sound weird. And by sound weird I mean the name sounds weird if the food itself is making a weird sound.
You are great. You might not want to eat it now. Maybe if it's making a weird sound before it is actually slain. That's okay. We could talk about lobsters. Webster's ya as showing when they are in actually you know what lobsters really aren't screaming or even hissing don't that is sustained escaped exactly right breaking through the carapace.
It's just it's just the noise of their insides boiling and then passing through their carapace make-up sound. Okay, we should get back to the question about this is my question Bizarre Foods ok so my bizarre food was when we were in Spain. Yes. We spent about three knows what at six weeks in Spain all over Spain from Galicia in the north to Costa Brava in the Western or Eastern side and then down in Majorca Island, which is only on Spain as much as it's between Spain and Africa in the middle of the med yes, Spain place for Wii.
A bizarre specifically Costa Brava Costa Brava, and we were there with Tee Box our first two backs. Yep, and we were at the speakers dinner although neither one of us were speaking right that was the big fancy event above the town of Costa Brava that we were in what was the name of the town you remember no, I don't work all either, but regardless if the Costa Brava area beautiful grain man-boy just huge kitchens ECB like an a b or a.
Some churchy type thing yeah, yeah, it was big more. Just they do lots of big church you type things in this bang. Yes. Thank you right way right back to the food right the food yeah, that was they invited all of the speakers out. It was a fully catered event every room had something different inside.
Yes, College all different chefs had come up from various areas. I believe I think that's what happened wasn't just the chefs that were there locally then they bring others or my conflating stories more importantly does it matter no OK food was amazing right, but funky so in a small mason jar was.
mashed potatoes. And some type of caviar's fish roe type thing that looked odd, but was amazing and my mouth good what it was called. It's called the Mason jar mashed potato fish roey thing. That's one way to call it it probably. I don't know what it was officially called, but if you just think about I recall that situation when when they had this thing, and it was it was weird right because you've got this mason jar, and she's saying mason jar listener understand.
We're not talkin like a big mason jar that your redneck family drinks out of we're talkin about the small little mason jar. That is kind of the size of a think of like a Cosmetics container that you would have as far as the width around its. You know if you were to put your your hand into the shape of an oh, it's a little larger than it make your hand about the shape of a system, baby food container there you go.
That's what you should have said it's baby food. I'm trying out getaway complicated. What said there's a certain number of cubic millimeters inside that Express the volume. As such now you're right. It's think baby food jar think baby food jar, but instead of a picture of baby on it there was no picture at all the clear glass jar didn't make baby food containers anymore because I know that they have them all in the squeeze tubes uh.
I don't know the answer to that non-sequitur to find out whether I just got us off topic, but that rarely happens you did Back to the topic at hand right so think baby food container that when we looked at it. It was a clearly a double layer thing and I've seen desserts in the Villa be food containers right you'll have the chocolatey fudgy putting on the bottom, and then there's a layer of some sort of a a fruity.
Type material, and then some some sprinkling nuts on top of that make a nice little later. You can see through, but this just two layers White. And kind of that chunky with things in it whites or not a perfectly clear white not perfectly smooth, white and then and that was probably oh, I don't know maybe two two fingers worth of that.
Yes, and then a finger's width of what is very clearly fish eggs. This really good or tapioca that has gone bad. No, it was good, but it was fish eggs and even got a spoon and you dug in and you had some mashed potatoes with the gelatinous E. GUI fish eggs that were a part of it, and it was very amazing.
I I'm pretty sure I had more than my share. It doesn't normally happen when we. We go out to things like that. Well. That's one of the benefits of going to a free event like this when they're serving them walking around like hors d'oeuvres. Yes, you could grab the 18 skewers of chicken teriyaki shove them in your face, and no one's going to say no they're going to say you shouldn't but they're not going to say no same deal here finish the jar saris Lee drop the jar the empty jar on another can another Trey going by and as the next four d'oeuvres a server walks by grab yourself another one and enjoy the salty goodness of mashed potatoes and fish eggs.
Okay, now top that what's your Strange's that's pretty strange, and that's a that's I mean it's and and here's the thing about that. That's strange enough to maybe even bring back home because I'm telling you when you're having Thanksgiving meal when you're having Christmas meal, or if you're from a redneck family, and you're having your nightly potatoes think about putting a little bit of fish roe on their people.
Doesn't have to be the fancy sturgeon cot caviar from the North Sea, but official. It's pretty simple you can go to Ikea and buy fish roe in a metallic tube and squeeze it on your mashed potatoes. Holy crap. I think we're going to do that for now. I knew Thanksgiving dinner side now see for me the questions a little more difficult Eric about the most bizarre food.
I've eaten while I've been travel because I like. Bizarre foods that you do I like to try things that are weird, and I have had the attitude for some time now that if another culture can eat the food and typically do eat the food. It's really not weird. It's just unusual to me right, but it's not all that bizarre so.
I don't know that I have an answer to be really honest. I can tell you this the bizarre things that I have eaten while I've been traveling abroad that I typically have not had very much of or don't have occasion to eat when I am and back home and the biggest one that comes to mind are the bugs.
Okay, and specifically. I mean the grubs there. They sister is a species of Weevil here or some sort of a larval. Creature that is about the size of the tip of your pinky. It's soft. It looks like a grub. It looks like a worm. But you know smaller grub thing will be 10 feet looking around and these I think there would weevils.
I'm not really sure exactly what the what the type of food. They are but these are very common all over Bangkok all over Thailand, and they're just fried and eaten are those one of the ones that come off the the little cart with the man that. Oh, yeah, comes down the street. Yeah. He's got the selling the whole weevils.
He's got the whole frogs right you love those loved frogs and now if you're thinking I mean frog legs the Frog had legs it certainly did that all of it, but this was a whole frog like the whole frog laid out like he has was caught mid jump. They grabbed this frog. He's that linked him the frog dog probably from that the outstretched outer.
Legs to the back stretch legs, maybe the width of the Palm from tip of the machine. It's smaller than my hands altogether, but that'll be the longest they are and you eat the whole thing. It's salty. It's been deep-fried. There's nothing on it other than Salt. OK, there's no breading. There's no other materials Insight you what there's there's materials inside.
It's not like they have split the Frog open and cleaned it out you understand. You're eating all the Frog and what else is on that cockroaches are on that too. Oh, yeah, roaches and scorpions and all that yeah, okay, but that's not all that strange because. Insects were a part of the human diet for thousands of years before we became modern-day human, and it's still with the great proteins where it's just protein people not that harm you in NJ had picked up termites in Belize to live off the stump of the tree.
That's right. I have eaten live terminates the other bizarre thing that I've had once before, but there's a much greater chance of getting them here. Are those little bitty flash fried crabs? Oh, yeah, yeah, and I think the thing that makes them, so strange is that? It's a whole crab, and it's not very big.
It's the size of a silver dollar the size of this little crab and you eat the whole thing and it's not as soft shell crab it is a shelled. It is a crab with shell on and as a hard shell that you could Flac Flac black, but because it's so small. It's not very thick and you eat it, so it's like eating a potato chip.
With a crab inside like a surprise. It's tasty okay. I love it so yeah for me. There's hasn't been all that much stuff that is bizarre. I've eaten a lot of awful while I've been here in Thailand. Which basically just means that innards okay, and so when you get your beef noodle soup on the street.
You can get just the actual muscle tissue that has been raised or you can get it with. A variety of other ingredients and one of those ingredients is quite quite popular as liver, which I never was a big liver fan back in the back in this, but they typically will have pieces of liver floating in there as well as pieces of intestine and other bits you can actually get on the streets of Bangkok.
Someone will be grilling. Spirally looking weird kind of gray brown thing was like a piece of yarn. That's kind of gone feral and picked up some sentences not really moving, but nonetheless of those big large thick tube thing that's intestine and here's the deal. It's really tasty. I'm going to stop you right now.
Yeah as a vegetarian you are not. An advocate for eating me just so you know for us vegetarians everything you've just said turns me off take anything. I understand. Here's the good news. I don't care. Okay. What you eat how to be what you've done all I care what I eat is tasty. Good. Good food.
Yeah, so I think I think that's really that the most bizarre thing is just a greater opportunity for me to enjoy the bizarre foods that I've always just kind of sampled pretty. Well. What was the Inn in Spain when we stopped into one of the bars. They always give you when you're ordering a beer for $1 they give you the.
The I don't know what you call it Ministry the car, so I the hands over the minister. Yeah, what it what is that Technical, and had you have Trotters as what they call it so the pork feet have you had that before uh? No. I have not had pork feet before which is I mean they just literally take the foot of a of a pig it cut the Hoover off.
We're not having the roof of the of the pickets off but the. The metatarsals if you will all of that meet tissue or all together in its stood, and it's putting a little crock and its oh my God, it's fantastic because you pay one Euro for a beer and you get to eat this for free. That's why the Spanish economy is whacked because at the Tapas based economy, and I just simply doesn't work.
Those are the bizarre foods now. That brings me to interesting idea. Honey yes, but I thought we could expand upon this little bit and ask ourselves a couple of other questions that dovetail off of this. Okay, the first one being. What was your favorite food before we traveled my dear and after three years of living abroad has it changed.
Do you still have that same favorite, or is there a new favorite in your life? So my favorite food before I had to two favorite foods before traveling OK the first one is Sushi anytime you offer me. Sushi. I'm going to eat it right second one is pizza. Yep. I assume that was going to be on the list and I don't eat as much Sushi here.
Why don't you eat as much Sushi here in Bangkok tyranny as you did back in America. I not sure I trust the it's a trust the sanitation and different things like that. It's just not up to up to where I would like my fish to be different. I Rajesh different level of food handling requirements and safety here.
We have eaten Sushi. Yes, we have not been sick from sushi. I'm just cautious about it. We've seen how lackadaisical. Yeah, they really can't be here, and yeah, so right have any losses you I agree. Okay, so pizza pizza's my downfall. I still it's my favorite. I really too much pizza. It do I did way too much pizza.
I'm doing better since when we first got here because when we first got here. I was eating it quite a bit because I do love Gallery Pizza a lot most Pizza outside of America. Is a hell yeah, I'm not meaning just bad. I meaning flat-out terrible if you come to Bangkok you will find a Pizza Hut know a Domino's Pizza on every corner Domino's Pizza is all over the place or this one right there.
It's not affect senator. They have to ya KFC. Oh, that's right. Yeah Pizza Hut Domino's if you order Pizza Hut pizza from Thailand or Dominos pizza from Thailand. It's called Pizza. It mostly looks like pizza, but it is not what you're expecting and and again your expectations are already terribly low because you ordered a Dominos or Pizza Hut pizza so much for those sponsorships, but here.
It's really terrible. It's tough to get a decent Pizza in this town, but if you do find them they they do there are some places that make a very good pizza. Not a great pizza, but a very good pizza. And in the pizza desert that we live in it suddenly becomes very very good right what it is, and and the one we get right now is pretty inexpensive.
Also speaking Yeah, and they deliver and so it's really nice to just go. I can't deal with today anymore. I just want pizza, and I like we can't make a pizza here because we have no oven in our wonderful condo, so that's all I Nelson oven so you are saying your paper foods are remain Sushi and pizza.
Yeah, they do we did that hasn't changed for me. I don't know if I had a favorite food. You just like food. I like food. I maybe you a wide range either here, but I have as you as you listener have likely heard me talk about on the program. I love lab. Yes, and lamu Todd if I can find it range is deep-fried that is my all-time paper food in fact.
I I've been to Jack's bar across the river several times recently because when new people come to town and say hey we want to meet you either for this show this one time or for the other show that I do the Bangkok podcast. I almost always take them to Jack's Bar and. The only thing I've had at Jack's bar for the last six times.
I've been there has been lab and lab Mouton. That's it all. I've had and that won't happen again when I go back to the States obviously because that is very tied there are lots of Thai food places, but that's not always even on the menu that sometimes off menu bar we weigh much and off menu. Item because the spices are not all that Ready Common and also.
I'm pretty sure a lot of awful, too. Okay, speaking of things that aren't awful. Yes that you want to say something. I was going to ask you a question. Oh you wanted to ask another question. Why not so because we've been gone for so long and we've been exposed to so many different flavors right how has this prolonged exposure changed what and how you're eating.
I'm eating. Oh, yeah, that's true because the flavors are different its food Foods everywhere, but it's I'm like the fact that. Going out to breakfast in an in Thailand. Unless I specifically go to an English pub. There's no such thing as breakfast food great. It's just called food. Yeah in Thailand, and it's either something super sweet, or it's a plate of chicken and rice right pretty Chinglish rate for so yeah as well as we have...
