By Chongchen Saelee

Every culture has its own foods. Some are complex recipes, some are not. Some foods are eaten out of necessity, while others are out of luxury. Either way, here is a list of foods I have encountered in my personal life, although not wide and vast enough, that I consider not that appetizing.

In no particular order:

Headcheese

O, god, gross. Ironically, it fuses all that left-over meats together with gelatin. And gelatin is from bones. And gelatin with sugar tastes awesome as Jell-O. But gelatin that tastes like spoonfuls of lard and grease, not cool.

Pickled pigs feet

Tried it once. It’s a pickled mess. There’s some potential if it was more elegant. I love boiled pigs feet where the skin falls off, but pickling it seems to be more about the pickling than the feet itself. Sour. Sour. Sour.

Soft shell turtle

I don’t care how you cook it. And I’ve eaten it twice. The actual muscle meat is okay, but I don’t like the shell. It’s glue-ish. It’s like eating a spoonful of lard or something. Or melted bones… because it is soft bones.

Goat meat

Goat meat stinks like heavy body odor. And the meat is tough. But I kinda dig the unique flavor. So my only gripe is because it stinks.

Chinese Almond Cookies and other Chinese-baked goods

Let’s face it. Chinese are good at noodles and meats, but when it comes to sweets and other junk foods, they suck at it. Take a look at the boring almond cookie. It’s not “weird”, but it might as well be. No sugar. Just cookie dough and an almond. It’s suppose to bring good luck. If so, why am I so unlucky to ever eat it?

Dragonfruit

Absolutely beautiful tropical fruit. You’d think it tasted like mangos or pineapples or jack fruit, but nope. It’s crispy like an apple, but most of it is the black seeds. It’s not necessarily sweet, but maybe I didn’t eat a ripe one. It’s juicy though. But otherwise, why?

Jicama

It’s crispy like an apple, and very juicy, but otherwise no flavor. It’s still earthy, but it would only serve as a good source of fiber and water. So when I mean unappetizing, I mean unappetizing. I’m a snob, yeah, I know.

Ginseng

Why, lord, why? It’s root. It tastes like dirt. And manufacturers have the nerve to put sugar or honey with it! And it still would taste like dirt. And I couldn’t get a raging boner from that! Let’s get real.

Ranch dressing

I love mayonnaise and other milder dairy products. But I HATE ranch dressing. It’s right there with blue cheese, too, which I also despise. It has to do with the milky smell. I like ranch-flavored foods, like potato chips. But I don’t like real ranch dressing. When I see a giant bowl like that, it makes me sick to the stomach. It’s the idea that that much was made because it tastes that good to someone. Please, help yourself. I’ll pass.

Brazil nut

Not only is it hard to open each nutshell, it also has a firey, acidic taste. Some people might like it, but of all the common nuts that come in trail mix, it’s the one I don’t like the most. Maybe the Brazil nut should be used to suggest potency rather than an earthy ginseng root.

Afterthoughts

Well, those are just some off the top of my head. You may even like some of them on this list. Compared to the really strange foods like balut, squirrel or pig brains, fish eggs, frogs, etc., that I actually personally like, I’d think this list is pretty tame… judging solely on taste and flavors of course. So, what are some of your weird foods that you actually don’t like? Feel free to leave your comments.