Heh, My Cousin Vinnie.. they missed an opportunity there, but then again it's harder to make fun of us Southerners eating grits if the Italians actually had enough brains to recognize that GRITS = POLENTA.
Of course I'll take mine with a pinch of salt, a bit more pepper and a proper dose of McIlheny's Tabasco (red).
As far as weird, stomach turning, nasty looking foods.. well..
at home:
Headcheese/souse, can't stand it.
Possum, tasts like sh!t.
Squirrel, not too bad.
Rabbit, damn fine eating, especially with proper BBQ sauce.
Racoon, ok, but not as good as squirrel, and too much effort to run down, kill and dress. AND I'm not going out in the woods at night with a bunch of armed, moonshine fuelled 'hunters' ever again.
Chitlins, smell like sh!t while cooking, smell like sh!t while cooling on my plate, still smell like sh!t in the garbage where I'll dump 'em, because they taste like Possum
.
Pickled Pigs Feet, tastes pretty much like pickled bacon dipped in pig sh!t.
not so far away from home:
Rattlesnake, not to bad, not exactly chicken.
Rat, not to different from squirrel.
Grubs, had to try it. Kind of like stale popcorn.
Ants, had to try it. Not a fan.
Chocolate covered ants, barely even noticed they were there.
Chocolate covered grasshopper, nasty surprize inside.
Korea:
Kimchee - 'rotten' (fermented) cabbage, red pepper and vinegar, some people think is smells foul, I personally love it. Actually, there are MANY types of kimchee, this is just the one most likely to be found at an American grocery, if you have a local asian market, I'd recommend trying every kimchee they have. Almost all are universally excellent (at least as far as I'm concerned).
Dog (Rottie or Dobie) - hair singed off with blow torch, roasted over spit. Similar to squirrel, took a long while to find a place that had it, and would trust an American enough to serve it.
Dog (small unknown mutt) - in a "health stew" tasted like someone smuggled in a truckload of chitlins.
Kimchee Soup ('Rotten' Cabbage Soup) - will clean your sinuses from across the room, melt your face 5 feet from the bowl, make your eyes burn from the fumes, and singe the hair off your ass on the way out the next moring, but well worth it for those who love hot food with interesting flavors.
Hong Kong:
100 and/or 1000 'year' Tofu - AWFUL AWFUL SMELL, really rough to take unless properly 'seasoned.' Wish I had my tabasco with me.