Snail Porridge

I watched an English cooking program on TV last night. A pub in Berkshire, England, called The Fat Duck, has been named in the top ten restaurants in the world. One of their prize winning recipes is Snail porridge. The idea, according to the chef, came to him when one of his workers was raving about fish porridge and he was thinking about snails. He wondered "what if?" and snail porridge was born.

I immediately thought "Yuck" and watched with horrified fascination while the chef made up porridge and turned it bright green with the addition of herb and garlic butter plus stock from the snails. He then briefly sauted the snails, poured the bright green porridge on a plate, popped the snails on top and garnished it. I'll admit the final product still wasn't my cup of tea, but it did look interesting. Here's the recipe in case you're inspired.

It made me think of the unusual things I've eaten in the past. I have eaten snails before (in my pre-vegetarian days) and frogs legs. (they taste like chicken). I've tried crocodile when I was in Africa. The cooking method makes a difference. One lot I tried was very tough! I've watched everyone else eat various game meat such as zebra, buffalo, and gazelle at Carnivores in Nairobi. When we were in Mexico we purchased dried grasshoppers at the market and ate those. They weren't very nice since the legs got stuck in our teeth.

What's the most unusual food you've eaten?