Each week, the bartenders will be asked a very vague and general question about a random topic. We’d all like to THINK we’re experts on everything and that we live interesting lives, but the fact is we’re all a bunch of normal people with our own opinions. If you don’t like our answers, let us know in the comment section.

Bartender: Jaime
Strangest Food: Bacon-Chocolate Candy Bar, Olive Oil Ice Cream
Location: Italy

I would have to say that it is a toss up between a chocolate candy bar with bacon in it or olive oil ice cream. I am a huge fan of bacon and a huge fan of chocolate, but not together. There is a kind of candy bar that is sold in Austin and one day I decided to try it. How bad could it be mixing bacon and chocolate together? While the candy bar was not terrible, it was definitely an acquired taste. I couldn’t get over the fact that I was eating bacon covered in chocolate! On the other hand, when I tried olive oil ice cream in Italy it was delicious! The restaurant was known for this particular ice cream so I figured that I could at least give it a shot. Olive oil is not something you picture in ice cream because we are so used to ice cream being sweet, but it was good. I definitely couldn’t have a big serving, but I was glad that I tried it!

Bartender: Joshy C.
Strangest Food: Haggis
Location: Scotland

I’m gonna start with what haggis is so you can get the taste in your mouth. Sheep’s pluck (heart, liver, lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, mutton fat, spices and salt, mixed with beef stock, and simmered in the animal’s stomach for a few hours. Think of a fat, smelly sausage and when you ask what is in it, they tell you, “You wouldn’t eat it if you knew.” Haggis was a way to use all the parts of the animal. I gotta say, I’m not a huge fan, and can’t see how anyone would eat haggis on a regular basis. But then again, I’m not a Scotsman.

Bartender: Jonnie
Strangest Food: Chocolate Covered Honey Bees, Fried Frog Legs, Grilled Gator, Goat Burgers*
Location: Florida

I enjoy engaging in food adventures whenever and however the opportunity presents itself. However, when I was in middle school, I unknowingly, partook in eating chocolate covered honey bees; once I was told what unholy winged thing was in my mouth I almost attacked the woman who tricked me into trying the insect. I do not recommend them. Another food I wouldn’t recommend would be fried frog legs; they taste like fishy chicken (it was an unnatural experience). Other out of the ordinary foods I’ve tested are grilled Gator meat and goat burgers. I was at a church function in my hometown of Plantation, Florida enjoying what I thought was the best chicken appetizer I’d had in awhile until someone came up to me and asked how I liked the Gator. I was surprised yet intrigued. The goat burger experience spawned from a strange tradition from my youth group in high school; every two years we would go on a missions trip to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, we’d visit a restaurant on the beach called Stanley’s which used their own goats to assemble the burgers. It was satisfying but only acceptable in the islands because everything tastes better when you’re starving and sun scorched. All of these foods were an uncommon addition to my culinary history but the most disturbing would definitely be the chocolate covered honey bees, because it not only grossed me out but the experience instantly enraged an otherwise peaceful individual.

Bartender: Katrina
Strangest Food: Bangers and Mash
Location: England

As a child, I was as picky as you could get when it came to food. When I became an adult I experimented more with food, but my experimenting involved things like vegetables and fish – nothing very exciting. I am ashamed to say that as a 25 year old having visited ten foreign countries that the strangest thing I’ve ever eaten was Bangers and Mash in England. And Bangers and Mash is only strange because of it’s name – it’s sausage and mashed potatoes. I know, I’m super boring. I really should go out and eat something crazy soon.

Bartender: Kyle
Strangest Food: Fried Alligator, Boudin Sausage, Chitlins
Location: Louisiana

When you’ve lived in Louisiana for any extended length of time, pinpointing the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten can be difficult. There were some that I loved–fried alligator is phenomenal. And then there were some that I just wasn’t man enough to try–nutria, a Louisiana bayou backwoods-delicacy, is a rodent the size of a dog that you will find on the menu at some off the beaten path establishments. I never could muster up the courage. But as for the strangest thing I’ve ever eaten, it has to be boudin sausage and chitlins. Boudin (pronounced “boo-dan”), I can only guess was the result of a sausage maker’s boredom. It is usually a natural sausage casing stuffed with rice, Cajun seasonings, pork sausage, and God only knows what else. It all comes together to form something uniquely…interesting. Chitlins are fried pork intestines, and they taste like fried pork intestines. On a weekend trip to my friend’s hometown while in college in Louisiana, we stopped off for some local fare. She ordered for me, and we agreed that I wouldn’t ask what it was until after I’d tried it, an agreement that I would urge everyone to avoid if you ever find yourself with locals on the bayou.

Related posts:

1. Behind the Taste