No food left untried part 1

The idea for this blog came from a friend of mine as did the title.  I thought that it would be fun to write about all the strange things that I have eaten in my life.  I love to be open to new things.  My motto is "as long as I don't have a moral objection to it, I'll try it!"  So here is a list (and an explanation) of some of the stranger things that I have eaten

JELLYFISH.  One thing you should know about me is that I love jellyfish.  I mean as a species, not as a culinary item.  I am absolutely obsessed with jellyfish and love to have pictures, models, etc. around.  In fact, at work, I sometimes even go by the name "jellyfish."  So, when the time came around that I got the opportunity to try a jellyfish, I just couldn't say no. 
  The first time I tried jellyfish I actually tried vegetarian jellyfish.  Can you believe that?  A non-jellyfish jellyfish.  This was at a Chinese restaurant in Southern California (Torrance, to be exact) that offered vegetarian versions of famous chinese food.  So, I tried it.  It was pretty good, although this was so long ago that I don't remember much about it.
  The second time I had jellyfish it was the real thing.  My Aunt and I were visiting with a friend of hers who happened to live in Berkeley.  She took us to a genuine (and very nice) Chinese restaurant.  One of the menu items they had was jellyfish.  It came with some kind of beef product; I don't remember if it was tripe or muscle.  The jellyfish itself tasted like nothing except its sauce.  Its consistency was very strange.  Gelatinous, but it also had a bite to it.  Like it would be gelatinous for so long when you bit into it and then you could just bite right into it.  Chewy, but not quite.  It was very strange.  I've never tasted anything with quite that consistency.
  Oh, and just in case you were wondering, when you eat jellyfish you are actually eating the bell (or top) of the jellyfish.  This part has no stinging cells so it is perfectly safe to eat.

COMB JELLYFISH
   This experience comes from a wonderful community college biology teacher and her strange ideas.  I had a wonderful teacher named Jeanne Bellemin at El Camino community college.  At the time, I believe I was taking a marine biology course with her.  It is hard to remember for sure because I took so many classes with her.  Anyways, as part of this class, we went on a boat trip called "Catalina above and below."  We went out on this giant boat at night near Catalina island and then did a plankton collection both on the surface of the water and deep in the water.  We caught a lot of cool things and got to see what happens to a styrofoam cup when you put it under pressure (it shrinks).   One of the things we caught was a comb jelly, or ctenophore.  Now these are in a completely different phyla from regular jellyfish although they have basically the same name.  Anyways, Jeanne was seeing how many people wanted to become part of the Ctenophore club.  I, of course, volunteered.  It turns out to become a part of the Ctenophore club you have to eat a live Ctenophore.  So, I did.  It tasted like the sea water and had the consistency of a peeled grape.  Get a peeled grape, stick it in some sea water and you will know exactly what I ate!

FROG LEGS
  The classic.  I am french, after all (and other things but never mind that).  Anyways, this was served on an Alaskan cruise ship I was lucky enough to go on when I was in middle school.  My mother was working as a naturalist on board said ship.  One of the things that they served at the fancy dinner was frog legs.  I didn't order it, but one of my tablemates did and he let me try one.  It tasted like chicken.  In the shape of a frog.  Poor frog.

INSECTS
  Specifically, I ate meal worms, crickets and grasshoppers.  One time at UCSC, I saw a notice about an insectophage meeting (or something along those lines).  I decided to check it out since I've always believed in eating insects.  If you really think about it, it makes sense.  They have more protein and less fat than any other animal.  Plus, if we ate the insects instead of spraying them with pesticides we would have a lot fewer problems.  Anyways, so they had this insect cooking/trying day.  First, they cooked the meal worms alive and let us try it.  They tasted crunchy.  Next, they cooked crickets and put this in chex mix.  That was my favorite.  If you didn't think too much about it, you didn't even notice that there were insects in the mix.  The third thing they served us was grasshoppers from some Mexican restaurant.  This was my least favorite.  I just didn't like the flavor of the grasshoppers.  Ick.
  I suppose I should also mention that I have eaten ants in the Sierras.  I believe they were Carpenter ants.  I do remember that you had to bite them before they bit you.  They tasted rather like raspberry vinaigrette dressing.  Plus I didn't get bitten.  Always a plus!

To be continued...