...I like weird snacks.

[Booyakasha]

I went down to Mekong Cafe for dinner, and on top of fresh food, it's also a kooky grocery store. I bought a bunch of wild and wacky snacks. Crunchy dried sardines in all variety of flavours, squid jerky, prawn crackers, slices of dried spiced tamarind. Good stuff.

Do you guys ever try out crazy stuff because like why the heck not?

[EDIT]...I mean, Wisconsin has weird food in general. There's a reason they sell the Cheesewiches at the mill, and it probably isn't unconnected to the fact that Ma Baensch's pickled herring, Klement's sausage and Leinie's Red are all made right here in Milwaukee-----------it's because we Wisconsinites worship the devil.

Hey, if that's all it takes to call yourself an Admirals fan.

[CaptHayfever]

Totally. One of my favorite things to do on vacations is check out weird sodas or snacks.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I don't go out of my way to try anything weird, but if I happen to see something different that might not be gross I'll probably try it.

[Booyakasha]

Have any of you ever tried out blue moon-flavoured ice cream or soda?

What is that flavour?!? It's so weird! It's recognisable, but I can't place it. It's like cotton candy times pecans praline, divided by Big League Chew? Circus peanut? Candy corn if candy corn weren't disgusting?

Is it Cow Tales?

...oh my gosh. It's Cow Tales, isn't it. No.

It is.

It can't be.

Yes it can------------piss off with your naysaying, all is possible.

[CaptHayfever]

I haven't heard of it (or of Cow Tales either), but I'd try it.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I'd try it too. I've heard of Cow Tales but I don't remember trying them. Aren't they caramel somethings?

[Booyakasha]

Like a Kraft caramel, but, like, rolled in something that keeps it from being sticky. Flour or corn starch, or something. And then stuffed with a milky créme, or rolled around it. It's like an eclair. It's too good for words.

There's something weird about blue moon. It doesn't taste of anything blue (presumably it doesn't taste of the moon, either, but like how would I know), it's just blue. And there's that song. Bow buh buh bow buh dang duh dang dang duh dinguh dow dig blue moon----------i don't know what it meeeans

[Booyakasha]

It's Cow Tales! It is. Admit it, coward.

How can it be? That's stupid! That's so dumb I can't believe it.

[Heroine of the Dragon]

I like to try different snacks, usually cake or slices, chocolates and sometimes dried foodstuffs.

[Booyakasha]

So, the little bodega near my place has always had a great selection of pork rinds and cracklings and all. Recently they also started getting packets of deep-fried chicken skins, which sounds like an awful idea, right up until you try some.

And so now I've started seeing this at work, and it sure sounds gross, and yet...

[Luther]

Oh, I love prawn crackers! Especially since shrimp is one of my favorite foods.

Hmmm... I think the weirdest snack I've had, at least for western standards, was Ube-coconut ice cream. Ube being purple yam. It was... strangely tasty, in a starchy kind of way. It's a rather common ice cream flavor in the Philippines, though.

Although there is a piece of food I'd like to try from the Philippines out of morbid curiosity some day... but it probably might be a tad extreme to mention for some people here.

[Booyakasha]

^

Spoiler.

...if you're talking about balut, I'm on the same page. Morbid curiosity. Like, it sounds kind of horrible to us, but hey---------I imagine if most Thai and Filipino people saw me cutting rind and blue mold off of stilton before slicing it for a sandwich, they'd probably retch themselves hollow. One man's trash, right.

(EDIT: Also...I hear that those Chinese century eggs are unbelievable. As a connoisseur of aged, fermented, rotted and/or cursed food, I can't help but be intrigued.)

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

^

Spoiler.

...if you're talking about balut, I'm on the same page. Morbid curiosity. Like, it sounds kind of horrible to us, but hey---------I imagine if most Thai and Filipino people saw me cutting rind and blue mold off of stilton before slicing it for a sandwich, they'd probably retch themselves hollow. One man's trash, right.

(EDIT: Also...I hear that those Chinese century eggs are unbelievable. As a connoisseur of aged, fermented, rotted and/or cursed food, I can't help but be intrigued.)

This is one is the most cursed of all foods.

[Booyakasha]

...I guess I'd try that, too. Can I see the menu? Could I have a greek salad to start?

[Luther]

^

Spoiler.

...if you're talking about balut, I'm on the same page. Morbid curiosity. Like, it sounds kind of horrible to us, but hey---------I imagine if most Thai and Filipino people saw me cutting rind and blue mold off of stilton before slicing it for a sandwich, they'd probably retch themselves hollow. One man's trash, right.

(EDIT: Also...I hear that those Chinese century eggs are unbelievable. As a connoisseur of aged, fermented, rotted and/or cursed food, I can't help but be intrigued.)

Spoiler.

YUP, it's that! I only heard about that because my mom went to visit her family in the Philippines years ago, and they tried to get her to try it. She could not eat it...

Oh, I also remember another snack that's a bit unusual, but pretty neat: turons! Mostly because when I first tried it, out of the blue my mom said she wants to fry a banana. I just responded with saying "...what?!?" but then found out by that, she meant coating a saba banana in brown sugar (after peeling it of course), wrap it in a spring roll, then fry it in oil. I forget whether or not she had jackfruit for it, but it was really good... crispy, warm, and mildly sweet.

[Booyakasha]

That sounds delicious. Have you ever tried halvah? It's a little unusual, but still nice.

Actually, you know, outside of Dakota (which...like, don't go there, but the upper midwest has this whole hidden candy ecosystem that we barely know about even in Wisconsin. You probably don't know what a Nut Goodee is, or a Twin Bing, but those things are effing for real), that dumb bodega is an awesome place to go for new candy. They have the Crunch bar, which is like...just peanuts and toffee. And Long Boys, which are like those three-inch Tootsie Rolls, but made of coconut and caramel! Ooh, and Chick-o-Sticks------------they're basically the same as Zagnuts, except you can actually find them for sale, and then buy them! And eat them!

[EDIT:...I don't have any inherent cultural affinity for haggis, or lutefisk, or surströmming, but I yearn for them. I don't know why. My people are from Alsace, by way of Green Bay-------------we like stinky cheese and blood sausage, sardines, caviar, cannibal sandwiches. I always want a reuben, and devilled eggs, and stone-ground mustard. Ooh, and them dried wasabi peas, and soy/wasabi almonds.

[Booyakasha]

I love Otter Pops. They were gone for a long time, but now they're back, because people loved them. Except even now, everyone still hates Little Orphan Orange. That's either the funniest or the saddest thing ever. Like, the only reason she exists is because people pretend they love Otter Pops, and yet even in post-irony mode people complain about the the taste of Orange. Screw off------------if you're buying Otter Pops in 2024, you forfeit the right to complain.

...I still love thee, Little Orphan Orange. I hope you join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants some day. And on that day, the earth will shake/in two will break etc. We'll show 'em all, honey bunny.

[CaptHayfever]

^^That makes the 3rd "Crunch bar" I've heard of, after the Nestle brand one & the ice cream bar they used to carry at the Scout camp trading post.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Booyakasha]

Ahahaa. Okay, let Uncle Boo walk that back------------I was in fact thinking of a Munch bar. A Munch. Comes in a brick-red wrapper. A Munch bar, courtesy of Mars/Wrigley. Sorry. (The allergy warning would like you to know that the Munch Peanut Bar contains peanuts. Gee, thanks, allergy warning.)

...Munch is not quite as appealing a name as Crunch, but the bar itself is still very tasty.

[Booyakasha]

So, can we talk about pizza toppings? People freak out about pizza toppings, like 2% less than they do about questions of politics, philosophy and religion, and you probably want to talk about pizza toppings a whole lot less with drunk relatives.

My stance is that everything is a potential pizza topping, but most people are crybabies and dirtbags. I'm fine with all except plain cheese--------------far as I'm concerned, plain cheese is the equivalent of asking someone if they liked redheads or brunettes or blondes or whatev, and they said. 'uh, bald, please'. I'll make a case for even basic-bitch pizza like pepperoni and/or sausage, but cheese can screw off.

I want everything on my pizza. Not just 'supreme', fool-----------literally everything. Pineapple and onions and anchovies and scorpions and existentialism and 'The Call of Cthulhu' and rage. Only thus do we grow.