What foods would you describe as exotic?

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Exotic: In a non-erotic sense, the word "exotic" applies to the fact that something is out of the ordinary or perceived by spectators as unusual.

When I conjure up ideas of exotic dishes I imagine Moroccan or Middle Eastern dishes. For some reason they evoke a feeling of exotic cuisine in my mind. The first time I tasted Hummus and Baba-Ganouj I felt that I had lucked upon the most exotic foods in the world. Not to mention the Lamb Kabobs.....right down to the authentic Gyros. In Moroccan cusine there are preparations for shrimp that transforms them into "exotic" shrimp!

I also think of some fruits as being exotic. Such as passion fruit, bread fruit, even the kiwi and pomegranate. To me a coconut is exotic when left in tact, or even a slice of fresh pineapple when it is grilled to be used on sandwiches.

I know there must be many exotic and unusual dishes that you have enjoyed.....

Let's explore the exotic and unusual foods we all enjoy eating!

 

[Mama Mangia]

awwww - c'mon - admit it - you just like to fantasize about belly dancers, laying on your back on a bunch of pillows being fed grapes and having your wine poured - keeping your cup full as soon as you drink some - while some poor kid stands there fanning you with a huge feather.................................

and then the turkish bath...................................

 

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

I got found out so soon Gawsh MamaM!!!

 

[mrsjimmyp]

heheheeee ! Mama.....sounds good to me !

 

[chubbyalaskagriz]

I thought you gave some outstanding examples of "exotic", Cathy. And I agree with your definition...

That is- until I read mama's version! I much prefer HER'S to yours... so I'm scrapping your version all together! Hee-Hee!

This is a fantastic question, Cath...

I think "exotic" is a relative term, like so much else that "is in the eye of the beholder". I kinda think it defines those things just beyond our reach. Ingredients not common to our bellies and tables- or our grocery stores, or our region. Though by virtue of geography- are certainly local if not boringly "mundane" to others.

I remember as a 10 year old in my social studies class Mrs. Bell brought to class some "exotic" items for us to nibble & sample. Among them were sugar cane, dates, a whole coconut, and soft cheese that was unlike the velveeta and kraft wrapped slices we 10 year old midwesterners were accusotmed to. So to us, then, those were examples of exotic foods.

In Alaska I met natives ("Eskimos" are but 1 of the 12 varities of native Alaskan- and no, they don't live in igloos! Ha!) in far-flung regions who were my age, who had only tasted oranges, mangoes and bananas and cow's milk in their adult years- first when traveling the long distance to "big cities" like Fairbanks or Anchorage to spend their PDF check (Permanent Fund Dividend- the annual check given to all Alaskans that represents individual shares of a public share of a tiny percentage of oil profits) once a year. And later to the "outside" when they flew out of the far north for the first time for luxury travel to Hawaii, or the lower-48. So to these folks, more ingredients, simple to many of us- were exotic.

And in turn, l'il ole mid-westerner me, sampled things mundane and ordinary to Alaskan natives for the first time ever, and found them keenly exotic: muk-tuk (seal and whale blubber) herring-eggs licked right off of fallen tree branches lifted from shallow sea-water, "Eskimo Ice-Cream" (a greasy, frozen "confection" made from rendered walrus fat, sugar, berries and canned milk) as well as other wild game and harvested seafoods and vegetation ranging dfrom fiddlehead ferns to plump sweet salmonberries.

We here are enjoying talk these last many weeks of our delicious ripe and tasty garden harvests. Yet in Alaska and other regions they've never seen a tomato so red and ripe and as giggly as a water-baloon that one might think it would pop! Tomatos in the far north are orange and hard and made of cardboard. Our zucchini, so huge and populous and sickening and comically-burdensome after a while- don't grow in the soil of all regions, so weird as it is to get our heads around, even it is exotic to someone.

Cool, I think! Great question, Cathy!

 

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Thank you Kevin, I too describe some veggies as exotic. I liked that you pointed out that what we think of as ordinary fare others would find exotic!