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I do eat a lot of things the people in my life think is gross.... liver, sardines, smoked oysters, bone marrow. I’m even a little cocky about it in my head and think of them as inferior.

Also…not using soap and shampoo, deodorant etc. could be considered gross but those of us who do this know we smell/look better now.

I know some of us hunt….travel to foreign places and try all sorts of things. I heard a podcast awhile back about a former vegan who now eats raw turkey testicles.

However, I was completely humbled this weekend. I’ve been making a lot of bone stock the last 6 months and really enjoying it. I wanted to try my hand at fish broth. I found a large international market pretty close to me and headed over. Nothing was in English except the fish counter…which is probably because a lot of people go there to buy sushi grade fish from all different cultures.

I got my fish and fish heads and then I thought, ”chicken feet! I wonder if they have them here.” They sure did. I was really taken aback by the look of them. I bought a couple pounds. Their feet look just like my parakeets but fatter and grosser. The toenails freak me out. I even saw a video on the internet where they cut off the toenails and then peel the feet first. Ewwww. I did NOT do that.

The stock came out BEAUTIFUL and I put the rest of the gnarly things in the freezer for future.

Anyway…I also bought a natural, frozen duck. I have not cooked one of those either but I’m pretty sure they took the little feet off.

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Chicken feet...lol! I use them but they always look like little old lady hands, complete with long nails. It's distressing. :) – January Feb 27 2012 at 20:28
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lol @ chicken feet looking like your parakeets. Your parakeets hope you will be smit-ed. – Laina Feb 27 2012 at 20:35
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I've done chicken feet. The farm I was getting chickens from for a while butchered them "Buddhist style" (no idea where that term comes from) which meant head and feet on. I'd have to WHACK WHACK WHACK off the neck and 2 feet with a cleaver. I was so used to getting the neck and liver in a little baggie inside the body cavity. – jj Feb 27 2012 at 21:37
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I wasn't Paleo at the time but I ate chicken's foot soup at a pretty authentic Chinese place in San Diego. It was nasty to suck the meat off those feet but I was pretty drunk at the time so it wasn't too bad. ;-) I'm not sure I would seek it out again and I am pretty sure my wife would not allow me to cook them in the house. – spayne Feb 27 2012 at 21:51
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I can't stop thinking about chicken toes nails... – Suz - Paleo Oz Feb 27 2012 at 22:58
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22 Answers

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Had sex with a raw foodist. . .

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lol lol lol lol – George Brodie Feb 28 2012 at 3:05
hahahahahahahahaha! – BaconHealsChic Feb 28 2012 at 3:30
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Argued with people about what they eat.

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I ate deer my husband killed with his car, so basically roadkill.

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That's not normal? Geez I've always thought people who didn't collect their deer were jerks for wasting the animal. It's not like your car and the road are any dirtier than the hill it might fall down if it were shot. – Noah Apr 7 2012 at 21:30
Haha, my brother started "tanning hides" from roadkill when he was 10 (he did a half-assed kid-version where he mostly put on salt and beat it around), so my mom would take the meat if it was a deer or rabbit and wasn't august. She drew a hard line when we tried to give her a raccoon. – JeJ Apr 7 2012 at 21:44
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The most disgusting thing I tried was a grass-fed cow kidney, which smelled and tasted like the bodily function it performs. Maybe I did something wrong, but it was so bad I can't even give it another shot.

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Hmm. Did you use moisture? I'm planning to try one soon and I'm thinking I'll braise it and add some vinegar to the water-or lemon chunks. – Nance Feb 27 2012 at 21:49
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"It smelled and tasted like the bodily function it performs." Never have I read such an apt description of kidney. +1! – Christopher Gagnon Feb 28 2012 at 0:17
what about using a brine to soak the kidney in for a while before cooking it. Or a lemon water soak? – legup Feb 28 2012 at 4:09
I tried soaking it. Normally I would try something again if it didn't come out right, but the smell and taste were sooooo bad I can't bring myself to. – Carl_Stawicki Feb 28 2012 at 12:45
The book "Odd Bits" has the how's and why's for making kidneys palatable. Great book btw. – Satchmo Apr 7 2012 at 21:45
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Ok -here is my liver horror story. I was really desperate to get some liver in me.

All cooking methods FAILED -yes commenters, all you can possibly suggest (thanks anyway)...

So next I tried freezing little tiny cubes of it, then swallowing like pills. Even one with a giant gulp of water it would get stuck in my throat, and my mouth still tasted like liver for hours. (Not to mention that my throat hurt).

Next, I decided that I would make myself eat a tablespoon size only, but I decided the chewing would be too awful so (Warning: brilliant idea..haha) I decided to blend it up and allocate it into tablespoon size portion to freeze and eat one at a time. The result: Here it is, in all its TMI glory, a giant blender full of what looked exactly like extra clotty period blood. Seriously full of mystery clots, veiny things, pure unadulterated nastiness.

The dog got the liver. All 6 grassfed pounds of it.

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Hide a little in a large batch of chili. – David Rourke Feb 28 2012 at 0:34
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Hmmmm...did you try a 2 hour soak in milk? – Marie Feb 28 2012 at 6:10
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People -read my post -I have tried everything. I even put 1/4 cup of it in a whole pound of beef and covered it in cheese and ended up pitching the whole thing. Liver in my kyptonite! – Senneth Feb 28 2012 at 18:01
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Spent a night carousing with Aravind and Kamal. Those two are disgusting. DisGUSTing!

Other than that I got nothing. Oh well I ate bone marrow once but that nearly sent me over the edge. It was tasty but no, can't do it. No the gross stuff really skeeves me out I'm afraid.

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Lucky!!!!!!!!!! – Eric Feb 28 2012 at 9:56
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I tried lamb kidneys. They looked disgusting and smelled like the men's restroom. They tasted worse than liver. And then I tried to compensate for that by adding WAY TOO MUCH salt. It was just horrible and I hated myself.

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Oh man. I have a pair of lamb kidneys in my freezer that I haven't been able to bring myself to try again yet. They smell EXACTLY like the urinal at my work. – Mazer Feb 28 2012 at 3:14
I thought the smell would cook out, and it did because the entire house smelled like the urinal. But the kidneys still smelled too. That stuff is potent! – Joseph S. Nov 1 at 15:29
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I didn't do it "in the name of paleo" or whatever, but a cat mauled a pigeon and it was running around with a half missing wing so I put it out of it's misery and ate it. It was pretty damn good, but I over cooked it. I can see why the French eat pigeon, nice flavor.

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All I have to say is...Holy s--t! ahhh ha ha ha – BaconHealsChic Apr 8 2012 at 6:05
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Picked through my own poop to send it off to a lab to get diagnosed for HPylori or other gut issues (to get rectified, haha!, thru paleo/primal friendly methods. Aminos, flora replenishment, etc).

Oh, and lived through the grease den that was my hair until 'pooless (no shampoo) kicked in and normalized.

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Poo-picking and rect-ifying for the win. – Canis Minor Feb 28 2012 at 2:09
Man, I got my Hpylori test through an easy blood test while I was getting tested for other things, haha. – JeJ Apr 7 2012 at 22:09
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I haven't done it yet, but I have a very strong desire to grow my own bug farm (crickets probably), feeding them organic food and then eating them of course.

Other than that, not much because I grew up on tripe, chicken feet at dim sum!!!, jellyfish, sea urchin, fish (and sucked the glob in the eyeballs), blood gelatin, sea slugs, various organ meats, and soup left out on the counter overnight throughout childhood.

I haven't tried raw meat...hm, I'm tempted.

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Yeah I totally want to do this toO! hahaha. I think it'd be awesome. IT seems hella cheep too. – foreveryoung Apr 8 2012 at 0:23
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Blended mackerel head and liver smoothies, not washing my local organic produce that I know probably has manure particles on it, beef kidney...

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ewwwww....I love the mackerel head and liver smoothies. – BaconHealsChic Nov 1 at 19:31
dirt is good for you! I dont wash mine either.. except baby greens.. – Fonda Jan 10 at 8:22
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while eating a pig's head, i thought i should probably eat the eyeballs too. definitely tasted like eyeballs.

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That is hard core... – BaconHealsChic Nov 1 at 19:31
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I was a somewhat feral child and grew up in barns so my Ick factor is fairly relaxed.

I'm contemplating a foray into trying insects at some future point but I think they should be prepared and cooked by someone who knows what they're doing.

Actually, I can think of one thing that grosses me out--raw egg white and it's all about the texture. If you whip it, fine; cook it, great. But in it's raw state I get queasy just dealing with a spill. I don't like that texture at all!

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I was telling my mom about eating bugs after trying some deep fried crickets, and she said "Why is that weird? You practically got half your protein from bugs when you were a kid!" so that's good to know, haha. – JeJ Apr 7 2012 at 22:12
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I don't think it is gross but my friends give me grief for enjoying raw chicken. My husband gives me more grief because I love raw chicken with a ripe, raw milk blue cheese. Mmmm, mouth water.

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I don't do raw chicken but raw beef ain't bad, it's just a little too chewy if you get greedy on the bite sizes. – Noah Apr 7 2012 at 21:35
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Raw fish: awesome. Raw beef: fantastic. Raw chicken-TEXTURE GROSS AHHH. That is my experience. – JeJ Apr 7 2012 at 22:10
I love raw beef, eggs, fish, oysters... I thought the texture of raw chicken would be bad too but I find a boneless, skinless, chicken thigh a perfect serving size and delicious. It quickly became my favorite raw meat to eat. – Practicing Paleo Apr 10 2012 at 19:59
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Pretty standard fare around here, but I just bought my first cow tongue and heart last week. I'm about to put the tongue in the slow cooker before bed tonight and have it for tomorrow's breakfast. Looking forward to it.

After 3 months I've actually come to enjoy beef liver (cooked mid rare like a steak), so the tongue/heart seemed like a good next step. I may steer clear of the kidneys for a bit longer, but I'd love to try some brain...

I've also been eating the heck out of chicken hearts/gizzards. I just throw a handful in with my bi-weekly stewed buffalo chicken wings. As long as they are covered in buttery buffalo sauce, my kids eat them (and like them), too!

UPDATE: The tongue came out great. Almost indistinguishable from roast beef in taste and appearance (once cut up). After about 8 hours in the slow cooker it was tender enough to push a wooden spoon through, so I set it out on a plate to cool for about 15 minutes and then peeled it, trimmed it up a bit more, and sliced it into strips. I diced up some pan-fried liver and egg to go with it on a bed of white rice with some Kerrygold and sea salt. It was very delicious.

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Do you often slow cooker overnight? That's a really good idea - I'm always a bit scared of leaving things on overnight - but oddly I'm fine with leaving it on when I go out to work all day?! – Suz - Paleo Oz Feb 27 2012 at 22:59
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On low-temp I do. I've used my cooker enough (while awake the whole time) to be pretty familiar with how it runs for 8-10 hours straight, so I'm comfy with it. I usually do bone broths overnight like this. – Invisible Caveman Feb 27 2012 at 23:40
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Funny enough, heart and tongue are both simply muscle, so they taste pretty much like most cuts of beef that we're used to. I started with tongue, then heart (which I like better, and it makes a wonderful stew), then worked my way up to liver. ;) – OddBallin Feb 28 2012 at 0:20
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I made grass-fed beef heart earlier this month for the first time. I did it typical beef-stew style, and it was just terrific. There's nothing to fear with the heart--it's not weird tasting. Just really beefy with only the slightest hint of "offal" flavor. It never got as tender as stew meat, it remained somewhat toothsome but easily chewable and definitely not stringy or gristly. Good stuff! – Christopher Gagnon Feb 28 2012 at 0:20
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I made the mistake of trying to eat cooked goat liver (picked up in Berkeley) with minimal spicing - I know officially not gross, but my Indian blood was confused by the lack of cumin and turmeric and I overcooked it

so now I only gently cook chicken livers - I kinda poach them in bacon fat, and i eat the goat liver like sashimi

boring, but true :)

For more Paleo hacks: http://paleohacks.com/questions/100805/what-is-the-most-disgusting-thing-you-have-done-for-paleo#ixzz1ncQEuSsx

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I see pig uterus in the Korean market in my town. I try to be open minded, but those little reproductive organs for sale just gross me out.

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No rocky mountain oysters with a side of uterus for you in the future? – JeJ Apr 7 2012 at 22:12
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I tried making liverwurst at home with my kitchen aid mixer w/meat grinder attachment. Pushing the liver through the grinder was...well, pretty much exactly like you'd imagine. Kind of like what the Senneth said about putting it in a blender....only it was getting extruded out of many tiny holes and dripping clottily into a bowl full of other ground meat.

The liverwurst turned out terrible, and since I don't have dogs, the rats in the alley probably ate it out of my garbage bin.

Conclusion? Good-quality commercial liverwurst is AWESOME!

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Aren't you supposed to grind/puree liver it after it is cooked? That is how I make pate anyway... cook the livers then they mash up nicely. – Rea Nov 2 at 12:00
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I tried grinding raw liver in one of those old metal meat grinders to add to ground beef...instead I ended up with nearly liquified massicated liver sludge and blood dripping down the side of my counter. Two years ago that probably would've traumatized me, but I've gotten quite hardy dealing w/ animal parts. – Jessica G Nov 2 at 14:22
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Ate refrigerated, cold raw egg. I am planning on chowing on a huge pack of salmon from the farmer's market as I've often done, and trying raw beef from the farmer's market as well this Wednesday. I don't consider those as disgusting as the cold egg. I tried raw eggs before that were perfectly fine. I blame the refrigeration for the awful taste.

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Im currently in China.

At the local market I pay about the same price for chicken feet than I do for the amount of chicken breast!

Chicken feet are a delicacy over here!!

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It is so funny what we've decided is "disposable" here in the U.S. – BaconHealsChic Nov 1 at 19:32
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I made bone broth from a bone the dog had chewed. It was still fresh - the dog is my daughter's and he went home and left it! Mind you, he's my 'grandson' (the only one I'm gonna get, I think) and it's okay to share between relatives!

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I think they say a dog's mouth is cleaner than a humans... – BaconHealsChic Nov 1 at 19:32
That's okay then :-) – Jean Nov 1 at 21:56
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Well thanks to this thread, yesterday I ordered a whack of turkey testicles at the butcher. They arrive tomorrow, I am so STOKED.

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Come back and tell us how they were! – BaconHealsChic Nov 2 at 18:56

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