Strange food names
I was just curious to know if anyone had ever been unable to eat a food, or had been really hesitant to try a food, based upon its name, either the real one, or the local name for it. Or perhaps, it was a name that was so funny that it was hard to think of it as food.
When I first moved over to Ireland I got a real shock when I saw "Donnor" kabobs offered in some of the local kebab shops. Not that there is anything abnormal about them, but that, coming from having been raised in the US and taught all about the infamous "Donnor Party", my first instincts were that the kebabs were the remnants of customers past. Although I have since grown to really enjoy them once in a while, I have to admit that the name really put me off them initially.
Any else have that problem?
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14 Comments:
Blood Pudding.
Mom ate it. I couldn't get past the name.
PerkyMac at 9:26AM on 03/13/08
I must have a bit of Andrew Zimmern in me because the more disgusting the name, the more I want to try it. Although I will admit that "sweetbreads", for example sounds a lot more appetizing than "Thymus gland of calf".
RichardCrystal at 9:42AM on 03/13/08
My Indian friend refused to try Cuban Guava pastries because she thought "guava" sounded gross. After some cajoling, she took a bite and yelled something in Urdu. I guess she'd ate guava her whole childhood in India under a less "gross" sounding name. Now, she loves guava.
bitchincamero at 10:08AM on 03/13/08
A few years ago, I took my (then) preschool-aged son to the upscale restaurant where my brother worked as executive chef. The lovely young woman who was their pastry chef made him a special dessert: a creamsicle ice cream soda - homemade vanilla ice cream, homemade blood orange sorbet and blood orange segments topped with some soda water.
Hearing that it contained "blood" he declared "it looked like brains" and pushed it away ... I was able to convince him to try it and he has gone on to eat many more ice cream treats :)
SSMom at 10:27AM on 03/13/08
If you call it "garbage bread," my mom won't eat it. So please just say pizza bread or stromboli.
Kerosena at 10:31AM on 03/13/08
Shit on a shingle? Head cheese?
Also, countless traditional English foods, esp the famous toad in the hole and the infamous spotted dick.
Blood pudding, strange as it is, is an accurate description, so I wouldn't totally blame the name (see also, jellied eels).
Finally, I've seen it on Molto Mario and many cookbooks, but I can't be bothered to make acquacotta. Just doesn't sound very interesting.
renzata at 10:45AM on 03/13/08
@renzata......you've got your thinking cap on girl! funny stuff. infamous indeed. ;-p
PerkyMac at 10:51AM on 03/13/08
Ever eat "orange roughy?" It's a fish that used to be called "slimehead." I'm a big fan of "mullet," the fish, not the haircut. Apparently many folks are turned off by the name "mullet." I don't know why. There was a movement afoot several years ago to re-name it "Lisa." Hmmm...."smoked Lisa" sounds like something the Donner party may have eaten.
1stmakearoux at 12:28PM on 03/13/08
Geoduck.
It's not phonetic, it's not a duck, and it's one hell of a strange-looking thing. Especially to eat.
But so tasty. . .
unarata at 8:36PM on 03/13/08
When my brother-in-law, wife, and kids came to visit, we encouraged our young nephew to try the Rocky Mountain Oysters...he said that he didn't like seafood, and we countered that it was just the name, there was no seafood involved. That's a case where the name is probably more pleasing than what the item actually is, even if you don't like seafood.
dbcurrie at 9:28PM on 03/13/08
when i was a small child i refused to eat "ratatouille." 'nuff said.
cybercita at 9:29PM on 03/13/08
just thought of another. when visiting a friend in valencia, spain, she offered me a pastry to dip into my horchata, calling it a "farton." i couldn't stop laughing long enough to bite.
cybercita at 11:01PM on 03/13/08
hahahahahaha cita thats funny!
piratemptress at 11:05PM on 03/13/08
OMG, I know the answer to this one! When I was about 8, my dad took us for 'real' Chinese food, and when he ordered Moo Shu, my brother and I were totally grossed out. Of course, having one bite changed our minds...but it was fun to repeat the process with my nephew and nieces decades later!
Curlz at 3:26PM on 03/14/08