With Thanksgiving around the corner, I took inspiration from this story and set out to find the weirdest or most unique foods that people have eaten on this food-filled holiday. Whether it was a one-time event or a culturally inspired recipe, here are some stories of the interesting, non-traditional foods that your fellow Gators have consumed (and a few of them probably wish they hadn’t).
Thanksgiving Food Gone Wrong
GIF courtesy of Giphy.com
Tofu snafu
“When I was vegetarian for two years, my parents tried to include me, and they made really bad tofu. It was literally the worst thing ever.”
I sure hope that’s food coloring
“I’m allergic to gluten and we just found out a few years ago. For last Thanksgiving, instead of traditional stuffing, my mom tried to make gluten-free stuffing. It turned out being blue and green and gross.”
Imitation isn’t always the best form of flattery
“I’m a vegetarian, and I’ve had tofurky before. But it’s horrible. I wouldn’t recommend it.”
It’s A Family Thing
Mystery berry meatballs?
GIF courtesy of Giphy.com
“I don’t know if it’s raspberries or actually cranberries, but it’s just regular meatballs soaked in berry juice and some other stuff. I’ve never made it, so I’m not really sure.”
Fish are food, not friends
“I’ve had lamb, and I’ve also eaten fish.” What type of fish? “Tilapia and salmon.”
One leg at a time
“My grandparents make octopus every Thanksgiving, and I have no idea why.”
Ethnic Foods: The Best Of Both Worlds
Let’s go to Columbia
“Last Thanksgiving, we had coconut rice, which is just rice cooked in coconut water and then you put raisins in it. We also had seafood soup since my family’s from the coast of Columbia. But we also have turkey, so it’s like a mixture of both cultures.”
Next stop: Korea
“Since I’m Korean, my family and I eat Korean barbecue, rice and kimchi on Thanksgiving.”
Moving along to Mexico
Photo courtesy of Flickr user regan76
“My family makes this thing called mole. It’s pretty much just like a sauce with lettuce and chile peppers. We have it with rice, chicken and beans. We also have turkey, but we have our traditional food too.”
Traveling on Thanksgiving
“When I was in New York, I went to this restaurant called The Spain. It was like an underground restaurant, and it was really cool. I ate fried alligator. I had never tried it before, and it was really good. And it happened to be on Thanksgiving last year.”
My own story?
A few years ago, I got my wisdom teeth pulled out three days before Thanksgiving and could only eat soup, tofu and ice cream while looking like Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks.