This was inspired by:
My dad always served us cold cereal with scalded milk. I didn’t know this was strange until my third-grade best-friend spent the night, had that for breakfast the next morning, then told me it was.
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Oh, jeez…I don’t even know where to begin. Growing up in the suburbs and being one of the few Asian kids in school…most of the things I ate were things my friends didn’t.
Banh mi for weekend breakfasts…I adore the sardine banh mi!
Offal via chao huyet (pork blood porridge with all the extra bits of intestine, liver, blood sausage, et al.) and I love the braised intestines you get at the Chinese BBQ. Pho allowed me to love tripe and tendon.
Balut…had plenty of it as a child, but I have no idea how I could eat it now…the idea of the feathers now terrify me.
Jackfuit, longan, lychee…I still love those fruits…and I’m still a sucker for fruit cocktail with all of those fruit and the almond jello.
I could probably add on a bunch of other things, but these items come to mind first.
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I loved spinach.
Swedish great-grandmother fed me pickled herring and liverwurst as a small child. And I loved it. I have yet to find a fellow native SoCal kid who got into this. Great-grandmother also liked the Oscar Meyer head cheese, but I had to put my foot down somewhere.
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Food I Ate as a Child That I’m Pretty Sure My Friends Didn’t
You obviously don’t know my friends.
Labneh sandwiches:
- Toast pita bread slightly so it firms up but is not crunchy
- Cut it lengthwise so it is open faced (two circular sides)
- Spread labneh on one side
- Add olives, tomatoes, mint (fresh or dried), thinly sliced cucumbers optional
- Dribble with olive oil, salt it and close it up
Enjoy the best breakfast sandwich in the game
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To turn this one upside down a bit I will always remember my best friend bringing to school mayonaise and canned black olive sandwiches every once in a white and thinking wtf…
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Haha, while I want to cast aspersions on this friend of yours I suppose labneh is not so far removed from mayonnaise for me to be in a position to throw stones. Canned black olives though…
Canned black Mission olives are wonderful if you accept them as they are. Oily, not crazy salty or briny, simply pure soothing food you can eat off the tips of your fingers.
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Lol it was grade school and I don’t think he was making his own lunch yet but…
Not hating on canned black olives in and of themselves. I enjoy them on pizzas, in seven layer dip and elsewhere. But as the sole constituents of a mayo sandwich…
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Matzo brie. (Fried matzo, the jewish french toast.)
Which, in and of itself is not so odd but? We ate it with salt and pepper. Which now makes me prefer french toast with salt and pepper. And boy does that get me odd looks!
But if there are savory bread puddings, why not savory french toast?
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I remember getting some strange looks in junior high when mom would give my sister and I packets of seaweed for snacks.
Had a flashback to this the other day at Nijiya when I walked past a display.
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Gefilte fish. Can also appear in the category “food I eat as an adult that I’m absolutely sure my friends don’t.” Also Vita Herring, which my former (Catholic) roommate referred to as “something out of The Tin Drum” and my current roommate (also Catholic) refers to as “fish in milk.”
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My husband likes french toast with Maggi Tomato Chilli sauce, not syrup. Savory french toast is a thing in India, where he grew up, so he’s doesn’t care for the sweet version.
Yeah, I started this one when I was young.
I could live on Underwood Deviled Ham and their Chicken spread.
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Love this thread @Bookwich.
It’s perfect that the opening post is from @attran99. Who could top that? Except for - I suspected and he confirmed -@ipsedixit.
This reminds me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The character took Moussaka to school for lunch and the other girls thought she said ‘Moose Caca’.
Maybe we’re not all that different.
We ate a lot of Liverwurst too!
These seem similar to Kippered Herring - something often found on my stepdad’s breakfast plate. I wish I hadn’t turned my nose up at them. 
Yes please! If you come across the Chicken Spread let me know.
I’m sure my parents did some Offal and definitely some Pig’s Feet eating in there childhood homes. But they didn’t bring that habit to the ‘burbs of Connecticut. 
Their kids ate things like Salisbury Steak and…
Space Food Sticks!
I have yet to find a West Coast kid who ate them. Advertised as the favorite snack of astronauts in space. They tasted like a cross between a Tiger’s Milk Bar and a Tootsie Roll. I loved them.
But their kid did eat a Pig’s Ear at Aburiya Raku the other night @Chowseeker1999… and @PorkyBelly.
God bless America.
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Yes, that is odd.
Hi @TheCookie,
Did you the grilled pig ears more than the tendon at least? 
I never grew up on that either, but over the years, my more adventurous friends got me to appreciate it more (at least the good preparations). 
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I enjoyed it way more. But I was primed at Animal. I promise to report soon.
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