Fascinating article! Thanks!

A restaurant, well... a bar... around here serves something called appropriately the Heart Stopper. Large cut french fries with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and roast beef gravy. MMMmmmmm. So bad for you though.

As to the friet speciaal - That's just nasty.

Reminds me of poutine -- that great Canadian sensation that's often been described as a heart attack on a plate. I've also had a variety of mayonaise and fries combinations in Belgium.

Meanwhile, huitlachoche is actually quite tasty. If you have no trouble eating mushrooms, you'd have no trouble with huitlachoche.

I agree with earlier sentiments that mayonaise and ketchup tend to be disgusting. About the only sandwich that I'll allow anywhere near mayo is something that has tuna fish or chicken salad. Otherwise, it's mustard all the way. I put mustard on my fries as well. I've developed quite a distaste for ketchup, regardless of what you put it on. Instead, most anywhere you might put ketchup, I'll put hot sauce instead. About the only times I violate my hatred of mayo on fries is when I've visited Belgium. You won't get too far there if you try to avoid the mayo.

I think we can't properly discuss disgusting food without mentioning the wide world of canned meat products, ranging from the familiar spam to far uglier things like head cheese. I'm similar unexcited about things made from pork skin, whether it's chicharrones or pork rinds. Yuck.

... and poutine (cheese curds part) reminds me of a traditional local cheese "škripavac" ("squeaky") I loved as a kid, virtually nonexistent nowadays. These are small cheeses prepared from cow milk sometimes mixed with sheep's, curdled with rennet, pure white and spongy, with delicate milky smell and mild, almost bland taste. If eaten within, say, a day of the moment of manufacture (they are kept in brine for the time), škripavac squeaks against one's teeth not unlike wet styrofoam on glass (or baloons, as Wikipedia article on poutine puts it). After this window passes, it is best eaten with strong olive oil, tomatoas and black pepper (like mozzarella), or left to ripen and acquire some actual taste.

Mmmm, hungry!

What's the fermented shark(?) thing they eat in Iceland?

I think we have a winner. That is downright gutwrenching. -=shudder=-

After a little research, I may have to stop eating andouille.

In LA, its good stuff. In France? I recommend staying away from it. Can only be described it as sewage flavored meat. It ranks #2 on my list of ass-nasty foods. #1 being Uni or sea urchin. Not entirely unlike pond scum scraped from the bottom of water logged board.

From my New Orleans days, we had a guy that would bring in a loaf of Bunny bread and a couple cans of sweetened condensed milk when it was his turn to bring donuts. I guess it was the equivalent of sugar sandwiches.

I first saw deep fried twinkies and candy bars at the Calgary Stampede but then saw them later at the Houston Rodeo but never had the misfortune of trying one.

Afghans have some crazy combinations. One of the oddest seems to be a middle-eastern wide thing...combining yogurt with damn near everything. As long as I can remember, we've always had yogurt at the table..simple, plain yogurt. My dad has always made it at home. We have it with rice, curries, eggplant, all sors of stuff.

I know, it's a sausage, but I DIDN'T know it had tripe in it. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm being silly, but I tend to prefer NOT eating any type of offal.

That being said, I have no intent of stopping eating andouille. It's far too good in chicken andouille gumbo. Oh, and I DO buy it in LaPlace, the andouille capital of the world.

Natto is rotting soy beans? I've had it before and neither liked it nor disliked it. I didn't know it was rotting.

I have no problem with Uni, but it's another one of those things I almost never order. Over here, it's one of the more expensive pieces of sushi. I'd rather fill up on the cheap stuff which I like better. Masago and fatty tuna are my passions.

Most people use the term "fermented" in lieu of "rotting", but I think the latter sums it up better.

I agree with you on the fatty tuna. The connoisseur's fave, to be sure. But I have to ask, what do you mean by "masago"? "Masago" means "sand". Is it a local variety / roll?

Hmm.... I miss my smoked salmon box... Tomorrow's dinner is decided.

To me, fermented and rotting have distinctly different connotations. Fermented means it is being broken down by yeast. Rotting means it's being broken down by other more nasty means.

The best heart attack foods have to be Scottish. The Aberdeen Rowie or Butterie sounds nice on that page, till you realise it is basically butter, fried in lard, and served with butter and salt!

The deep fried mars bar is also pretty bad, but reasonably popular!

Me, I just like marmite or jam on cheddar as a wee snack in front of the telly

Fermenting vs. rotting is almost the same as "sushi" and "bait"... You can quite quickly tell is someome likes sushi by the way they describe it...