I'm a very adventurous eater - I'll try just about anything once, so I've had several 'ick' experiences, especially in foreign countries.  I guess the worst was in Romania.  We were there during a time of civil unrest which had led to abject poverty amongst the majority of people.  Not only were we eating foods unfamiliar to us, but sometimes the ingredients were not of the best quality due to the political and economic circumstances.  We stopped at a small town while traveling between 2 larger towns.  The restaurant did not have a menu, there was one meal served each day; that's what you got - period.  The first course was fresh vegetables, mostly cucumbers and tomatoes, marinated in a vinaigrette and served with black bread and goat cheese.  It was wonderful.  The second course was vichyssoise with a cucumber base.  Again, delicious.  The third course was a chicken and rice dish.  It had a thin sauce over it and was rather like soup (we needed spoons to eat it).  It tasted great, but as I was eating, someone next to me freaked out - she had a whole, chicken foot in hers, claws and all!!  And then a few seconds later, across from me, someone else pulled up a chicken head on his spoon.  I thought I'd die, since I'm terrified of birds, especially creepy chickens!  So, in this case, it was not the taste of the food but what was lurking inside of it.

Happiness is not a destination.  It is a method of life.  ~Burton Hills