I was serving in a rural area in southern Belgium in 1971. We were teaching a family, and they invited us to stay for dinner. The mother of the family was fixing what looked like patties of ground beef. She put in some oil and spices while making the patties. She asked if we liked "American steak." I was sure she was making a hamburger of sorts. But no such luck.

She put the patties of raw meat on a plate and served it to us. It was hard getting it down, but then my companion asked the unpardonable question of "What kind of meat is this?" She said it was horse.

David Westover
France-Belgium Mission

 · · · · · 

During our first mission, we were invited to the home of a member of the branch presidency to have dinner. As we sat at their humble but clean table, a rolled meat dish was served to us. We asked what type of meat it was. The branch counselor asked us to just eat it and he would tell us at the end of the meal. My husband, being a very finicky eater, was leery of eating this unknown dish. With some trepidation we ate it and discovered it was really very good. Still, the host would not tell us what was in it until the end of the meal. Finally, he informed us the meat roll was made of pickled muskrat.

Bruce and Veniece Lovell
Argentina Baha Blanca Mission

 · · · · · 

Guinea pig has long been a delicacy of the indigenous peoples of Ecuador, and I had several chances to eat them. After being roasted or deep-fried, they resembled large rats. I imagine many other missionaries had the opportunity to eat guinea pig.

However, the most interesting thing I ate on my mission was "ubre," which is cow udder. It was rubbery and not very flavorful.

Jeff Taylor
Ecuador Quito Mission

 · · · · · 

There was the dinner at a wonderful couple's home in St. Nazaire on the coast. We would be fed four or five times a day during our weekend visits to the small branch on the west beaches of France. One of our dinners was rabbit. So there was this full carcass laying on a plate, the head and all. The sister asked who wanted the head and said that she wanted it, and proceeded to eat the head and eyes and brains. This nice kind sister eating the poor bunny's head ... It made me rather queasy.

Craig Maire
France Paris Mission

 · · · · · 

My husband, Sheldon Demke, recently passed away, but he loved to tell his family stories of his missionary service in the North Brazil Mission. He loved the people and the food, generally.