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Missionary food stories: Called — and served

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Rosella | 5:17 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

My mission was different in that my home was in Australia and I served in the Northern California Mission and on my very first night in the mission field my companion and I were invited to dinner with a family who lived in Rocklin California, ( This was 1961). I was told that the meat dish we were served was short ribs( I had never heard of it before) lots of bones with a little meat attached, smothered in a thick sauce. There was something rather familiar about those bones --- and then it hit me what they were in Australia. Canned pet food had not come to Australia at that time and the usual routine was to get sixpence worth of dog food from the butcher --- which was the same as short ribs. With that in mind I was a little hesitant to chow down. However the sauce made it taste ok and my summation at the end of the meal was that the Aussie dogs had been getting a pretty good deal.

Thanks! | 7:56 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

My son leaves for the MTC in Sao Paulo next Tuesday. Thanks for a great article. I'll be reading it to him this morning as we begin to pack the big black suitcases!

Anonymous | 8:04 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

While I lived in South America, I used to have the missionaries over for lunch. Being aware of these stories, I tried to server "normal" food: salads and meat: chicken, pork, beef. Living in the city and being mid-class kept the missionaries away from the "delicacies" of our culture.

When I moved to USA, I was invited by one of the missionaries to his home for a special dinner. Thinking that I was about to taste the best of the best of the American food, what a surprise was to find they cooked a "scotish" delicacy. That ubber with blood that is mentioned in this article. Like a missionary, I put my best face and eat it all. Now I know how they feel.

Comments continue below

Sweden | 8:05 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I was never able to be near it but apparently the Sour Herring the Swedes eat is so potent they eat it outside, so as not to taint the entire house with stench.

I was able to eat stewed Reindeer in central Finland; even after stewing for most of a day it was still pretty tough. It was a very tame tasting game meat (I'm sure those who come to Utah on missions and who eat the local venison are surprised at the taste).

Chris J | 8:14 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I served in the Philippines Cebu mission and while I was every night in almost every area a many would walk around yelling "Balut". One day my companion said lets try it, so we ran out and caught him, a lot like the ice cream man here, and bought one each. They turned out to be a favorite of mine throughout my entire mission. If you don't know what they are, then you would be surprised. They are a partially incubated chicken or duck egg then it is cooked. So while eating it there is a chunk of meat in the middle and many times a beak or feathers.
Much to my surprise when I got home and a few years later this seemed to be a favorite on "Fear Factor!"

CMJ | 8:26 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I am grateful I served in Sao Paulo for many reasons, but one is that the food was not too strange. I came to really like rice and beans, and feijoada, and lots of fruits.

Argentina | 8:55 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Nothing like going to a barbeque and looking over the ribs and steak cooking along with several feet of the cows intestines roasting on the grill.

Greg | 9:14 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Every missionary who dealt with anyone outside of their own culture probably ate something that appeared "strange". I'll never forget Christmas Eve and a member walking over to a pig that was being spit roasted. He reached into its mouth and pulled out the tongue. After taking a bite he offered it to the four missionaries standing there. Don't know if I'd do it again but it was actually pretty good. Lots of stories of "different" foods that actually ended up being "ok".
Greg San Juan Puerto Rico

K | 9:20 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I had to quit reading about halfway through, (getting a little green around the gills)...but a very interesting article.

I always knew missionaries made sacrifices, but wow!

Jeanne Marsh | 9:25 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Our state-side missions are sorely unrepresented here!! I served in the Pennsylvania Harrisburg mission and while serving in my first area a wonderful family invited us for supper. On the menu was Hog Maw. They take a pig stomach and stuff it with potatos, carrots, etc and ironically...sausage. It is baked whole and broken open when served with the stomach as part of the dish. I did actually try it once. Rather chewy. But then I swallowed rather quickly. Our friends got a great kick out of it. The one dish I managed to avoid was scrapple. All of the leftover bits of the animal coursely chopped and held together by what looked like thick gelatin.

vern | 9:43 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

YOU KNOW THE OLD SAYING."WHEN IN ROME DO AS THE ROMANS DO"

Matt | 10:09 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Great article. Thanks for pulling this together, Aaron.

Frank | 10:14 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Being a risky eater I tried anything I could get my hands on in Southern Brasil. Going to a members house for dinner one day I smelled what I thought was a busted sewage pipe. Their plumming was fine but I discovered the source when the meal came. They had gotten a hold of Capibara meat which is a river rodent that looks like a hog sized guinea pig. It tasted as bad as the smell.

I did have a chance to try it on two other occasions. Once it was improperly prepared and actually tasted good, like strong pork.

Richard | 10:33 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I served in San Jose, Calif. where in some neighborhoods there is not a stray animal in sight, and they were frequently strung up in the back yard or an apartment balcony, like deer here in Utah or my native Texas.

I got the chance to eat with people from a number of different countries and cultures: lots of wonderful Mexican food, the Guatemalan food was similar, the Samoan was good and plentiful, the Laotian was "interesting", and many more.

One of the strangest things we ate was a Thai curried chicken soup, with ALL the chicken. It was good luck to get a foot and the head was a special delicacy.

Once of the worst things I ate was a Nicaraguan tamale. They took an entire head of pork, cooked it in a big pot until the meat came off the skull. Then they took out the bones, and mixed everything up with raisins, prunes, sliced carrots, and loads of cornmeal. Then they wrapped everything in a banana leaf and boiled it. The whole thing was a big, soggy, slimy, disgusting mess. It was a special bonus to get an eyeball in your tamale.

What an adventure!

altaholics | 10:36 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I served in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We had a branch missionary leader who owned a chicken farm and restaurant and he invited us to eat there every Friday for lunch. I thought we'd be getting a great chicken dinner, but when we showed up he gave us some yellow goo wrapped in a banana leaf. Suspended in the yellow goo were chunks of rubbery, chewy, light yellow things. I spent several minutes eating and trying to figure out what I was eating and decided, "Oh, it's chicken skin. Chicken skin cooked in grated plantain bananas." On further inspection, it turned out that I was wrong. It was cow stomach or "mondungo" in grated plantains. I don't know which was worse, a plate of cow stomach or a plate of rubbery chicken skin. Either way, that's what his restaurant served every friday for lunch and we had a standing appointment. You just grin and bear it and thank goodness for rice.
My cousin tells stories of his mission in Montreal, eating frozen raw carabou meat dipped in clarified seal fat and gnawing the meat off a roasted beaver leg, both First Nation delicacies.

Ryan | 10:43 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

While on my mission is Mississippi I never ate it but I had compainions that were fed squirrel. nothibng like good ole road kill right lol.

WB | 11:00 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

One of my favortie memories of a mission to Sao Paulo Brazil in the late 80s was sitting down to lunch with a sweet, humble member family. After the blessing, the mother brought out a plate of fried chicken - I'm sure it must have been more expensive than their budget would have allowed. Anyway, on the top of the plate were some pieces of chicken I hadn't seen fried before - two feet and the head. The children quickly reached for these, and the mom scolded them, telling them to 'leave the good parts for the Elders'. The children bowed their heads, a little ashamed, and my companion said, "it's ok, sister, let the kids have those parts if they want them." The mom agreed and smiles lit up the kids faces as they took the feet and head. We ate the 'normal' parts and had a great meal. It was fun because we didn't have to eat what was strange to us AND the kids thought we were pretty cool.

Henri | 11:02 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

My worst food experience in the France Paris Mission came not from the members but from a fellow American missionary who once served us dog food for breakfastï¿½rather gristly and fatty. Heï¿½d purchased it from the local butcher who made his own concoction and the missionary didnï¿½t know what it was when he bought it even though it was clearly marked.

kojo | 11:20 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

please don't make up some of these stories to make it funny. Cultures around the world are already fascinating and no need to add any spice to it. Thank you.

Cheryl Thomas | 11:31 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

In the Book of Mormon it talks about the Lord making the meat sweet so they were able to eat it. I guess the Lord blesses the missionaries that they will be able to tolerate the food where ever they go.

Comida | 11:39 a.m. Feb. 21, 2008

My favorite food on the mission I served in Brazil was a strange breakfast cereal known as "Sucrilhos." It was fantastic.

Sherrie Tucker | 12:05 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

My son served his mission in Peru Lima East and was served all the strange meats like Guinea pig, dog, cat and chicken feet soup as well as every part of the goat. They are so poor they eat every part of the animal in most cases. Once he was sick and was served a pudding made up of potatoes that were left in a stream of water for a whole year. This was to help him get well. I imagine it was a type of penicillin. He also said he ate some type of fruit they called monkey brains. It had a hard shell with a jelly like substance in the inside that has black seeds in it.

Brenden | 12:14 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

It isnï¿½t gastronomically adventurous, but I did think it was funny; At a district meeting in Richmond, VA, all the missionaries were complaining that whenever they were invited over to eat, all they ever got served was spaghetti. It had been so for at least a month, for three companionships, and they were getting a bit tired of it. My comp & I remained silent through their grousing, and this was noticed ere long. We happened to have some excellent cooks in our area, and some well to do families as well. We tried to recuse ourselves from explanation, but eventually had to confess that we had been the beneficiaries of barbecued chicken, home-baked lasagna & fresh apple pie, fillet mignon, home-made minestrone soup, and lots of other tasty stuff. Not that I donï¿½t like spaghettiï¿½it is one of my favoritesï¿½but we hadnï¿½t ever been served that. A few days later I had occasion to call my mother, and she mentioned that the elders were coming over for dinner. I asked what she was planning to serve them, and had to choke back the laughter when she said ï¿½spaghettiï¿½.

West Indies | 12:21 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

As a missionary, the Holland blood sausage story brought back a once-but-only-once memories. In the West Indies, "boudin" is cooked pig's blood, spiced up and served without apples or much of anything else pleasant mixed in. We had ours over rice--still very runny, gray and full of little clear globs, and most definitely not sausage-shaped. One of the few foods I've ever had to literally choke down.

Unusual island dishes I recommend MUCH more highly: Shark steak (tastes something like a cross between halibut and chicken), fried bananas (ya cook 'em while they're still green), coconut milk (the fresher the better), and "grass juice." I can no longer remember what this was made from, but it was a dark green semi-pulpy fruit juice that smelled exactly like a freshly mowed lawn. Anyone who's ever been there can help me out... :)

BT | 12:41 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Had a cousin that was served alligator in northern Florida. He even got to watch the fellow wade out into the swamp behind his house to catch the thing. I am given to understand that it was pretty tough & stringy, but otherwise not so unpleasant.

In Norway I saw horse meat in the stores, and was served ox tongue, but I thought my oddest meal was probably freshly harvested sea-gull eggs. Not surprisingly, they tasted rather fishy.

Mexico | 12:55 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I was served Eel once while serving in Mexico. I don't like fish, never have. So, I faked like I was sick and wasn't hungry. I hope the Lord forgives!

Big Matt Attack | 1:10 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I served my mission in Alabama. The South provided me with some of the BEST food I have ever had in my entire life! On the other hand I was also given food I wish to forget. We had boiled goat in Montgomery. The meat was dry and terrible. I didn't even know what it was until my trainer looked me in the eye with a smile on his face and said, "Elder, enjoy your boiled goat." He said this in front of the woman we were teaching and whose home we were eating the meal. The only thing to wash it down with was warm orange soda. I still, to this day, won't drink orange soda as it brings back that gritty, dry, wild taste...13 years later.

Utah Food | 1:28 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I served a mish in Utar and they done gib me jeller with nanners in it.

MTC | 1:29 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

You often find yourself eating strange things even before you make it to the mission field. One day in the MTC I thought to myself, "Self," I says, "Let's be a little more healthy and get some of that fruit salad." With that, I dished up a healthy serving of "fruit" salad. I then went and found a table and began to eat. When I got around to eating the fruit salad, I took a spoonful and glanced off-handedly at it as the spoon-mouth distance decreased. Imagine my surprise when I saw. . . Chunks of turkey, ham, and other meats? "Hmmmm," thought I, "on second thought, maybe I'll skip out on the "fruit" salad."

Well, when I finally got to Argentina, I ate stranger things than that, but you don't often think of the MTC when you hear mission food stories.

MTC | 1:31 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I should clarify: The chunks of turkey, ham, meat, etc. . . were hiding among apples, grapes, whipped cream, you know, the stuff in a fruit salad.

Argentina (MAC) | 1:57 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I think back fondly of many dishes that were hard to stomach at first but then became acceptable and even craved. Beef heart, kidney, brains, liver, stomach, and even saliva gland. Saliva gland has the consistency of fat and the taste of a fillet. Sure miss it!!

Anonymous | 2:16 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I am grateful for the members who sacrificed so that I could eat, thankful for those who feed my son. I agree that missionaries may be blessed with a "gift" for tolerating the food but I also believed the Lord saw their desires and their offerings and blessed them well.

Aussie | 2:38 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I served in the great country of Australia. When I was in a zone in the outback, an investigator named Mick served us something called "yams." He said you can live on it, but it taste like garbage. And started to laugh. I'll miss those times.

O CANADA! | 2:41 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

A FAMILY ONCE SERVED US NOTHING BUT RICE CAKES AS A JOKE. THEY TOLD US THE FAMILY WAS ON A DIET. NEXT THING YOU KNOW THEY GET A NICE ROAST OUTTA THE OVEN. IT WAS HILARIOUS. I THOUGHT IT SMELLED A LITTLE TOO ROASTISH FOR DINNER TO BE ONLY RICE CAKES.

Asia Blookashi | 2:58 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

MOngolia might sound exotic...and IT IS!! Wow, they served up THE craziest things, I'll tell ya what! Such a warm people. Especially when they were tucked all cozy like into their roundish mobile huts.

RYAN | 3:14 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

THE BEST FOOD I had on my mission though in Mississippi was the home made cajun food like Jambalaya of red beans and rice but the corn bread is amazing down south!

Sister Teerlink | 3:26 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Ulaanbator MONGOLIA, We horse meat! One of my favorite investigators offered it to me, there was no way I could say no, so I ate it and it was good! He was such a great investigator when we got baptised he had 8 friends that were not church members yet come to his baptism, his mom later followed in his footsteps.

We also drank fermented horse milk, I didn't know it was fermented because all my companions were Mongolian. One of my companions had to drink it every day during the summer, I didn't like it then but later developed a taste for it. I was dissapointed when a senior missionary told me it was fermented!

Donnaco | 3:38 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

This article and all the comments have been extremely enjoyable...obviously a good subject.

Cheesy | 3:40 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

This is cheesy.

Rick | 3:50 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

The worst thing that I ate while in Guatemala. It is called pacaya. It is the young unopened palm flowers that are dipped in beaten egg whites and fried. It is very bitter. The funny thing is that every Guatemalan woman says that when SHE makes pacaya it isn't bitter. Yeah right!

By the way Richard, the Nicaraguan woman who made tamales must not have been a very good cook. After a good mexican tamale, Nicaraguan tamales "nacatamales" are some of the best tamales made. They're not usually made the way they were made for you! Too bad you should try them again. Of course make sure that someone else makes them without the pig's head! LOL

Taiwan | 3:47 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Wow do the Chinese know how to cook the weirdest things...I ate every part of a chicken, the eyes, beak, feather ruffles, feet (not legs FEET), and even the butt. I didn't know chickens even had butts. I had horse, I had dog, I had snake, I had frog, with the frog being the best. Pig's feet, like the hooves with the skin and hair still on, are surprisingly tasty. The freshly caught, raw octopus whose suckers still work. Try eating that with the suckers sticking to your tongue and throat, kind of entertaining. How about the 1000 year egg? It's hard boiled, shelled egg that has sat out so long, the white turns black and the yolk turns this gross yellow. The duck fetuses of Survior China lore were there too...those are not too tasty. But the ultimate Taiwanese delicacy is stinky tofu. Now when they say stinky, they mean stinky. Think of an open sewer drain and then you dive down that man-hole, pull a chunk of whatever is in the water down there, and plop it in your mouth, it was like that, only stinkier, not to mention tofu is terrible in and of itself.

RM in CO | 4:18 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Served in UK (Birmingham, 1980 - 1982). Had very well-meaning Jamaica-born members feed us something that I did not even want to know what it was. Rather good, but... Don't ask, don't tell in action!

Scotty | 5:05 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Actually I live in Japan right now with my wife and children. I also served a mission in the Kobe, Japan mission. I personally enjoy basashi. I find it delicious. I was quite surprise when I first heard that Japanese eat horse. In fact I ate horse in January. If you ever have the opportunity you should try it. However whatever you do, do not eat NATTO. It is fermented beans. And stink like no other.

Juan | 6:27 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I served in the El Salvador San Salvador Mission in the late 1970's. The food was generally good, mostly beans and rice and tortillas with a little chicken occasionally. San Salvador is a modern city and we happened to have a McDonald's just around the corner from the mission office, where we would often eat lunch on our P-Days. The McDonald's served the same menu as in the States: Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, etc. One P-Day we went to the mission office and thought we would stop by McDonald's for lunch, but found that it had be closed. We were disappointed that it was closed, but later found out that it was closed for a good reason. We later read in the local paper that the McDonald's had been serving dog-meat burgers rather than beef and had been closed by the parent company. It reopened about four months later, I think under new ownership. Though I could never tell whether I had eaten a "dog" Big Mac or not, I have always remembered this special treat available at the McDonald's of San Salvador.

Vegas Ed | 6:33 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Boiled calves hooves. I explain it like taking a spoonful of warm Crisco, then partake. This was a wonderful Brazilian lady who said not everyone likes this delicacy, and said she wouldn't be offended if we didn't like it. After swallowing the first bite, I had to spit out the second one. And I made it until my last month before having to do this. Almost made it to my goal of eating everything placed before me. Dog and rat on the grill actually aren't that bad.

Ace Ventura | 8:37 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

The best missionary food story I ever heard from from my MTC instructor. He and his junior companion had walked a mile or so out into the Ecuadorean countryside to eat with a family who served them roast goat. He had cautioned his companion how important it was to eat everything on his plate. Unfortunately, the goat was quite undercooked. The younger elder dutifully ate all the meat, trying not to gag. As soon as he emptied his plate, the hostess immediately heaped more almost-raw goat meat on it. This happened three times, until he couldn't finish his plate. When they got back out to the road, he up-chucked his entire meal into the ditch. "Elder, I'm sorry you lost your dinner," my instructor told him. "Would you like the rest of mine?" He reached inside his shirt, where he had stashed all his goat meat and offered it to the greenie, who promptly chased him all the way back into town.

Atlantic Canada | 8:53 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

2 Words: Seal Meatloaf. Not a pleasant memory.

Mississippi | 10:02 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

Missions are such great times! I love reminiscing. Any missionary who has been to the South and eaten, let alone smelled chittlins will never forget them! Just imagine the moist fumes wafting through the air as your host is scrubs out pig intestines (to make sure that any trace of whatever was in there is now gone) and boils them up to satisfaction. They also come in the fried variety.

Bad Food Stories | 10:38 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

I served in the Kentucky Louisville mission and for as many good meals I had....I also had some horrible meals. Bless the members because they were trying their best but I avoid most pot luck food gatherings these days because my stomach got burned too many times on my mission by bad, poorly prepared food. But you can't beat the fried blue gill in Southern Indiana.

irondori | 10:38 p.m. Feb. 21, 2008

The shocker I had in Sao Paulo, Brazil was a chicken drumstick with the entire foot still attached -- the locals would use the claw as a toothpick after eating the meat.

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