i don't see it as any different from cooking wild-caught fish, or venison, or what have you...provided your caveats of responsibility apply.

and i would be delighted if someone served me rattlesnake...provided i was warned...i have a sense of adventure and i'll ty anything once. i can see where some people might be a little creeped out by it though.

is this a test you spring on your dates, Jsin?

i've eaten rattlesnake and frog and gator.
i don't really consider those things to be all that exotic

even cuy (guinea pig) in Ecuador.

a lot of the foods that americans consider exotic or strange
are just normal faire for other people.

One of the best meals I have ever been treated to on a date was gazelle paired with Cristalle.

I adore game (the flavor and texture) – especially as it is usually taken from the wild, as opposed to many vegetarians' (valid) complaints about factory farming.

I would test the waters, JSin, to see if your date were open to meat-eating and adventurousness – but I would find it interesting and honest (as a carnivore), personally.

I find that when asked ahead of time my first response is "no thanks" but when presented with the food already prepared by someone who I know is knowledgeable it doesn't seem all that big of a deal. I've had gator, venison, crickets, iguana and horse that way. I tend to be a when in Rome do as the Roman do kind of traveler.

I'm just glad this thread isn't about sex. Wasn't sure from the title. :)

hmm - im assuming you were looking for gals opinions - since im assuming youre hetero - but ill go ahead and chime in...

ive had several "semi-exotic" meats in culinary contexts. favorite so far was ostrich. or maybe it was octopus. (have never had orangutan, but figured i needed to add another o-species... lol)

oddly the part i have the most trouble with is the necessary political-correctness-aspect of it all. i eat meat (and veggies on occasion) and im not a stickler about the where/why/hows of the meats demise (or life).

i do have some morals and also can anthropomorphize, but i also have a fairly strong survival-instinct that says - if it was alive and is now dead, and im hungry, i would rather eat it than have it go to waste...

i have seen shark-fin on the menu, but never ordered it cuz it bothers me that it was most-likely caught and released - only to die - as i saw on some nature channel awhile ago. otoh, if the chef came out and said - would i please eat the shark-fin since it would go bad tomorrow and it was here anyway - id go ahead and eat it.

and there is nothing more satisfying than to cook/eat a meal that was caught/hunted by yourself. really brings out the circle-of-life-instincts in me.

most gay guys ive encountered that i got along with - had similar opinions about food. sharing a meal (and/or its preparations) is truly a good way to judge compatibility in an upcoming relationship. theres a reason the classic date was dinner and a movie...

Personally i LOVE rattlesnake, used to go to the RaTTLEsnake Roundup in Texas when i was growing up there, you can have it every way imagininable, stew, jerky, in chili, shish-ka-bob, etce etc. LOVE it. I am one of those strange people that will eat anything at all, any kind of meat, ( except for possum or SPAM, id rather die than eat SPAM, and possum, well anything that the other critters wont eat, i aint touchin)

the only thing better then killing and eating small furry animals is killing and eating big leathery ones. . .

I've eaten kangaroo, camel, rabbit, snake, goat, crocodile, pheasant, deer, shark and boar.