TrippyFood.com

By now you’re asking yourself, “What the hell is trippy food?” Well, it can mean many things, including what you might eat or see on a road trip, or food that’s downright weird. In fact, both of these are correct. After many tireless hours traveling all over the place in search of the unusual, the biggest, and the best – I have decided to share the experiences with you.

Let’s get things straight – I am not a chef, sideshow performer, food critic, travel agent, restaurant owner, carnie or cruise director. When I walk into Restaurante Botin (listed as the world’s oldest), they don’t automatically offer me the baby pig’s head as if they recognized me as the rock star of bizarre foods. When I show up at Joe Tess’ Place in Omaha, it’s likely that my batter-dipped carp will be a little “darker’ than some people who visit diners, drive in and dives. I have no camera crew, there’s no advanced warning – I basically eat what you would get to eat if you arrived unannounced.

I seek out the local specialties, and even at chain restaurants I try the most unusual food on the menu. While I’m in the area, I try to find landmarks, historic sites, roadside attractions, testimonials to kitsch – the more unusual the better. I find these wonderful things in faraway lands and up the street from where I live.

The purpose of this site is to give you an idea what these amazing treasures look like, taste like – I will provide detailed descriptions, including the “tasted like chicken” comparisons that make you feel comfortable and the “looked like clown vomit” descriptions that will make you want to scurry off in abject fear. I will provide photos and video whenever possible, and make you feel as if you were there (maybe even tell you how to get there).

I encourage your participation – let me know what you think, send me questions, suggestions; if you know of something I haven’t seen or eaten yet, I’ll check it out. Who knows, you just might expand your horizons.  As those who know me will tell you, I love all God’s creatures – with a baked potato and side salad.

Staff

"The Gastro and Petrol Report"

"I love all God's creatures - often with a baked potato and side salad."

Valentino Herrera is an avid traveler, photographer and foodophile who seeks out the unusual wherever he goes. Although he has visited Europe, South America, Mexico and Canada, he still has two states to go before having traveled extensively throughout the U.S. Valentino’s wife Claudia hails from Colombia, South America, where she has introduced him to a whole new world of fascinating sites and unusual food and has three adult daughters, each of whom share his sense of adventure in varying degrees. His career is in the computer industry, but he also enjoys singing, art and radio. Valentino encourages others to try different and unique food, occasional organizing “tasting parties.” His motto is “I love all God’s creatures – often with a baked potato and side salad.” He currently resides in Southern California.

Josh Joseph is the site’s webmaster, often partner in crime, and the person that keeps Val on-track. You can occasionally see him pop up in pictures and video (he’s harder to find than Waldo), but most of the time he’s behind the camera taking pictures of Val eating odd bits of flora and fauna so you don’t have to. He slaves over a hot server, making sure the site is purring like a Shelby Mustang. He has braved live abalone and octopus, silkworm pupae, leaf-cutter ants, fried grasshoppers and stinky tofu in the name of science. Aside from being a tehnological genius, Josh is a man of mystery and likes it that way – we won’t have it any other way.