HE'S cooked with grass, Spam, tripe and a host of other unusual food items, but even Colin McQuistan admits cat food and toothpaste pushed his dietary limits.

The Scotsman and author behind myfoodeeblog created a cat food Chinese stir-fry and toothpaste crème brulee as part of a one-man protest against food snobs.

Mr McQuistan, who started his unusual challenge as a "reaction against pretentious food blogs", told news.com.au while cat food was pretty much beyond edible, toothpaste was actually the weirdest thing he's cooked with so far.

"That's because that's not, er, a food stuff, and is pretty poisonous in moderate doses," he said.

The IT freelance worker will literally cook any food item, with readers encouraged to offer their suggestions as to what ingredient he should work with next.

And while the labels on cat food suggest it isn't fit for human consumption, Mr McQuistan reckons he's heard quite the opposite.

"It must be suitable for human consumption - probably in case some Scottish idiot decides to make a Chinese stir-fry with it," he said.

media_camera Felix cat food could soon be a gourmet delight, maybe. Picture: Myfoodeeblog

But if that's not enough to tempt your tastebuds, try it on its own just like the 41-year-old did when he had it not once, but four times, before he even started cooking to make sure he achieved an accurate flavour result.

Admitting he's always wondered what it tasted like since having cats as a child, the blogger set about making it edible but failed miserably.

"It tastes of chicken, yes, but there is something so very, very unpleasant about it I almost vomit; it has a very burnt-rubber undertone and the chicken is chewy and tough," he said.

He added fresh gherkin, sugar snap peas, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, cumin, Yeungs Concentrated Chinese Curry Mix, sweet chilli sauce and Felix As Good As It Looks Cat Food With Chicken In Jelly.

media_camera The finished product - cat food stir fry with sticky rice. Picture: Myfoodeeblog

The end result was a dish that was only "one per cent edible".

"This is a very challenging dish to eat. There are nice enough flavours from the spices, vegetables and sauces but the cat food lends a weird flavour and horrid texture to the dish," he said.

"I can still taste that sulphorous and burnt rubber and I feel a bit ill. The dish also makes my mouth produce an alarming amount of saliva so I end up drooling all over the place."

For anyone still thinking of trying it at home, a word of warning - don't.

"Oh sweet lord you don't want to go anywhere near cat food," he said. "So yes, I advise very strongly to go no where near this stuff."

It's enough to make you sick right?

Not so according to the freelance IT contractor who has strict hygiene standards and has never felt sick from anything he's created - not even crème brulee toothpaste.

Yes, you read that right.

media_camera The blogger sets about making his paste for his toothpaste crème brulee. Picture: Myfoodeeblog

When it came to cooking with this item, he was left with a fresh mouth but hungry stomach, so Mr McQuistan advises people not to try this one at home due to potentially hazardous levels of fluoride.

With that in mind he set about making a crème brulee anyway - which he hoped would have made a nice, fresh, minty version of the French classic.

The results are as funny as they are disastrous.

He makes a classic, chocolate and a toothpaste one and there's no guessing how the latter turns out.

"This thing … it's runny, granular, gloopy and the caramel crust is just plain weird and rubbery. It tastes like gritty eggs toothpaste. I doubt even if I had used the smallest amount of toothpaste would this have worked."

media_camera Toothpaste crème brulee - don't try this at home. Picture: Myfoodeeblog

And then there's grass, as in the stuff cows eat.

It was a challenge too good to pass up. The only problem was that as resident of an apartment block in Glasgow he had to find enough to cook up.

After tasting it and describing it as "chewy and tough and fibrous" with a "peppery, a little citrusy and little apple-ee-ee" taste, he got to work.

What did he do with it?

media_camera The pesto was made by replacing pine nuts with wasabi beans. Picture: Myfoodeeblog

Turned it into pesto, of course, mixing it with parmesan cheese, olive oil, and wasabi peas.

But it ended up an epic failure.

"It. Is. HORRIBLE. The combination of wasabi peas and pasta and, well, everything else, is just bad. Really bad," he says.

"The grass, because it has been blended, now tastes super grassy and adds to the overall horribleness. But the very worst comes when I realise I AM EATING GRASS! FROM GLASGOW GREEN! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!!

And before you're wondering he does try all the dishes and items suggested by people on his Facebook page.

media_camera Grass pesto, it is as bad as it sounds. Picture: Myfoodeeblog

"Unfortunately I force myself to eat all the dishes," he said.

"There's no way I could describe the taste otherwise."

The bonus is he has made a few rare discoveries such as tinned carrot and potato soup, which "was a miracle, considering how disgusting they were before cooking."

Mr McQuistan is the first to admit his project was "purely a p*sstake, which has gone nuts."

Keen to try some unusual recipes? Here's how you cook cat food stir fry.

Ingredients

* Fresh gherkin

* Sugar snap peas

* Ginger

* Garlic

* Soy sauce

* Cumin

* Yeungs Concentrated Chinese Curry Mix (or other curry mix)

* Sweet chilli sauce

* Felix As Good As It Looks Cat Food With Chicken In Jelly (or other jelly cat food)

Method:

Add the ginger, garlic and chilli into a pan for a couple of minutes to soften. Then add the vegetables, the cat food and the sauces and flash fry for another 90 seconds.

Serve up with some sticky rice, noodles or plain rice.

For other unusual receives go to myfoodeeblog.

Continue the conversation via Twitter @newscomauHQ | @DebKillalea | @myfoodeeblog

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Originally published as How to cook with cat food and toothpaste