Dirt Flavored Fish Tacos

See this yummy looking fish taco? Well, looks can be deceiving... I have no idea what I did wrong, but it was the worst thing I think I have ever cooked. Seriously, it tasted like DIRT!! I'm not exaggerating. Imagine picking up a handful of dirt, wrapping it with lettuce, cheese and sour cream in a tortilla and taking a bite. Could anyone tell me what I did wrong? Does tilapia normally have a dirt taste? I bought the individually wrapped tilapia fillets. I gave them a good squeeze of lemon juice and sprinkled them with a mixture of chili powder, black pepper and Cheyenne pepper before cooking them. The texture was good, but it tasted like spicy dirt. If I'm not making any sense it's the Levaquin talking. I've been having some trouble with my ear the past week being cloggy and achy so I finally broke down and went to the doctor. Good thing I did because I have double ear infections and a sinus infection. They gave me Levaquin and told me it might make me feel like I'm in La La Land... and it does! I keep forgetting what I'm doing :)

Comments

Annie Jones said…
Tilapia shouldn't taste like dirt. Sounds more like catfish to me.
Carrie said…
Nice, lol! I have had lots of failed recipes too, it just stinks (literally)!
Rachel said…
You are so funny, Heidi! Your picture does look great--I would have made the recipe, based on the picture alone! Isn't that so frustrating when you think you've got a "winner", only to bite into it and find that it's awful?!? I've made Tilapia several times and we enjoyed it...I don't know what went wrong with your recipe?!? Did your whole family think they tasted funny? The reason I'm asking, is b/c I was wondering if your taste buds could just be "off" with your infections?!? I hope you feel better soon!!!
Charlene said…
Recently, I've had the same problem with Tilapia, it has a "dirt" taste.
Lara said…
I flavor all my fish with dirt anyway, so I can't wait to give this a try. ;)
Chicago Mom said…
I have made tilapia before and there was no dirt taste. Maybe Rachel is right - are your tastebuds off due to the meds or something?

The taco looked really good though!
I've had catfish that tasted like dirt, but not tilapia.Like Rachel, I'm wondering if it's your meds?
It is a really great picture!
Jenna said…
Hate it when that happens--when I try a recipe that looks/sounds so good, and I'm super excited about posting it after I try it...and then...Blah! It's not tried-and-true... bummer. Not sure about why it tasted like dirt...wish I could help more. (: Hope you feel better soon!
MaRiN said…
I'm not a fish fan so I'm no help here! The symphony pie below looks delicious though!
teresa said…
Isn't that the worst! I made a goat cheese turkey burger a while ago and I felt like I was eating a farm sandwich, it was nasty! It's always the meals that cost the most and take the most time to make too!
Krista said…
That's no good. I hate putting the effort into something and then not enjoying the result.

I hope you're feeling better!
Melody said…
Bummer! I have had that experience with tilapia too. In fact, I haven't bought it since! I wonder if we just got a bad bunch!
Katy ~ said…
I could go my whole life without eating fish so I'm no help. I would've associated a dirt flavor with catfish however.
Alexis AKA MOM said…
Yikes that just is a bummer. Only had it a few times and no dirt. Maybe a bad batch? Looks yummy though ;)
theUngourmet said…
I hope you feel better very soon! Sorry to hear about the dirt fish!
Kathy said…
Well, that's just sad!!! I've never had that happen before?! You're picture looks great though. Hope you get to feeling better!
Julie said…
Maybe the antibiotic is messin with ya. I made fish tacos a few months ago out of tilapia (breaded and fried of course) and we really liked them. And I'm not a really big fish fanatic.
Hope you feel better soon!
airforcewife said…
Welcome to my world Heidi! Very rarely do new recipes turn out good for me and if they do, they never turn out good again!!
Anonymous said…
My tilapia tasted like dirt too!!! I had indiviually frozen fillets that I oven fried as directed on the fish fry seasoning box that recommended tilapia for that seasoning. After tasting it, I didn't say anything at first about it tasting like dirt, because I thought it must be me,but my family quickly noticed it too. So it wasn't just me or your leviquin. I wish I knew what went wrong.
QueenQuill said…
Okay so here's the deal on tilapia...it sometimes tastes like dirt. The past several times my family or I have prepared tiliapia we've always had a fillet or two that comes out tasting like dirt. I've been doing some research on this (because I wanted to know if it was harmful or not), and have come across a lot of instances where people have had dirt-tasting tilapia. It seems as though it doesn't matter what store it is bought from, but in every instance I've come across, the "dirty" fish has always been farm-raised (as opposed to being caught in the wild). In one discussion about this topic someone noted that they had an uncle that used to raise tilapia, and that he said that they'll taste dirty if they don't spend their last days in a "cleaning pond." The poster said that the cleaning pond was something like how they feed snails on cornmeal to "clean them out". Seeing as I love tilapia, but can never find any wild-caught tilapia around here; I now cook a fillet or two extra so that in case one tastes dirty I'll still have enough.