Bizarre Foods - My Top 4

I'm no Andrew Zimmern, but hey, when it comes to bizarre foods, I'm just as intrigued. In my last post, I talked about how one persons everyday meal can be considered outrageous and entirely inedible by another. That is based of course on different cultural backgrounds. But this isn't a lecture on Culture studies. Its really more of an account of the creepiest crawliest, most dangerously disgusting food items around the world. Most people say sushi is the craziest, 'ickiest' food item they've come across. If you're one of them, and you have a weak gag reflex, I would advise you not to scroll down any further.



This is the list of my top 4 'HOLY SHIT' delicacies from around the world -

 Snake Wine

Snakes are believed to possess medicinal qualities. Some people in South east Asia, mainly Vietnam and South Korea, take this information way too literally. Snake wine is consumed on a regular basis by these people - not unlike the way in which we drink regular viper-free wine, without giving it a second thought. The snake, usually venomous is placed in either rice wine, or whole grain alcohol. The ethanol destroys  the venom and the wine retains the essence of the snake itself. Some believe that snake wine can cure anything from short sightedness to rapid hair loss and that it even acts as an aphrodisiac. I know, I know. Holy shit. But there's a LOT more where that came from.

Fried Tarantula

This is something that Mr. Zimmern actually covered on his show. But seriously, look at it. It's a spider the size of the Hulk's fist. Now, fried tarantula is actually not that uncommon in Cambodia. In fact, its quite the regional delicacy. Tarantulas are sold on the streets, like in an Indian fish market, sometimes even as a roadside snack. Apparently, deep frying these creepy little creatures brings out some very amusing flavours. Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, this scary little guy had no idea what was coming for him. 

Maggot Cheese

Casu Marzu, or Maggot cheese is an Italian (Sardinian) sheep's milk cheese that is deliberately infested with LIVE MAGGOTS. That's right. It is ideally consumed after the cheese has been processed through the maggots' digestive system. So basically, if I was to do some creative advertising for this foul product, I'd probably sell it as "Cheesy feces." Although ironically enough, this dairy product is considered so grotesque, it's actually illegal to produce and sell it in Italy. So there goes my career in international advertising.

Balut

Two words - Duck Fetus. I know that most of us like our eggs unfertilised (no pun intended), but in the Philippines, they like to have their cake and eat it too. Only in this case, it's not cake, but an incubated duck egg with a growing fetus in it, boiled alive. They claim that the crunch of the developing bones gives the egg a unique texture. Sometimes, chicken eggs are used as a substitute for duck eggs, but given that the latter is slightly bigger and more substantial, it is preferred over the chicken egg. I mean, I understand what they're going for nutritionally, I suppose. But it looks a little unappetising to say the least, as far as the aesthetics are concerned, don't you think? 

This isn't the only creepy culinary stuff in the market, I promise. There's always Rocky Mountain Oysters (Hint: They're not really oysters), Blood pudding and Haggis, but these are the food items that I found the most cringe - inducingly amusing. 

I sincerely hope you didn't discover this page right before dinner.