When one looks upon a source of food
he or she usually judges it by the way it looks, the way it smells and only
after that the way it tastes.
When considering nutrition people
often chose vegetal, animal or mineral products that appealed to them by the
way they looked.
The cultures around the
world have each of them their strange type of food that
is considered not only to be disgusting but it is also classified as weird,
non-eatable, un-appealing etc.
What does exactly define such a food? How come a food considered weird in Europe is a gourmet dish in Thailand
or Bahamas Islands?
It seems people all over the world
grew accustomed with their own traditions in food and anything related to them
and that is why certain dishes seem impossible when you think of them.
Even if sometimes one is tempted to
try such a dish out just for the sake of adventure, the experience is a
memorable one and can certainly become a habit.
So…how about digging into
the international kitchen and discover the 10 strangest types of foodthat
have ever appeared on a plate.
10. VERES
The Veres is a Hungarian dish with
origins somewhere around the 15th century and during that age it was considered
a meal of the poor.
Originally was prepared
from the blood drained from the pig’s cut throat.
The blood was boiled until merely cooked and minced like meat, then it was
added boiled pig organs also minced and pieces of boiled bacon.
All the ingredients were
mixed with salt, pepper, hot paprika and water from the boiled organs and after
that the composition was packed inside cleaned pig intestines.
After that the Veres was put through
boiling water and left to dry in the attic. Now-a-days to the recipe is added
boiled rice in order to mild the blood taste.
It is served with red wine all over Hungary and in
the neighboring countries where it was imported over the years and it is
considered a delicacy. I guess it requires …taste.
9. NUTRIA
STEW
I would say…no way, but this habit of
eating this “rat” like creature comes from the far away China and during the
17th century spread all over the world.
Nutria is a rodent which
likes the water a lot, a mixture between the water rat and the beaver, and it
is a herbivore animal with a very beautiful fir. In the beginning they were
raised for their fir but soon during the great famine and the war became a valuable source of meat.
It is prepared as stew, boiled with
herbs and spices and chopped vegetables such as carrots and onions. In Russia
it is served as steak swimming in butter and bathed in white wine.
In France they make soup out of it
and in China they prepared almost 40 different dishes among which the weirdest
one is that one serving dry nutria meat in thin slices like carpacio.
8.
CRIADILLAS
Criadillas are bull testicles. As
everyone knows, from the dawn of times eating manly parts of a slain animal was
considered a source of virility. Still consuming such a dish takes a bit of the
chart to taste for adventure.
It is said they are very tasty but I
guess it takes a lot of courage to take on the trial of trying them.
The same name is given to the pig
testicles considered to have a stronger taste but a better “flavor”. They are
served grilled, boiled and then roasted or baked with garlic, onions or green
parsley. They are quite a challenge and the experience is not one to be
forgotten easily.
7. SILK
WORMS
Typical Asian dish, Korean to be more
specific, this food became popular all over the US and also in the great cities
of Europe where the Korean restaurants became popular.
Initially containing rotted baby worms not reaching maturity, the
recipe became more elaborate and started using mainly male worms “harvested”
after dieing posterior the female fertilization.
The worms are rolled through flour
and bread crumbs and fried in palm oil and after that served with a sweet-sour
sauce.
6. DONKEY
PENIS
The latest trend in Chinese kitchen where
anything eatable becomes fair game; this dish is something out of a horror
movie. Setting apart the disgusting idea and considering only the presentation
of this “phallic gourmet” dish, one’s stomach may turn upside
down at the sight of something purple hanging in a Chinese meat store or
presented on a lettuce platter at dinner.
It is served boiled or fried in oil,
or simply dried and sliced thin slice like salami.
5. CASU
MARZU
Casu Marzu is an Italian cheese made
in the island of Sardinia. The strangest part about it is that
in order to achieve the right level of fermentation close to decomposition,
this cheese is added a species of translucent worms.
This is done so the fat level will be
broken down. It is an ancient recipe and it is supposed to result a real
delicacy which… personally I am not tempted to try.
4. SEA
HORSES
In Asia, as the food is
concerned, the life puts the movie out of business. The innocent sweet little
sea horses are considered to be virility source so in spite of the fact that
they are endangered species, these little creatures continue to appear as a
dish on the menu of the Asian restaurants.
They are boiled in oil and
served with mustard sauce. They are said to be sweet but eating them seems
quite a crime against nature.
3. HAGGIS
Scottish originated, this dish
surpasses every imagination. The stomach of a sheep is emptied and washed,
rolled with onions and put to bake in the company of turnips and potatoes.
It is considered a delicacy and
became now-a-days a gourmet dish after being centuries ago the Scottish poor
sheep herder’s traditional food.
2. BOREWORS
The main dish of the African tribes, this combination of
barbecued cow and sheep intestines and served with herbs like aloe and cactus
is a nasty piece of work.
Of course when hunger is tormenting
one’s stomach, beggars can’t be choosers; but putting it next to other options
in African food this dish fails by comparison.
1. SNAKE
BLOOD
Top of the top in the weirdest foods
chart, this odd creation of the human mind recently presented on Discovery,
surpasses any other contestant.
Drained from slain king cobras in Thailand it is served as it is or mixed in drinks and is supposed to
grant strange virility increasing and magical healing.
It is a creation of “hunting for
money” Asian industry and leaving apart that, it must taste disgusting; it is a
crime against nature. Since a portion costs around $200-$250 dollars on the
black market, soon king cobras will become extinct.
In the end, whether they were born
from necessity or from the crazy idea of people looking for thrills, the
strangest foods of the world are experiences people tend to take on. Choosing
to try one has a lot to do with personal discipline and even more with way the
world we live in is seen through our very eyes.
uhm well this wasn't what i'd call pleasent but.. i clicked on it lol
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