Cambodia: Crispy Tarantulas
If you have a phobia of spiders, this could be one way to face your fear! This Cambodian delicacy is extremely popular throughout the country and is thought to have originated during the reign of Khmer Rouge when food was scarce.
The spiders are marinated in a mixture of MSG, salt and sugar and then fried in oil and garlic until crispy. The snack is described as being quite tasty and not dissimilar to crab meat.
Iceland: Harkal
If you ever find yourself strolling around an Icelandic supermarket, be prepared to find rotten fish in the chilled aisle, that is perfectly okay to eat. Harkal is eaten year-round in Iceland and is Greenland shark that has been allowed to ferment. Eating Greenland shark fresh is actually poisonous but letting the fish decay by hanging it in huge wooden huts, allows the meat to become edible.
First time eaters often gag at the ammonia smell and putrid taste. However, Icelanders cannot get enough of it, and often chase it with a shot of local spirit.
Italy: Casu Marzu
If rotten Greenland shark didn’t make your skin crawl, the next cheese offering from Italy will. Literally. What looks like a round of soft and creamy cheese, made from sheep’s milk, is actually crawling with live maggots.
The Sardinian cheese is made by cutting the top off a block of Pecorino so that flies can lay eggs on it. Once these hatch, the larvae eat through the cheese, making it extremely creamy. This is a cheese for only the brave but is rumoured to be extremely strong and rich.
South Korea: Silkworm Larvae
If you head to South Korea, you can enjoy juicy silkworm larvae. This is a very popular snack that is cooked in a fragrant broth and is usually sold by street vendors across the country. However, you can also buy it canned in most supermarkets.
According to those who were daring enough to try them, despite the unpleasant smell, they taste quite nice and have a bit of a nutty flavour to them.
USA: Southern Fried Rattlesnake
Served throughout the Southwestern United States, this interesting dish is quite out there, yet sneakily disguised with breadcrumbs!
If you weren’t told what it was you may not even notice, as once coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried, it apparently looks and tastes similar to fried chicken or even alligator if you’ve ever tried that!
Mexico: Escamoles
Ant larvae salad anyone? Escamoles may appear like a tasty salad, rich with seasoning, vegetables, and healthy grains. However, cast your eye closer, those grains are ant larvae!
This spine-tingling cuisine is courtesy of the Aztecs who harvested ant larvae from the roots of maguey and agave plants. If you don’t fancy them in a salad, you can often find them in omelettes and tacos. Those who try escamoles often comment that they have a nutty taste and are quite pleasant.
Canada: Prairie Oysters
Now we don’t like to lower the tone and Canadian prairie oysters may seem like a harmless fish dish. The delicacy, which is also known as Rocky Mountain Oysters, is actually specially prepared bull testicles. They can be sautéed, fried, or stuffed and they are loved so much in Canada that there is an annual Testicle Festival honouring the dish.
Canada isn’t the only country to indulge this questionable offering. In Italy, China, and Turkey, lamb fries are the same part of the anatomy and are served with gravy or dips!
Alaska: Eskimo Ice Cream
Don’t be fooled by the name! This ice cream is no Ben and Jerry’s or Haagen-Dazs, in fact, it’s not even made with cream!
Known by locals as Akutaq, this ‘ice cream’ is actually made with a combination of reindeer, seal and moose fat, plus the addition of fish, dried salmon eggs or berries, depending on what’s available!
Japan: Fugu
Although a delicacy in Japan, the thought of Fugu has many running for the hills. Fugu is a type of Japanese pufferfish that contains tetrodotoxin; a killer nerve-paralysing toxin. One pufferfish contains enough of the substance to kill 30 people and just a single drop can be fatal.
Chefs who cook Fugu will have spent years training as just any mistake in preparation could result in death. Those who are tempted to try Fugu can either have it in a stew, grilled, or as sashimi.
China: Century Egg
This rather unattractive looking egg is essentially rotten! Preserved in a mixture of ash and clay for some months, the egg yolk turns a ghastly green colour and the white turns into a brown, translucent jelly!
The smell is also quite interesting … and compared to the order of ammonia or sulphur! Hold your nose and maybe close your eyes and it tastes like any other hard-boiled egg apparently!
