Yes, for those who would not squirm; brave to try extreme foods, we have some surprise for you from the four corners of the earth. For some, do not think, just eat!
Here are some of the real food oddities.
Rocky Mountain Oysters
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| Not for the Weak Hearted |
Don't think they are the every day oysters served at prestigious french restaurants. These are different. What is so strange about oysters? Probably the fact that they're not the kind you find at the bottom of the ocean.
It is but rather a fancy name given to deep-fried testicles of a buffalo, bull or boar. Rocky Mountain oysters (also called Prairie Oysters) are well-known and regularly enjoyed, in certain parts of the United States and Canada, generally where cattle ranching is prevalent. The testicles are peeled, boiled, rolled in a flour mixture, and fried, then generally served with a nice cocktail sauce.
Haggis
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| Scottish Delight |
This is a traditional Scottish dish, haggis is made with the minced heart, liver and lung of a sheep mixed with onion, spices, oatmeal, salt and stock, and boiled in the sheep's stomach for a few hours.
Larousse Gastronomique, a popular encyclopedia of gastronomic delights, claims that haggis has "an excellent nutty texture and delicious savory flavor."
Haggis is available year-round in Scottish supermarkets and made with an artificial casing rather than a sheep's stomach. In fact some are sold in cans to be heated in a microwave before eating. Similar dishes can be found in other European countries with goat, pork or beef used instead of sheep.
Casu Marzu
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| Rare Living Cheese |
Found in the city of Sardinia in Italy,
casu marzu is a cheese that is home to live insect larvae. These larvae are deliberately added to the cheese to promote a level of fermentation that is close to decomposition, at which point the cheese's fats are broken down. The tiny, translucent worms can jump up to half a foot if disturbed, which explains why some people prefer to brush off the insects before enjoying a spoonful of the pungent cheese.So, eat with care if you do not want jumping jellybean larvae in your plate!
Fugu
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| Deadly Delight |
Fugu is the Japanese word for the poisonous puffer fish, filled with enough of the poison
tetrodotoxin to be lethal. Only specially-trained chefs, who undergo two to three years of training and have passed an official test, can prepare the fish. Some chefs will choose to leave a minute amount of poison in the fish to cause a tingling sensation on the tongue and lips as
fugu can be quite bland. Perhaps the fuss of
fugu is more in surviving the experience than the actual taste of the deadly fish.So, are you game?
Sannakji
Finally, we have the
sannakji.
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| Live Tentacle Meal |
With
sashimi and
sushi readily available the world over, eating raw seafood is no longer considered a dining adventure. This Korean delicacy, the
sannakji however, is something quite different, as the seafood isn't quite dead. Live baby octopus are sliced up and seasoned with sesame oil. The tentacles are still squirming when this dish is served and, if not chewed carefully, the tiny suction cups can stick to the mouth and throat. This is not a dish for the faint hearted!
There are other stranger foods, I am sure, but we will deal with them again in another posting.
Meanwhile, happy meals to you!
