Stomach-Churning Facts About The World's Weirdest Foods
Everyone loves food, but some people take it over the edge. If you're a perish-hard foodie looking to travel the world and sample the weirdest meals and confections that the world has to offer, maybe pump the brakes for a minute and do some research beforehand to see if you really want to eat what some folks will serve up for you. But, for the most adventurous eaters, this list of 42 facts about some of the world's weirdest dishes might just get your mouth watering. For the rest of us, well...
42. What Are You Looking at?
It’s always an unusual experience to eat something while it’s looking at you. Stargazy Pie, from the Cornish village of Mousehole, in England, is a festive dish served on Tom Bawcock’s Eve (December 23) to celebrate the story of Bawcock, a 16th century fisherman who headed out into a storm and brought back a catch large enough to end a famine and feed the village’s starving residents. The pie is aptly named: the egg, potato, and fish pie is served garnished with fish heads baked into the crust, gazing skyward. It’s a nice decorative touch and allows the oils released from the fish heads during cooking to flow back into the pie. Yum!
41. A Poisonous Delicacy
Finding food in northern climes can be difficult, and in Iceland, they often have to be creative, as vegetables are extremely hard to grow in the cold and rocky environment. To make matters worse, the meat of the Greenland shark, which lives in the surrounding waters, is poisonous when eaten fresh. To make the meat edible, the gutted and beheaded sharks are buried in shallow graves and compressed with stones so the poisonous internal fluids that allow it to live in such cold waters can be drained out, making the meat safe to eat. After two to three months, it’s dug up and cut into strips, then hung to dry for several more months. The product is hákarl, cubes of this fermented shark meat that are served up or vacuum-packed for year-round consumption by Icelanders. The dish has an intense ammonia-rich odor and a strong fishy flavor. It was described by Anthony Bourdain as “the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing” he’d tried, and even Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern described it as “not for beginners".
40. The Great Outdoors
Sweden’s answer to hákarl is surstromming, Baltic sea herring fermented with just enough salt to prevent it from rotting. The fish are tinned in brine in Northern Sweden, where it’s cold enough for ideal fermentation conditions. Fermentation continues in the cans, so they often bulge slightly, and release a pungent gas when opened. For this reason, surstromming is traditionally eaten outdoors.
39. Keep Your Eye on the Ball
Tuna fish are very popular in Japan, and quite expensive, so it seems a shame to let any part of the sought-after fish go to waste. Tuna eyeballs can be bought for less than a dollar at supermarkets in Japan, and are very easy to cook: simply boil or steam and season with soy sauce or garlic. They reportedly taste just like squid, at a fraction of the price.
