When visiting overseas, a true foodie never hesitates to immerse oneself in the local cuisine. But there comes the point where our bizarre and amazing gastronomic encounters turn into something just plain strange. Have you ever wondered which meals are the strangest?
Most of the time, strange foods are just different from what you’re used to, but occasionally, we may very readily describe them as disgusting cuisine. Do you like to try new foods, or do you like to eat the familiar fan favorites when you eat? To eat some strange meals, you might need to be a sandwich short of a picnic, but at least you can brag about having tried the strangest cuisines on earth.
- Locusts, Israel
At what point do locust swarms stop becoming annoying? When they are a specialty in the area, of course! Even while plagues are inconvenient, at least this one also serves as a crunchy Kosher meal. Israelis eliminate these pests by eating locusts since they are the only bug that is regarded as Kosher and a significant source of protein, killing two pests with one stone. Locusts that have been deep-fried and dipped in chocolate are practically swarming around the streets. Will you have the fortitude to bite? Insects undoubtedly rank among the strangest foods but don’t be shocked if you see certain creepy crawlies in various restaurants worldwide.
- Century Egg, China
Century eggs, sometimes called thousand-year eggs or eggs of a hundred years, are a well-known delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Even though it is essentially a rotten egg, suppose they preferred not to call it one. A combination of clay, ash, and salt is used to preserve duck, chicken, or quail eggs for months, at which point the yolk becomes dark green or grey and has a pungent sulfur smell, indicating that the product is ready for consumption.
- Jellied Moose Nose, Canada
Century eggs, sometimes called thousand-year eggs or eggs of a hundred years, are a well-known delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Even though it is essentially a rotten egg, suppose they preferred not to call it one. A combination of clay, ash, and salt is used to preserve duck, chicken, or quail eggs for months, at which point the yolk becomes dark green or grey and has a pungent sulfur smell, indicating that the product is ready for consumption.
- Casu Marzu, Italy
Do you enjoy specialized cheeses? All is well, but what about the expensive cheeses ridden with real-life maggots? Too much? Since the next strange meal is Italian, it must be tasty, right? Casu marzu sometimes referred to as “rotten cheese,” is a traditional Sardinian dish prepared with Pecorino that has long since expired. The Pecorina is mixed with the larvae of cheese flies (Piophila Casei), which hatch inside, burrow about, digest the fats, and turn the mixture into a soft, creamy cheese. This furthers the bizarreness of the situation. You may decide whether or not to eat the larvae in yours.
- Fried Tarantulas, Cambodia
Under the Khmer Rouge period, hungry Cambodians initially started eating spiders as an eight-legged meal. The hairy arachnids are still prized as a delicacy across the nation today; spiders are so often consumed there that one Cambodian town was given the moniker Spiderville. They reportedly taste something like crab, so maybe this is a new fad in eating bugs that you can support.
That concludes our list of the world’s strangest meals. With the exception of the surströmming, which you should not do, you occasionally simply have to try strange cuisine.