Disgusting Delicacies

Today, in my Indonesian class, my teacher was talking about how people eat stray dogs over there. People who sell food in a stand on the side of a road would just go looking for stray dogs and, when they found them, would cook them and sell the meat. Apparently it's really tasty to Indonesians, but personally I think it's just plain gross. And what about the dogs? Some child could be bawling there eyes out because their dog ran away, so the mother might take them out for a while and buy them some stuff to make the child feel better. But i the end, that poor little child could be eating his or her own pet! But anyway, that got me thinking...what are some of the weirdest foods to eat out there in the world?

1. Soft-boiled Fetal Duck

How gross does that look? Soft-boiled Fetal Duck, also known as balut, is found mainly in the Philippines and Vietnam. Balut is a fertilised duck egg, allowed to develop for a few weeks before being boiled. Once served, most peel back the outer-shell and enjoy 'slurping' the duck, beak, feathers, bones and everything else found in a small bird, with a pinch of salt.

2. Alive Octopus

Octopus, in a soup or something like that, might actually be not that bad (if I wasn't vegetarian). But ALIVE? No thanks! Alive Octopus is a common dish in Asia, whether it be a big octopus served in bite sized pieces, still wriggling, or a couple of small octopus that are trying to escape from your plate. According to some people I know, raw octopus is exactly how you would imagine it, rubbery, chewy and fairly tasteless. I've even heard some people say that if they ate a octopus tentacle, sometimes the suction cup would stick on the way down. But no one could say anything about what a live octopus tasted like, because they couldn't bring themselves to eat something that was still alive, feeling with pain every bite you take out of it...

3. Fermented 'Stink Heads'

After looking at this, I'm not sure I even want to write much about it. So I will quickly explain:

Stink heads are found in Alaska. They are salmon heads that have been left in a fermenting pit (large holes in the ground), a plastic or wooden barrel and maybe even a plastic food storage bag, where it is then left for a couple of weeks. When harvested, it is served as a mushy sort-of dish.

4. Fugu

I'm pretty sure a fugu fish, found in Japan, aren't really that gross. In fact, they're rather cute. But fatally poisonous. If you've watched The Simpsons, you'll know what I'm talking about when Homer Simpson eats a 'poisonous fish'. Well, this is that exact fish. If not cut properly, So even though it's not really disgusting at all, I felt it still deserved a place on this list. Annual fugu poisoning deaths are less than they were a few years back, but many still die from it. No antidote exists for this sort of poison, so the question is: Why keep serving it?

5. Bat Soup

The way this is made is by catching a fruit, mouse or fox bats alive. They then throw them into a large pot of boiling water, still alive. Finally, once boiled to the desired texture, it's made into a paste using thai herbs. Or, to make bat soup, they add several other ingredients with water. 

6. Baby Mice Wine

In Korea, this is meant to be a healing tonic, although I'm not certain on what it's actually meant to be healing. Apparently it tastes like raw gasoline. Even worse though, the mice aren't just in there for looks and taste, there there to actually swallow! How revolting!

7. Kopi Luwak

Now this one definitely deserves to be on this list! These are made into coffee and are made from coffee beans. Seems normal enough so far. But it's the process these beans go through. The coffee beans are swallowed and digested by a civet cat and then excreted whole. You then make the coffee like you would with any other. Apparently the acids and enzymes in the civets digestive system apply special qualities to the coffee that make it a special delicacy.

8. Widgety Grubs

If your from Australia, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say widgety grubs. Aboriginals eat them. Their about the size of a human thumb. You eat the raw, even while their still wriggling to escape. The main rule about eating widgety grubs is to always bite their heads off first, other wise they'll bite you!

That's as far as I'm going to go tonight, as I have other things I should be doing. Look out for a sequel to this post, as I'm sure there are even more disgusting foods out there, just waiting to be picked to be written about on here!