Unusual Foods

There are a lot of strange foods out there.

 Food.  Glorious food.  There are a billions of types of food out there.  Some are much better than others in the opinions of many.  There are some that are considered repulsive in some cultures and are delicacies in others.  It's all a matter of opinion.  Nevertheless, here is a list of what I think are some of the strangest foods in the world.

Fugu Fish

 Ah yes, the puffer fish.  I used to live these funny little things when I was little.  They are quite normal little fellows until you startle them.  Then they inflate to triple their normal size and float away.  Most predators will not be able to swallow them when they are full of water.  Those that still try to eat a puffer fish are in for a bad surprise.  The fish is covered in highly toxic spines that have a lethal neurtoxin that is 1,200 times as powerful as cyanide.  A single fish could kill 30 adult humans.

Beauty can be deadly

This toxin is made by angry bacteria that live inside the fish.  A victim's nervous system slowly shuts off bit by bit.  First a person's fingers go numb, then their arms, then it seeps through their chest causing spasms and  vomiting, then their head goes numb, and finally their brain goes inactive causing their death.  Though the first four stages they remain consciousness.

And yet with all of that lethality, Fugu Fish are a delicacy in Japan!  It takes two years of intensive training for a cook to be certified to cook these deadly dishes.  Even with the training, approximately 5 people die every year from eating Fugu.

On a lighter (but slightly groser) note lets go on to..

Stink Bugs!

Yes, that's right, stink bugs.  Those nasty beetles that spray foul liquids at their enemies and small children who just want to be their friends.  Stink bugs fires streams of reactive liquid that is cyanide based and smells terrible.  Although the liquid is not poisons it is very noxious so predictors and humans alike try to stay clear of these pests.

There are some people who actually eat these little monsters!  It is rather common in Mexico to stuff stink bugs in tacos.  There are known as jumil, chinche de monte, or xotlinilli (the Aztec name rather than Spanish).  

Hakari (Greenland Shark)

Also known as the Sleeper Shark, Grey Shark, Gurry Shark, or "Really-big-but-lazy-shark".  This shark is a very slow (usually less than 1mph) moving creature that patrols the frosty waves around the North Atlantic shores.  It can grow up to the size of a Great White Shark.  Unlike its ferocious cousin, the Sleeper Shark prefers to scavenge for its food and sometimes small fish (it's still best not to try and swim with them though). 

The shark's 1-1.5 ton frame would be a great source of food if it were not for one problem.  You guessed it!  The shark is full of trimethylamine oxide.  What?  It has a poison with effects that make people seem drunk and poison their nervous system making them unable to stand.  This doesn't stop the people of Greenland and Iceland who have found a way to make the poison even more potent!  O joy!

When a Greenland Shark is killed it is burred in the ground for several years or until it has experienced freezing and thawing several times.  The then rotten shark is excavated and boiled repeatedly.  It is then eatin as a great delicacy along with all the bacteria that it must have accumulated over that time.

Weird But Common Food

Two words.  BLUE CHEESE.  Think about it.  That stuff is strange.  It's cheese that is made by letting  mold grow on it.  MOLD.  You know, like the stuff that grows on dead trees, dead animals, leaf litter, and stuff that I forgot in the refrigerator in 2007!?  Seriously, mold!  Who's idea was this?  If we left the cheese to it's own devices it just might eat itself, crawl out of the fridge, and attack us in our sleep!

On a more serious note, Blue cheese is a very old concept.  The oldest strain of blue cheese is Roquefort which was made in the first century AD.  Gorgonzola was produced in the ninth century and Stilton in the twelfth.  It may be considered normal in western culture but I think that this stuff is one of the strangest foods out there.






If you really think about it these are all just a mater of opinion.  A dish could be perfectly normal in one country and the strangest thing in another.  We all have our tastes and can't imagine anyone else having different ones than we do.



Notice:  If you are easily disgusted or upset by the eating of baby animals do not read beyond the red text.  Consider this the end of your weird food journey and have a good time thinking about stink bugs and blue cheese for dinner.

Warning.

Balut

Originally a dish from the Philippines.  It is the embryo of a duck eating within the shell.   The embryo is usually still in development.  It is cooked with salt, chilli, garlic, and vinegar.   Before consumption the shell is peeled back to expose the yolk and chick within.  In the Philippines the dish is served at 17 days old.  In Vietnam the Balut is served around 20 days when the bones have begun to form giving it a crunchy texture.

I almost feel like taking back what I said earlier about food choices being mater of opinions.  Almost.

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