Bizarre Food – Travel with your taste buds:
Today I have a guest post about Bizarre Food from Sophie at @deliveryhero_au. Here it is!
Any experienced traveller knows that feeling when you come across a national/must-try food in another part of the world only to be grossed-out/intrigued/excited and determined to give it a try.
Below are five of the more unique culinary offerings, or as some would say, Bizarre Food from around the globe.
Bizarre foods – My Top 5
Bizarre Food Example One: Sea slugs
Korea offers sea slugs to the world. Whilst still alive they are picked out of a jar, chopped up and offered to you in as a tasty treat.
Bizarre Food Example Two: Oyster shooters
Oysters aren’t ‘weird’ you may be thinking. Well they are when they are followed by a shot of Vodka! Sea-food and alcohol, a sure fire way to a pukey night for some!
Bizarre Food Example Three: Half-Hatched Chicken egg
Well this is somewhat self-explanatory. Head to the Philippines for a nice dish of a half-formed chicken fetus. Just pop into your mouth feathers and all.
Bizarre Food Example Four: Haggis
Not wanting to leave Europe out this Scottish delicacy is stomach-churning for some…sheep’s liver, lungs and and heart minced with a few vegetables. There’s even the Burn’s poem to present the meat.
Bizarre Food Example Five: Snake Blood
And what do wash down the best of the world’s delicacies with? A snake blood shot of course! The medicinal properties of snake blood are said to include magical and sexual powers. But a shot will set you back US$200…so perhaps not best if you’re travelling on a budget.
Firstly I’d like to say I’ve have tried all of these delicacies (apart from the snake blood – but I will do if you give me 200 dollars!) but when I’m back in Aus I like to stick to the more chilled out dishes and a Sydney food delivery never fails to hit the spot…a nice pizza delivery is always a winner (and a lot less chewy than sea slugs!).
Honourable Mention: Chicken Feet!
More Bizarre Food Stuff!
If this list of Bizarre Food has made you hungry (if it has, then you might be bizarre yourself!), check out my 52 Tips for Weird Food and Drinks!
Or maybe Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World of Food: Brains, Bugs, and Blood Sausage.
Mmm I’m still missing sea slugs from that list, well something to look forward when I get to South Korea 🙂 But snake blood doesn’t cost 200USD. I can’t now remember what I paid for my snake meal in Hanoi few months back, but it was less than 20USD (per person), and that included the the snake blood shot, squeezed in front of us from a snake that was alive a minute ago. Here’s my story about it: Eating Snake in Le Mat, Hanoi Style
Cool!
Love this line up of bizarre food. It’s an ode to the flexibility of the human appetite. You get fed see slugs as a kid and you love them. Half formed chicken eggs? What’s gross about that if you’ve seen them since you were little?
But if you don’t grow up that way, like me, well, we react very differently. I once met a woman from the Far East (I don’t remember the country) who would get sick smelling cheese, and if her American husband had eaten it, she wouldn’t go near him for hours. Cheese! What’s not to love?
It’s all about trying the unfamiliar! What’s unusual for one culture is the norm in another!
One of the weirdest dishes I’ve ever tried was on Hawaii’s Big Island, where I had chocolate-covered cuttlefish. My lady, Mary, would tell you that everything tastes better covered in chocolate, but I can assure you with authority that this is not the case. It tasted like a rubber tire had had sex with a squid, popped out a little squid tire baby that got dehydrated while walking across a desert so that it was dry and covered it salty sweat, then fell into the chocolate river while taking the Willy Wonka chocolate factory tour. I’m glad I tried it, but I think it would take cash money to get me to eat it again.
Sounds like a delicacy I should try…NOT!
Wow! I never knew about the sea slugs in Korea 😛 I’m going to have to try that someday when I head back.
Go for your life!