Hold on to your stomach! Ten meals for the bravest of diners.
10. Fried Brain Sandwiches: Yup, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Surprisingly, this dish remained fairly popular (or at least available) in the heartland of America until fairly recently (Damn you, mad cow!). Now, apparently it is still available in some remote regions of the Ohio River Valley, if you’re itching to experience the true taste of knowledge.
9. Rocky Mountain OystersThe famed fried bull testicles of Colorado! My question is, what’s so special about bull’s testicles? Have the people of the Rocky Mountains tried other kinds? Also, does eating one make you more or less of a man…?
8. HakarlYou can find this fermented shark meat in most grocery stores in Iceland, where it is considered a delicacy. Apparently the fermentation process (in which the shark meat is buried underground for 2-4 months) causes the slab to reek of ammonia, just like urine! To top it off, Anthony Bourdain has claimed that this is the most disgusting food he has ever muscled down. Considering his resume, that is truly impressive.
7. PachaPacha is an Iraqi dish consisting of a sheep’s entire head, which is boiled and then served on a platter, eyeballs and all. Imagine eating the skin directly off of a face, all the while making eye contact, and gradually exposing the bone beneath… You know what, make sure before you eat this that it isn’t actually an underhanded threat from a drug lord.
6. EscamolesThe giant Liometopum lays its large eggs in northern Mexico and the southwest of the USA, mainly occupying the roots of agave; the eggs are harvested, then cooked with butter and served in guacamole tacos. Apart from the fact that each taco can contain about 30 grams of ants, what’s truly horrifying is that they look and taste an awful lot like rice with cheese—so be aware of what’s in that guacamole!
5. ShirakoOkay, so we already have one instance of male-genitalia-turned-food on this list, but, unfortunately, this one is much more nauseating. It is served as a cluster of white, rubbery sacs, all of which are filled with the seminal fluids of an adult male cod (don’t feel bad, I would spit it out too).
4. Casu MarzuCasu Marzu is a special type of Italian cheese that has been purposefully infested with cheese fly larvae. And yes, they are alive, and are known to jump up to 6 inches in an attempt to escape the oozing cheese-carcass below. Occasionally these larvae will even survive long enough to eat at the walls of your intestine, resulting in heavy bleeding, puking and diarrhea. Mmmm!
3. Baby Mice WineThis one is just sad! Baby mice are sometimes drowned and fermented alive in wine in certain parts of Korea and China, yielding a beverage that has been described as “gasoline flavored,” and which apparently has curative properties. They’re kind of like the worms at the bottle of tequila bottles, except 100% more likely to make you vomit.
2. BalutBalut consists of the partially developed embryo of a duck, still in the egg, which is then boiled and served. The result is a leathery, slight crunchy morsel (it’s crunchy because of the bones). Before you jump to conclusions, I’ve heard this terrifying concoction actually just tastes like chicken!
1. Any Sort of TongueWould you really want to taste something that could taste you…?
Original Author: Jacob Lifton