These bizarre foods are eaten by different cultures and countries from around the world but they are a bit odd at first sight! Would you try any of these?
Stargazy Pie (Pie with fish looking up) – England
A traditional pie from Mousehole (pronounced Mouzul) in Cornwall in honor of a fisherman who had fished alone during a stormy weather.
Drunken Shrimp – China
No cooking required, just fresh-water shrimps stunned in “baijiu” (strong liquor).
Airag – Mongolia
Airag is a kind of fermented mare’s milk known to have significant health benefits. It contains alcohol.
Wasp Crackers – Japan
These crackers can be bought in the Japanese town of Omachi just 100 miles outside of Tokyo.
Lutefisk – Norway
A traditional dish of some Nordic countries, the Lutefisk is an aged stockfish or dried whitefish treated with lye.
Kangaroo meat – Australia
Kangaroo meat is thought to taste like a cross between venison and buffalo meat.
Akutaq (Eskimo Ice Cream) – Alaska
Eskimo ice cream can sound sweet and creamy but it isn’t. It is made up of reindeer fat, seal oil, freshly fallen snow, berries and ground fish.
Haggis – Scotland
Haggis is sheep’s stomach stuffed with sheep’s liver, lungs and heart, onions, oatmeal, and other spices. This is simmered for three hours.
Beondegi – Korea
Beondegi are steamed or boiled silkworm pupae seasoned and eaten as a snack. It is said to taste like a mixture of raw chestnuts, cooked soy beans and mushrooms or a wet bark from a tree.
Turtle soup – China, Singapore and United States
Savory and gamey, turtle soup is known to be a tasty treat and a traditional Chinese dish especially eaten after pregnancy. Veal is used when making mock turtle soup.
Balut – Philippines
Balut is a developing duck embryo, boiled alive and eaten whole from its shell. It tastes like a regular boiled egg with duck broth and an extra crunch inside from the half-formed duckling’s bones.
Casu Marzu – Italy
Casu Marzu is sheep milk cheese… with thousands of wriggling maggots. The live maggots indicate that this cheese is good to eat.
Deep-fried Tarantula – Cambodia
These hairy creatures can be at least worth the try for they are thought to taste like spareribs, with expected spider eggs and excrement inside.
Cherry Blossom Meat – Japan
The cherry blossom meat is sold during the cherry blossom season, but it isn’t the pink flower that is served but rather the pink flesh of raw horse meat. In other words, you’ll get a dish of horse sashimi.
Grasshoppers– Thailand and Mexico
Depends on how they are marinated and fried, grasshoppers can taste like crispy chicken, old raisins, or just a crunchy insect flavored with oil.
Jumiles – Mexico
Spicy, intense and tastes like picante, jumiles or stink bugs are often enjoyed ground and mixed with salsa.
Shirako – Japan
If you can have caviar or female fish eggs, then you can try out a male fish’s sperm sacs a.k.a. Shirako.
Blodplättar – Sweden and Finland
Similar to black pudding, Blodplättar is a thinner and crispier version made by whipping pork blood with milk, flour and seasoning, cooked in a frying pan like pancakes.
Escargots à la bourguignonne – France
Escargots could be already the most popular among the rest included in this list but these cooked land snails deserve to be mentioned.
Bird’s nest soup – Southeast Asia
Not really made out of an actual bird’s nest, the so-called “nest” is in fact bird’s dried and hardened saliva. It is believed to have medicinal properties.
Sannakji – Korea
Sannakji is simply freshly killed octopus chopped to small wriggly bits. You dip them in sauce, eat, let those bits move for a moment and done!
Damamian (Rotten pork) – Taiwan
It’s a rare dish by Taiwanaese aborigines made by raw pork, rice and salt fermented in a jar or pot for 30 days.
Century Egg – China
It doesn’t really take a century or a millennium to preserve this egg. These eggs are preserved in an saline solution until its ph is raised to a safe level giving it a dark color.
Cockscombs – Italy and France
These red fleshy parts on rooster’s heads are enjoyed as garnish or additional ingredients for sauces.
Soup Number Five – Philippines
Make sure you know what soup you’re ordering because if it’s number 5, it surely is a tasty broth of bull’s penis and testicles.
Zaza-mushi – Japan
Available in jars and cans sold in retail shops, zaza-mushi or stonefly larvae are often cooked with sugar and soy sauce.
Dragonfly – Indonesia and China
Dragonflies are boiled or fried and they simply taste like soft-shell crabs.
Locust – Israel
A swarm of locusts started to feast on the crops of southern Israel and guess what, they took the blessing and these only kosher insects are now a delicacy.
Crocodile meat – Australia, Southeast Asia and Africa
Crocodile meat contains high protein and low fat. The taste might differ depending on how you cook it like grilling and frying.
Tong Zi Dan (Virgin boy eggs) – Dongyang, China
These eggs are boiled in the urine of boys, preferably under the age of 10. Yep.
Rocky mountain oysters – United Sates
These oysters are peeled, coated in flour and deep-fried. Oh wait, they’re not real oysters — they’re the testicles of bull calves.
Sago Delight – Southeast Asia
Sago delight or fried sago worms are surprisingly tasty like sweet shrimps.
Cobra Heart – Vietnam
Dunk in a cobra heart in a glass of cobra blood and venom mixed with rice vodka. Drink it up and never leave a drop.
Mopane Worms – Southern Africa
Mopane worms can be eaten dry like potato chips or cooked and drenched in sauce. These worms contain three times the amount of protein as beef.
Jellied Moose Nose
Boil the moose nose with onion, garlic, spices and vinegar. Discard the bones and cartilages. Slice and you’ll get layers of white and red meat ready to be served.
Huitlacoche (Corn smut) – Mexico
Huitlacoche is a fungus which grows naturally on ears of corn usually used in crepes, quesadillas, or tacos. It also known as corn truffle.
Hákarl – Iceland
Known as the “Shark from hell”, Hakarl is shark meat dried in the wind until the skin seals the meat inside which then will undergo fermentation. The dry skin can be removed after three months and the meat is all ready to be served.
Termites – Kenya
The termites eaten in Kenya aren’t the ones that you see munching on wooden cupboards.These local termites are either eaten live or fried.
Muktuk (Frozen whale skin and blubber) – Greenland
Muktuk is skin and blubber of the bowhead whale that is sliced, salted, and eaten raw. The taste could be similar to fresh coconut or fried eggs.
Shiokara – Japan
Ika no Shiokara, as they call it in Japan, are fermented squid guts mixed with the squid’s gastric juices and seasoned with a bit of miso, salt, soy sauce, sake, red pepper, and yuzu peel.
Escamoles – Mexico
Escamoles are edible larvae and pupae of ants harvested from the roots of the Agave tequilana or Agave americana plants in Mexico. These are often pan-fried with butter and spices and can be found in tacos or omelettes. They have a poppy texture and slight nutty taste.
Yin-yang fish – Taiwan and China
Yin-yang fish is deep-fried fish that remains alive after cooking. This is now prohibited in Taiwan.
Water bugs – Thailand
Known as maeng da in Thailand, these bugs are mostly extracted and added to chili-based sauces. They can also be boiled and deep-fried.
Shark Fin Soup – China
Shark fin soup is a luxurious dish often served at special occasions like weddings and banquets. Even though it’s a traditional dish, the sales of shark fin has declined rapidly as young Chinese become environmentally conscious and the government’s anti-corruption campaign discourages showy banquets and conspicuous consumption.
Waxworms
Waxworms are usually sauteed or roasted. The taste is said to be a cross between a pine nut and an enoki mushroom.
Steak Tartare – France
It is a meat dish made from minced raw beef — yes, it should be raw. It is often served with onions, capers, seasonings and topped with a raw egg yolk.
Crickets – Mexico, Thailand, Cambodia
Crickets are eaten fried, sauteed, boiled, and roasted. You can actually do a lot with crickets. There are even cricket burgers available in New York.
Starfish – China
The starfish’s hard outer shell is broken and there you’ll find the meat inside which was thought to have a texture between toothpaste and ground beef.
Spam – United States
The classic variety of Spam is made up of this number one ingredient: chopped pork shoulder meat.
Stink bugs – Africa
Can be eaten live or cooked, stink bugs often give off an apple flavor to sauces. These bugs are also known to have analgesic and tranquilizing properties.
Palolo worms – Pacific Islands
The worms are traditionally eaten alive, fried in butter or baked in breadfruit leaves in an umu (earth oven).
Scorpion – Thailand and China
It was said that frying scorpions can neutralize the venom and the tail is its nutritious part. Fried scorpions have a taste similar to greasy, buttery popcorn.
Whale Meat – Japan, United States, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Iceland
Each country has their own take in cooking whale meat. It can be boiled and served with potatoes, fermented, or eaten raw.
Walking Stick – Asia and Papua New Guinea
Walking sticks are actually insects and the taste is somewhat leafy.
Frog Legs – France, Southeast Asia and other
Often fried, frog legs taste mild and flaky. The taste can be compared to a cross between chicken breast, shrimp and crab.
Tripe – All Over the World
Though it may not be strange anymore because almost the whole world eats it, tripe is in fact a type of edible offal found in stomachs from various farm animals.
Fugu – Japan
Fugu or blowfish is luxurious delicacy in Japan. Fugu is served often as sashimi but it can also be deep-fried, baked, or used in salads. Chefs need to go undergo training to receive a fugu-preparing license because this fish contain a poison that is 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide.
Snake wine – China and Vietnam
If you don’t want to risk having a beating cobra heart in your throat then maybe a shot of snake wine can be for you. The ethanol in the rice wine where the snake is soaked in kills the venom. Drinking a shot is believed to boost one’s virility.
Cockroach – China
Cockroaches (American cockroaches) in China are ground and stuffed in pills and advertised as a cure for stomach, heart, and liver ailments. But if you wanna eat it, these insects are fried twice and when eaten they could be similar to an overcooked french fry with a weird aftertaste.
Pillbugs (Woodlice)
Pills bugs are actually crustaceans that are prepared by putting them in a plastic bag for 24 hours to empty out their guts. After that, they can be cooked straight into the boiling water. It tastes like a tiny shrimp.
Mealworms
Mealworms contain about 25% protein and 12% fat. When toasted, they can taste like roasted nuts or seeds.
Midge Fly – East Africa
These flies (also called Blind Mosquitoes) are pressed into solid blocks to make a food called Kunga Cake.
Witchetty Grub – Australia
The grub can be eaten raw or cooked in hot pan until brown. The taste was said to be comparable to fried egg with a nutty flavor.
Salo – Ukraine
Salo is mainly pork fat that can be eaten in different ways: smoked, cooked, or raw. If eaten raw, it is first dipped in salt and finished with a shot of samagon or vodka.
Khash – Middle East, East Europe and Turkey
A delicacy often enjoyed as a festive winter meal, Khash is a dish made by boiling cow’s feet. It is eaten with a flatbread called lavash and shots of vodka.
Marmite or Vegemite – UK, New Zealand, Australia
Marmite and Vegemite are both yeast extracts that gives off a concentrated umami flavor. It can be mixed in sauces, flavoring meat, or just use as a savory spread.
Guinea pig – South America
Called cuyes in Spanish, Guinea pigs can be grilled and deep fried. It can be eaten from head to toe, and the taste is similar to an oily and tender combination of pork and rabbit.
Sompopos (Flying Ant) – Guatemala
Flying ant queens are collected and roasted on a clay griddle with salt and lime juice. Sompopos taste like buttery pork rinds.
Southern Fried Rattlesnake – United States
Rattlesnakes, when properly prepared, can be a good substitute for beef, pork, and chicken. Its meat has a unique and light flavor.
Nsenene – Uganda
Nsenene (long-horned grasshoppers) is a delicacy in Uganda. They can be fried with their own fat and flavored with onions, boiled or sun-dried.
Centipede – China
Centipedes are fried to a crisp and skewered. It can taste like dried spaghetti noodles or nothing at all.
Surstromming – Sweden
Surstromming is fermented Baltic sea herring. It is often wrapped in buttered tunnbröd, a type of sweetened flat bread, with slices of almond potatoes and diced onion. It is popular for its pungent smell.
Cat Meat – East Asia
Particularly in China, cat meat can be turned into meatballs served with soup. Cat meat is also known to be eaten in some parts of Peru and Switzerland.
Hornworms
Hornworms are starved or fed with green peppers before they can be eaten. The hornworms’ flavor is like a combination of tomatoes, shrimp, and crab.
Dung Beetle – India
Dung beetles live in fresh cow dung but when used for cooking, they are first cleaned by removing their abdomens. Then, they are dehydrated, seasoned, and cooked often with pork and vegetables.
Stinky Tofu – Taiwan
Stinky tofu is fermented tofu that can be deep-fried, stewed, steamed, or even eaten raw. The name already suggests that the smell is quite unforgettable.
Cicada – US, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia
Cicadas are usually tasteless but can be delicious when mixed with other flavors. They are usually deep-fried but can also be roasted and boiled together with spices.
Chicken’s Feet – East Asia, Caribbean, South America and South Africa
There are several ways to cook chicken’s feet which is often served as a beer snack or main dish. It can be marinated in soy sauce and black beans in China, breaded and fried in Mexico, used in soup in Jamaica, or skewered and grilled like barbecue in the Philippines.
Fly Pupae
Fly pupae can be parboiled and fried. They are crunchy and have a rich flavor similar to blood pudding.
Mosquito Eggs – Mexico
Mosquito eggs are first dried then roasted. They can be wrapped in tortillas and served with a squeeze of lime or lemon.
Dried Lizards – China
Dried lizards aren’t eaten but used for additional taste in soup. It is known for its health benefits like stamina increase, weigh loss, and protection from fever and other ailments.
Salmiakki (Denmark, Finland, Netherlands)
Kanikko (Japan)
Falafel Bissli (Israel)
Marmite Crisps (England)
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But mosquito eggs? Nice! Sweet (or however that tastes) revenge for all the blood they took from me!
Even in Florence there's a typical meal called "lampredotto": it's one of four cow's stomach boiled in water with tomatoes, celeries, carrots and served in a sandwich with green sauce ("extravergine" olive oil, caper and parsley), hot chili pepper or simply with pepper and salt.
In many other place of Italy, pork blood is used to make sweet pies.
Also in Sardinia and Rovigo (city near Venice) the people ate cats