Chickens' Feet
It’s unlikely you would find chickens’ feet at your local Chic-fil-a. That’s because chickens feet is a food more commonly found in Europe and Asia. There’s very little meat in a chicken’s foot, so most of it is chewy and gelatinous.
Black Pudding
Black pudding is not pudding; let’s get that out of the way right now. To make it, pigs blood is mixed with fat and oatmeal and then put into a casing. It’s usually fried or grilled as a round patty. But we’re guessing we could have stopped at pigs blood and moved on.
Guinea Pigs
The name ‘Guinea Pig’ is a bit of a misnomer as they aren’t pigs and aren’t from Guinea. While many Americans keep them as furry pets, those in South America use them for food. They’re said to be better for the environment and taste like a combination of pork and rabbit.
Tripe
While it may look like a harmless bowl of a delicious Italian food, tripe is the inner lining of a cow’s stomach. It’s incredibly chewy and should be eaten infrequently due to its high cholesterol, but also because, you know, it’s a cow’s gut.
Fried Rattlesnake
The idea of coming face to face with a live rattlesnake would send tingles up anyone’s spine. But, having it fried, cooked, and placed in front of you on a table might make you sick to your stomach. Regardless, people still eat this chewy reptilian food in America.
Frog Legs
Let’s hop on over to our amphibian friends, shall we? A delicacy in France and China, frog legs are usually deep fried and are said to taste like chicken. They’re also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, proteins, and other vitamins and minerals. But, they’re also frog legs, so we’re going to leave them where they belong – the water.
Century Eggs
No, century eggs are not actually one-hundred years old. They’re an egg that’s preserved using saline solution. They leave them preserved for a few weeks up to a month. Duck, chicken, and quail eggs can be used. Well, if you’re going to eat the green eggs, you might as well throw in some ham.
Escargot
Escargot is French for snail, and while that’s fairly common knowledge, it’s still pretty crazy people eat these things. Low in fat and high in nasty, escargot is the one food we all wish just didn’t exist.
Sago Delight
If a food has the word “delight” at the end of its name, that’s a bad sign. Sago Delight is a bowl of sago (a starch from certain palm trees), a ton of condensed milk, and fruit, creating a soupy concoction most likely avoided at potlucks.
Shark Fin Soup
Considered a delicacy by some and a nightmare to others, shark fin soup is bland and used as a broth for a variety of soups. It’s extremely expensive and mostly found at weddings, business banquets, or the bottom of a bucket.
Starfish
In America, finding a starfish on a beach is fun, but you’d never consider eating it. Diners in Japan, however, consider starfish a delicacy. They’re usually deep fried and put on a stick like a kabob. The skin isn’t edible and most of the food has to be scooped out from the inside.
Turtle Soup
At one point in the United States, turtle soup was a popular dish but faded off and is only served in certain parts of the states. Some of that could be due to conservation, or maybe people just realized eating turtle flesh was kind of gross.
Muktuk
Eaten in Northern Canada and Alaska, muktuk is straight up whale skin and blubber. No cooking necessary, the Inuit people sprinkle a little salt on the whale hide and eat it raw. They say it tastes like eggs.
Steak Tartare
People who like their meat well-done will want to run far away from steak tartare because it’s not cooked at all. That’s right, it’s cow meat at its most raw form. Of course, it’s seasoned and designed as a fancy delicacy. But if you can’t stomach the idea of scarfing down raw meat, order the steak, not the steak tartare.
Pickled Egg
Pickled eggs are hard-boiled eggs preserved in brine or vinegar. Many used to poke the egg before putting it in the solution but this was later considered dangerous to humans. Most of the time the eggs are left in the brine for months before serving.
Shiokara
Shiokara is a Japanese dish combining every worst idea into one recipe. The food, if we’re being loose with our definitions, is a collection of marine animals (like squid meat) chopped up or sliced and fermented in organs. It’s said to be such a weird taste that even native Japanese struggle with it and likely wash it down with some sake.
Huitlacoche
Huitlacoche, also known as corn smut, is a Mexican delicacy. In the simplest of terms, it comes from fungus grown on corn, and looks like large white stones. It’s used in a variety of meals including enchiladas and soups. Here’s hoping Chipotle doesn’t put that on the menu anytime soon.
Bats
In Asia and the Pacific Islands, bats are considered the chicken of the cave and can be cooked in many different ways and for a variety of meals. However, there are dangers to eating bats as it’s tied to a neurological disease. But, we’re thinking that’s not the first reason why someone wouldn’t eat a bat.
Beondegi
Most Americans enjoy a nice potato chip snack or maybe some peanuts, but in Korea, they snack on something else entirely. They call it Beondegi, but it’s also known as deep fried silkworm pupae. Nothing says snack time like a nice handful of silkworms.
Basashi
This sliced and diced red delight is a delicacy from Japan called Basashi. While it might look like cranberry sauce at a Thanksgiving dinner, it’s actually raw horse meat. And unfortunately for everyone, you don’t cook it.
Shirako
Things are about to get a whole lot weirder. Shirako is another delicacy in Japan served raw or cooked. It means, “white children.” Most people considered it’s an acquired taste. Ah, yeah, that’s because it’s a male cod sperm sac.
Blood clams
Currently banned in China, blood clams are eaten raw, straight out of the ocean. However, this offers a whole new level of gross as they filter the water which could potentially give someone hepatitis, typhoid, and dysentery. All the reasons why they banned them in China.
Wasp Crackers
At this point, we’ve all come to realize Japan invents some crazy food to eat. Well, they’ve done it again. We present the wasp cracker. It’s a round cookie with wasps baked in. That about sums it up. It’s for all those people that thought, “Hey, you know what this Oreo needs? Wasps.”
Cobra Heart
Like something out of Indiana Jones, eating live Cobra hearts in Vietnam is a brutal sport that they show on television. There’s no cooking or preparation involved. They rip out the beating heart and start eating. Some drink the blood afterward.
Witchetty Grub
Native to the Australian outback, it’s unlikely the witchetty grub would end up on the Outback Steakhouse menu. Mostly common in the Australian aboriginal diet, these squiggling worms can be cooked or just eaten raw. They’re rich in protein and have a nice juicy center. Who’s hungry?
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