10 MOST BIZARRE MEALS EATEN WORLDWIDE

Hey guys, you know how they say ‘there is nothing new under the sun’, today we show you meals you never knew existed.

1. BLACK PUDDING (BLOOD SAUSAGE)

Black pudding, also known as blood sausage is commonly eaten in Europe. It is made using, pork fat and blood, oatmeal and spices.

Black pudding is currently a very common treat that can be found in grocery stores. Making this meal is also very easy if you can come across fresh pig blood.

To prepare, stir the oatmeal in a pan of boiling water until it is tender. Then, pour the pure pig blood into a bowl and mix with onion, fat, milk, pepper and other spices. Add the oatmeal to this mix and pour into a pan and into the oven. Allow to bake until firm then remove and leave to cool completely.

The pudding can be preserved for up to a week in a refrigerator.

2. BALUT

This street food is commonly found in the Philippines. It basically entails a developing duck or chicken embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell, it can also be found Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Eggs normally sold in markets and grocery stores are usually unfertilized eggs which are produced by hens who have no access to roosters. The fertilized duck eggs used for the balut are incubated for a total of 18 days while the balut made from chicken eggs are made with eggs fertilized for 13 days. At this stage of incubation, the eggs are not yet properly developed and are featherless.

This delicacy is very easy to prepare. It basically entails har boiling the eggs for a total of 20 to 30 minutes. The eggs should be hard cooked so as to destroy the bacteria which may be in the eggs during the incubation period.

The balut is normally eaten directly from the shell while it is still warm. Of course, the shell of the egg is not consumed also. The amniotic fluids of the egg is sipped from a crack usually made at the smaller end of the egg.

The balut can be seasoned using salt and vinegar.

3. CENTURY EGGS

This is a Chinese delicacy also known as pidan, thousand year eggs, millennium eggs or simply as preserved eggs. It is made from preservation of chicken, duck or quail eggs in a mixture made up of ash, quicklime, clay, salt and rice hulls for several weeks or month. The duration of preservation of the eggs is dependent on the method of processing.

This delicacy dates back centuries to the Ming Dynasty.

During the period of the preservation, the eggs absorbs sodium which causes the transparent white of the eggs to become solid and possess and opaque dark brown colour.

The biggest task associated with the consumption of the eggs is the high pungent smell of ammonia that is perceived once the eggs are cracked open. If this smell can be overcome by the diner, and he or she proceeds to slicing the eggs, you would be met with greenish grey and slightly gloopy yolk. It is described to possess an elastic gelatine texture for the whites and a rich custard cream of the yolk.

You may enjoy this delicacy alone as a snack or accompany it with pickled ginger roots. They may also be used along with rice porridge.

They can be eaten alone, but are often served with pickled ginger root. They can also accompany congee, or rice porridge.

4. URINE

Virgin boys eggs or “tong zi dan” are a traditional delicacy of Dongyang, china. They are prepared by boiling eggs collected from young boys. This delicacy is usually served in early spring time. The young boys are preferably under the ages of 10-12 years and sold at almost double the price of the regular boiled eggs.

The eggs are boiled in the urine of the young boys collected from local schools. The eggs are first boiled with their shells n and after with their shells off. The boiling is done for a day and a night before they are ready for eating.

These eggs are easy to make and do not need any extra food colouring for their remarkable colours.

5. ROTTEN SHARK

Hakarl, is a national dish in Iceland. The dish is made from the Greenland shark which has been cured by fermentation and dried for several months. It has been commonly described as having an ammonia rich smell.

The recipe for this Iceland treat is the same one used by the Viking ancestors. When the shark is caught, it is first beheaded and buried in a hole in the ground with stones, gravel and sand placed on the top of the hakarl. This is done to eliminate the poisons from the shark which allows it to survive in such cold waters. The shark is buried for a period of 6-12 weeks. This time frame gives the shark enough time to ferment properly.

After the fermentation process, the shark is taken out of the ground and cut into strips and allowed to dry. Then this delicacy is ready for consumption.

Now in order to enjoy this meal, you don’t need to go shark hunting for your own shark. This meal can easily be obtained in local grocery stores in Iceland.

6. COMING TO YOU LIVE

This Sardinian treat is famous for containing live insect larvae (maggots). Casu marzu is a tradition sheep milk cheese. It is found mostly in the island of Sardinia. The cheese had been until recently, banned by the European Union for health reasons. It has been also described as having a “pungent but appealing” smell.

After the cheese is made from sheep milk, a hole is cut at the top and the cheese is placed outside where flies can find it and use it as a place for mating and laying of eggs. This is done so that when the eggs hatch into maggots, the maggots eat the cheese and excrete pre-digested fats, sugars and proteins. The maggots aid the general fermentation of the cheese.

The interesting fact about this cheese is that the cheese is actually consumed with the maggots still being alive. And get this, the maggots being dead is a sign that the cheese has gone bad! While eating this cheese, it has been known for the live maggots to jump out to an appreciable height when they are being disturbed so consumers are advised to take care about this fact when eating the cheese to avoid the maggots from jumping into their eyes. It should also be noted by consumers that the live maggots should be properly chewed before swallowing because if the live maggots are ingested, the can survive in the body and harm the intestines.

Strong red wine is usually used to make this meal more enjoyable.

7. WRIGGLY DELIGHT

This next delicacy called Mopane worms is a specific to southern Africa. The worms are edible caterpillars from a specie of moth called Gonimbrasia belina. The mopane worm is so called because it is found on a mopane tree. Different countries in southern Africa may possess a different name for it locally. For example, it is called “omagungu” in Namibia and “mingolo” in Democratic Republic of Congo.

The worms can be spiced and dried and the eaten like potato chips or the can be cooked and served in a tomato or chilli sauce. The worms are highly nutritious as they contain a high amount of protein. 

Harvesters hand pick these worms from the Mopane tree and can collect buckets full on a daily basis during this season. The entrails of the worm are squeezed out in the form of a gooey green liquid before the worms are ready for consumption the dried up worms are measured in cups and hawked as a form of street snacks in big cities.

8. BELLY FULL OF BUGS

The wasp crackers is a meal also native to Japan. This snack which is very high in proteins is made using rice flour. It can be found as street food and reviews show that this meal is not as bad as it seems. 

Wasp hunters catch the wasps by laying traps along the country side. The captured wasps are then boiled, dried and then added to the rice cracker meal. Using a cracker cutter, the mixture is then stamped and left to cool, after which it is packed and ready for consumption

9. MEALS BEST SERVED RAW

Shiokara is a meal native to Japan and popular among drinkers. This cuisine may come in different types namely, cuttlefish "squid” (the most common type), firefly squid, skipjack tuna, oyster, sea urchin roe and ami (crustacean) shiokara.

The fresh squid is cleaned and the liver from the squid is saved. The skin of the squid is removed, sprinkled with salt and left overnight. The gut of the squid is passed through a sieve. The sliced squid is mixed with this gut and left overnight. Sake is added for fragrance and allowed to ferment for a few more days.

And just like that, shiokara, is ready for consumption.

10. BACTERIA INFESTED MEALS

Many popular food items consumed in the day to day lives of average humans contain a good amount of bacteria which play a major role in the existence of the food. An ample example of such bacteria involved in the food manufacturing process are Lactobacillus species, also known as the lactic bacteria.

This bacteria finds much use in the dairy, meat and wine industry etc. dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt are impossible to make without a starter culture. The bacteria also plays a great role in their taste.

Salami, dried ham, pepperoni and chorizo are made using starter cultures also. Their colour and flavour is also dependent on the bacteria

Wine and beers make use of yeast and other bacteria for the fermentation process. Needless to say, the bacteria also contribute to their characteristic taste. 

Feel free to tell us your favourite in the comment section.

Credits – Miss Modey Uffa Gloria.