Bats are part of the native cuisine in Thailand, parts of China, Guam and more, but they are considered notorious disease carriers.
9. Sheep's head
Popular in Iraq, called Pacha. Boiled sheep’s head. It’s cooked slowly, usually with the sheep’s stomach and feet in broth. The cheeks and tongues are considered the best parts.
8. Casu Marsu (Rotten Cheese)
Casu marzu (also called casu modde, casu cundhídu in Sardinian dialects, or in Italian formaggio marcio) is a traditional Sardinian sheep milk cheese, notable for being riddled with live insect larvae. It is found mainly in Sardinia, Italy.
Derived from Pecorino, Casu marzu goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider decomposition, brought about by the digestive action of the larvae of the cheese fly Piophila casei. These larvae are deliberately introduced to the cheese, promoting an advanced level of fermentation and breaking down of the cheese's fats. The texture of the cheese becomes very soft, with some liquid (called lagrima, from the Sardinian for "tears") seeping out. The larvae themselves appear as translucent white worms, about 8 millimetres (0.3 in) long. When disturbed, the larvae can launch themselves for distances up to 15 centimetres (6 in).
Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not.
7. Surströmming (rotten canned fish)
Surströmming or known as Scandinavian rotten fish, is a northern Swedish dish consisting of fermented Baltic herring.
Surströmming is sold in cans, which often bulge during shipping and storage, due to the continued fermentation. When opened, the contents release a strong and sometimes overwhelming odour, maybe this explains why the dish is often eaten outdoors.
Surströmming is made by fermenting a herring in barrels for one to two months, then tinned where the fermentation continues. Half a year to a year later, gases have built up sufficiently for the once cylindrical tins to bulge into a more rounded shape. These unusual containers of surströmming can be found in supermarkets all over Sweden.
6. Escamoles (ant larvae)
Escamoles are the larvae of ants of the genus Liometopum, harvested from the roots of the agave (tequila) or maguey (mezcal) plant in Mexico. In some forms of Mexican cuisine, escamoles are considered a delicacy and are sometimes referred to as "insect caviar". They have a cottage cheese like consistency and taste buttery, yet slightly nutty.
To procure the escamoles, men must dig as far as 2 feet down to reach a nest of larvae. One larvae collector said: “Some of the hunters have a man with a broom who sweeps the ants off their bodies while they’re digging. I have heard that others spread their bodies with pork fat so the ants can’t bite.” It should be noted that the ant’s bite is extremely painful – so gathering the eggs is something of an “extreme” job.
5. Lutefisk (lye fish)
Lutefisk is a traditional dish of the Nordic countries and parts of the Midwest United States made from stockfish (air-dried whitefish) or dried/salted whitefish (klippfisk) and lye (lut).
Its name literally means “lye fish”, because it is made using caustic lye soda derived from potash minerals. Because of the lye content, overcooking can cause the fish to turn to soap. When cooking and eating lutefisk, it is important to clean the lutefisk and its residue off pans, plates, and utensils immediately. Lutefisk left overnight becomes nearly impossible to remove (imagine what this is doing to your insides).
Although lutefisk is eaten by Norwegians, more lutefisk is eaten by Americans and Canadians of Scandinavian descent.
4. Rocky Mountain Oysters
This weird and freaky foods can be found in the United States. Pretty strange, considering Americans have very boring food choices in terms of the interesting and unusual. Don't let the name of this food fool you, however. Rocky Mountain Oysters are not oysters at all. Instead they are deep-fried bull, buffalo, or boar testicles. They are usually peeled, coated in flour, pepper and salt, sometimes pounded flat, then deep-fried. This delicacy is most often served as an appetizer, with a cocktail sauce dip
Rocky Mountain oysters, also known as prairie oysters. Also a few other descriptive terms, such as cowboy caviar, Montana tendergroins, or swinging beef, may be used.
3. Hákarl
Hákarl (Icelandic for 'fermented shark') is a food from Iceland. It is a Greenland or basking shark which has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months. Hakarl is an Icelandic food that reeks with the smell of ammonia and has a very particular ammonia-rich smell and fishy taste. It is available all year round in Icelandic stores and often served in cubes on toothpicks.
Anthony Bourdain, known for eating some of the strangest foods in the world, claims that hakarl is the most disgusting thing he has ever eaten.
2. Witchetty grub
Witchetty grub is an Australia term for the large, white, wood-eating larvae of several moths. Particularly it applies to the larva of the cossid moth Endoxyla leucomochla, which feeds on the roots of the Witchetty bush that is found in central Australia.The term is used mainly when the larvae are being considered as food. The grub is the most important insect food of the desert and was a staple in the diets of Aboriginal women and children.
The different larvae are said to taste similar, probably because they have similar wood-eating habits. Edible either raw or lightly cooked in hot ashes, they are sought out as a high-protein food by Indigenous Australians. The raw witchetty grub tastes like almonds and when cooked the skin becomes crisp like roast chicken while the inside becomes light yellow, like a fried egg.
1. Balut
A balut is a fertilized duck or chicken egg with a nearly developed embryo inside, that is boiled and eaten in the shell.
Balut popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by street vendors in the regions where they are available. It is commonly sold as streetfood in the Philippines. They are common, everyday food in some other countries in Southeast Asia, such as in Laos and Thailand, Cambodia,and Vietnam. They are often served with beer.
Balut has been the "shocking" topic of some television shows because of its taboo nature in some Western cultures.
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