1. Fugu
This delicacy is made from blowfish, and the dish is ominously referred to as “Japanese roulette”. Blowfish contains a certain amount of tetrodotoxin, which can prove lethal. Cooking the fish reduces the quantities of the poisonous substance, but your tongue will still go numb when you taste it. As a result of this danger, only licensed chefs are allowed to prepare fugu – the lives of the people they serve are in their hands.
2. Scorpionfish
Scorpionfish meat is famed for its mild and unique taste. There are some who compare the taste to cooked lobster. Although it can be a pleasant dish, it needs to be prepared by an experienced chef. This is because scorpionfish carry poisonous venom in their prickly fins. Red scorpionfish live along the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, while some other scorpionfish species live in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
3. Carambola
This fruit is known for its juicy and crisp taste, as well as its amazing healing properties. Anyone who enjoys eating fruit will love carambola, but it should be consumed with caution. It’s very high in oxalic acid and can be harmful to individuals suffering from kidney disease. What’s more, is that the fruit also contains a neurotoxin that can cause neurological disorders and hallucinations, so it should only be eaten a few pieces at a time.
4. Escamoles
This unusual dish tastes buttery and nutty, with a cottage cheese-like texture. It’s prepared from the eggs of Liametopum ants that live in the roots of the agave plant. Although the eggs themselves are harmless to human health, the poisonous ants can make their way into the delicacy if the dish isn’t prepared properly.
5. Cassava
Cassava roots are used in sauces, as dessert filling or served as an accompaniment to a meat dish. To ensure that the toxic substances it contains are eliminated, it needs to be prepared properly. It’s a very common food in Africa, and the locals who eat cassava roots on a daily basis often suffer from endemic goiter and pellagra.
6. "Rotten cheese" Casu Marzu
This Sardinian cheese was actually illegal to produce and sell for a number of years, and it’s not difficult to see why – the process used to make it is rather revolting. To accelerate the fermentation process, a special species of fly is used to digest the fats in the cheese, giving it a special taste and softness. Eating it can be dangerous for two reasons, namely due to the possibility of fly larvae jumping out at you and hitting you in the eye, or gastrointestinal problems as a result of accidentally eating a fly. Nevertheless, Casu Marzu was recognized as part of the cultural heritage of Sardinia in 2010, and it is now legal to produce again.
7. Ackee
Ackee is a pear-like fruit that comes from Africa. It's particularly popular in Jamaica. The flesh of the fruit is the edible part, and the fruit itself is only picked during a strictly-defined period. This is because if ackee is unripe or overripe, it contains a poison. If it's not eaten properly, ackee can cause you to have something called Jamaican Vomiting Sickness.
8. "Century eggs"
Can you handle this one? Century eggs, as their name suggests, are chicken or duck eggs that have been preserved in a mixture of salt, lime, and ash for a 100-day period. After the time is up, the dish is eaten. The aging process gives the eggs a strong smell of ammonia, and also makes them translucent. How strong is your stomach?
9. Stonefish
The stonefish is one of the most poisonous species of fish known to man, with the venom causing severe pain, paralysis, and tissue death. People that are poisoned by a stonefish usually take months to recover. Somehow, the possibility of becoming seriously injured as a result of consuming the fish doesn’t seem to put people off from ordering it.
10. Rambutan
This fruit is actually delicious, but you should keep in mind that it can cause allergies and diarrhea in people that have never tried it before. In fact, locals recommend that you never have more than four or five of the fruits at a time. If you suffer from stomach ulcers, you should rule out eating this fruit altogether.
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