One of the best parts of traveling is trying different cuisines. There are so many interesting types of food found all over the world. While many of them, like Thai curries and sushi, may leave us craving, there are some that will leave you absolutely bewildered. From frog legs in France to the popular Cantonese dish - Monkey’s brains, there are so many absolutely crazy dishes and recipes that are considered delicacies in these foreign nations. Despite their strange ingredients, some of these dishes may prove to be delicious. You may have to taste them to know for sure! As the proverbial saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained! Take a look at these 25 weird foods and decide for yourself.
1. Bird’s Nest Soup, popular in Southeast Asian countries and made from the nest of swiftlet birds that use an edible gummy saliva to build it
(By Robert Staudhammer, Wikimedia Commons)
2. Mopane worms, large edible caterpillars of Emperor moths native to and consumed in Southern Africa, full of meat and said to be a great source of protein
(By ComQuat, Wikimedia Commons)
3. Khash, also known as Kalle-pache, is a Middle Eastern delicacy made from the boiled stomachs, heads, and feet of cows and sheep
(Wikimedia Commons)
4. Hákarl, the national dish of Iceland made from fermented sleeper sharks left out to dry for 4 to 5 months
(By Chris 73, Wikimedia Commons)
5. Matjes (maatjes) herring, fermented and salted herring, usually eaten in the Netherlands with chopped onions, the “Dutch” way
(By Takeaway, Wikimedia Commons)
6. Haggis, a well-known savory pudding from Scotland made of sheep stomach stuffed with minced heart, liver and lungs
(By Kim Traynor, Wikimedia Commons)
7. Shiokara, a Japanese dish consisting of raw flesh from a variety of marine species served with a paste made from the salted and fermented viscera of the animal
(By Ostolob, Wikimedia Commons)
8. San-nakji, a Korean dish made from a small octopus called sakji, served with toasted sesame seeds immediately after cutting while the nervous system is still active
(By LWY, Wikimedia Commons)
9. Percebes, also known as goose or gooseneck barnacles, a rare delicacy in Portugal and Spain made from barnacles scraped off of cliffs that can be extremely dangerous to obtain
(By Msadp06, Wikimedia Commons)
10. Escamol, a Mexican dish made from edible ant larvae and pupae harvested specifically from the mescal plant, also known as the tequila plant
(By Cvmontuy, Wikimedia Commons)
11. Basashi, raw sliced horse meat served in Japan either on its own or as a part of sushi
(By Igorberger, Wikimedia Commons)
12. Despite the name, rocky mountain oysters are deep fried bull testicles served in certain parts of Canada
(By Vincent Diamante, Wikimedia Commons)
13. Fugu, translates to pufferfish, a Japanese delicacy served in a number of dishes that can be poisonous if not prepared correctly, as certain parts of the fish are toxic
(Wikimedia Commons)
14. Casu Maarzu, translates to “rotten cheese”, an over-curdled cheese made from Sardinian sheep milk that is fermented by introducing live insect larvae to the milk while curdling
(By Shardan, Wikimedia Commons)
15. Balut, a common street food in the Philippines consisting of a fertilized duck egg with a developing embryo that is boiled and eaten from the shell
(By Maxmajestic, Wikimedia Commons)
16. Tiet Cahn, a dish from Vietnam that is a raw blood pudding garnished with raw meat either from a duck or a pig
(By YordanZhamNguyen, Wikimedia Commons)
17. Dragon in the Flame of Desire, a specialty of the Guo Li Zhuang (‘Strength Inside the Pot’) restaurant in Beijing, China, which focuses on dishes made from various animal genitals, such as horse, donkey, yak, dog, and deer
(By Rolfmueller, Wikimedia Commons)
18. Fried Spiders, a common regional snack and popular tourist specialty dish in Cambodia
(Wikimedia Commons)
19. Snake Soup, a popular dish in Cantonese Cuisine made from the meat of two different types of snakes believed to have high nutritional value and medicinal properties
(By Ohconfucius, Wikimedia Commons)
20. Muktuk, a traditional dish of Inuit and Chukchi people in the Arctic made from whale skin and blubber, which can be eaten frozen, cooked, raw, or pickled
(By Lisa Risager, Wikimedia Commons)
