Cuitlacoche (also known as Huitlacoche, Corn Truffle, Maize Mushroom, Corn Smut, and Mexican Truffle)
"Cuitlacoche is a black fungus that infects corn fields, making the kernels bulbous and swollen as they fill with spores."
I have lived all my life in an area of the country filled with cornfields. When I was young, my parents grew a garden that included corn every year. I have seen what this fungus looks like, and it is not anything I would EVER put in my mouth.
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Potted meat
Ingredients include "mechanically separated chicken, beef tripe, beef hearts, and partially de-fatted cooked pork fatty tissue."
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Natto (fermented soybeans)
Gesundheit!
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Pickled pork rinds
mmmmm....extra skin
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Silkworm pupas
Ahh, served on a lace doily and stabbed with fancy toothpicks, of course! It is ALL about presentation, isn't it?
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Birds' Nest Drink
"The Chinese have served bird's nest soup, considered a delicacy, for hundreds of years. It's made using the nests of swiftlets, or cave swifts. These avian homemakers regurgitate their gelatinous spit, creating a web-like superglue which forms their nests and attaches them to cave walls in Southeast Asia.
The nests are collected by hunters on precariously tall ladders and then dissolved into soup."
Well sure! Regurgitated gelatinous bird spit is just the beverage I'm looking for to quench my thirst.
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Surströmming (soured herring)
"How do you know when your surströmming (soured herring) is ready to be devoured? When the cans bulge around the middle, an effect caused by a gassy, bacterial byproduct of its lengthy fermenting process.
To prepare this traditional Swedish meal, herring from the Baltic Sea are gutted and tinned in brine, then stored somewhere (preferably warm) for several months. Its pungent aroma makes dining alfresco an absolute must. Locals recommend opening the can under water whenever possible to contain the tantalizing odor of rotten egg, rancid butter and vinegar that results from the fermentation process."
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Balut
"A popular Filipino street snack, balut is a boiled three-week-old fertilized duck egg, eaten straight out of the shell.
A well-aged balut lacks feathers, beak and claws (all the tasty bits), and instead provides a palatable rich embryonic broth, the creamy yolk (and of course, the fetus), sure to satisfy even the most ambitious appetite. Bottled balut, sold at various Filipino grocers, comes in three flavors: brine and two spicy sauces."
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Jellied eels
How about a little peanut butter and jellied eels sandwich?
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Reindeer pate (pureed Rudolph?)
It's ok, it's just Rudolph's cousin.
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Haggis
"Classic Scottish haggis has several variations, but a common cooking method involves stuffing oatmeal, onions, seasonings and a mixture of minced organ meats (think heart, liver, lungs) into the stomach of a sheep. That succulent sausage concoction is then simmered in water for several hours to produce the traditional treat."
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Russian carpet shark or zebra shark
Aw come on, just try one "bite"
I'm not going to eat it. You try it.
Let's get Mikhail!
He won't eat it. He hates everything.
He likes it!! Hey Mikhail!
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