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6 Most Terrifying Foods in the World

These don't seem too bad...I've had a few of them in the past year:

http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_6- ... world.html

Warning: adult language.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

You're right; those actually aren't too bad. I'd try it all (have had two things on the list already), but there's no way I'd touch the dead mice wine.

won't touch any of them... though my dad enjoys his Pacha

I dunno guys, but balut looks absolutely terrifying to me. Maggot cheese doesn't look too bad to me, except for the little point about them surviving long enough to breed in your intestines. Yeah, maybe I will pass on the casu marzu. I'd gladly eat all the even-numbered entries, but the odd-numbered ones do make me a little queasy.

I am not sure I would put Pacha on the list of the world's scariest foods. Lots of people eat sheep and veal heads. It doesn't even approach the level of the maggot cheese.

Uncle's Kebabs (or is it kabobs, kebobs or kababs?) dishes up Pacha on Saturdays. I have not tried their version. I keep meaning to go. Maybe this weekend. It is right next door to the Afghan Restaurant.

The mice liquor is weird, but wouldn't phase me that much. I have had the Chinese Lizard booze. It was basically Gao Liang (sorghum liquor), which is hard enough to stomach without the dead animals floating in it.

There was a Casu Marzu story on NPR about two months ago. The reporter said her hosts offered to chill the cheese before she tried it so as to slow down the maggots movement, keeping them from jumping up her nostrils and into her eyelashes and hairline. As it was, even in the chilled state, they crawled all over her face as she brought the hunk of cheese to her lips.

She said the maggots lent the cheese a nutty flavor and a combined crunchy/creamy texture.

And my wife thinks I'm crazy 'cause I like tongue...

Buddy

Behold the fearless eater of balut:



More here:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t= ... sc&start=0

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

I'm in awe of your fortitude, but I must say I've also seen you looking better than at that moment.

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"Strange how potent cheap music is."

Right, yeah, that's not me. That's Wiviott.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

Nice. I'd certainly try it once, but I doubt I'd be trying it again after that. At any rate, it can't be worse tasting than surströmming, which brings up my question: what does it taste like? Is the mouthfeel as disconcerting as I'd imagine it to be?

The liquid in the shell was quite tasty, kind of like shrimp broth, with a seafoody smack. The yolk tasted a lot like a hen's egg yolk, perhaps a little richer. The little birdie had very little taste, though I will admit I may not have held it in my mouth long to savor it fully.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

There are four parts to the Balut. The broth tastes a bit fishy. The yolk is rubbery on the surface and mushy inside and tastes pretty much like overcooked egg yolk, a little sulfurous. The albumen is calcified and has the consistency and flavor of an old bathmat (this is my least favorite part). The duckling itself tastes like liver and has some semi-crunchy bits like sardines. It is actually pretty tasty with a bit of salt, but it makes your fingers stink in a way that is hard to wash out.

Good point about the slight sulferous tang of the yolk. I may not be remembering correctly, but I believe our Filipino guide to this eating adventure may have said he did not eat the albumen -- it's not very interesting from a taste or texture perspective.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

The one I am most curious about is lutefisk. For one, can its consumption actually be harmful? And for another, what does it taste like?

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As a mattra-fact, Pie Face, you are beginning to look almost human. - Barbara Bennett

Harmful: no

Taste: very mild

Fear factor: high

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

Suzy, you can try some at Tre Kronor's Julbord. It's just kind of a fishy jello thing, best eaten with the accompanying mashed potatoes. I must admit that even as a native Minnesotan, it took me until a couple of years ago to try the dish. Somehow, I felt much more adventurous in the company of Hammond, Cathy2 et al.

As for me, I draw the line at balut. And the mouse wine, well, that's just frightening.

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Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.

Agreed, I'm 4 out of 6 on the list. Never had Casu Marzu or dead mouse liquor.

Ummmmmm, dead mouse booze........

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

OK, serious question. What is supposed to be so disgusting about lutefisk? I simply don't get it. It looks really out of place to me on a list containing baby mice wine, maggot cheese, and fertilized duck eggs with developed embryos. Is it the lye? (Aren't a lot of olives cured with lye?) Is it the gelatinous texture? As I've alluded to before, Norway has far, far more disgusting manners of preserving their fish (see: surströmming).

It's a totally conceptual turn-off. It's fish jello made with lye. The flavor is, as far as I can tell, innocuous. It's a punchline, but it does not, finally, pack much of a punch. And you're right; of all the items on this list, it seems the most edible (and available at Tre Kroner this holiday season).

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

It's plenty vile, don't let a pastor-swilling swell in the pocket of the biodynamic wine industry like Hammond kid ya.

My great-grandmother, who died in the 80s at 103, had a visceral memory of the stench of lutefisk in her father's store in Minnesota when she was a kid. Just the mere mention of it could activate a Proustian rush from the Grover Cleveland administration, wrinkling her nose and filling her with disgust across the decades.

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That part of the balut is usually discarded.

Lutefisk is indeed cured in lye, but it's rinsed over and over and over to get the offending chemical off the food, leaving you with some exceptionally stinky fish. I guess the closest thing I can compare it to would be durian - the smell is overwhelming, but the actual taste is more mild than you'd expect.

My grandfather was a native Finn and part of every Christmas celebration (along with deciding which female cousin would be Santa Lucia, which always ended in tears) was lutefisk. Grandma would demand it be kept outside in the garage, and somewhere after the meal the menfolk would shuffle outside in their winter coats and huddle around the bucket and nibble.

Remember when the guy on Check Please said something to the effect of "Hey, we discovered fire, use it"? I kinda feel the same way about modern preservation and refrigeration inre: lutefisk.

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Tweetyspacing @karlklockars.
Writing about craft beer at GuysDrinkingBeer.com
"You don't realize it, but we're at dinner right now." ~Ebert

The lutefisk we had at Tre Kroner last year was not in any way smelly. Was it, perhaps, dumbed down? Perhaps. The taste, though, was very mild.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

Not in my household. Real women eat calcified albumen (with a lot of salt).

The lutefisk I'm familiar with is so potent that the smell overpowers just about everything else. I really want to enjoy the Julbord this year (missed it the last two years) and maybe I can ask my dad about getting some of the real deal Holyfield.

Unfortunately, his folks/my grandparents aren't around any more, but I'd like to think he's still in touch with some people that could make that happen.

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Tweetyspacing @karlklockars.
Writing about craft beer at GuysDrinkingBeer.com
"You don't realize it, but we're at dinner right now." ~Ebert

Coming from a guy who's had lutfisk (the Swedish version) on the company Chirstmas buffet for 11 years going now - lutfisk when served (once again, the Swedish version) doesn't smell very much. In fact, it's mild. Very mild.

Think: "fish jello".

In fact, the real traditions seem to be about the flavorings (sauces and spices) you add to the stuff just to make it taste like something.

I think the memories that some people may have are perhaps from the actual creation of lutfisk. This really isn't done at home anymore so I don't personally know but perhaps the soaking of air-dried cod in a lye solution and the subsequent repeated rinsing of it smells bad.

I've toyed for a couple of years now with making a lutfisk post but frankly, the stuff just isn't too exciting (IMHO). Besides, I won't be able to get anyone in the house to eat the stuff (trust me, it's bad enough being the only one who will touch the hökarpanna leftovers). Perhaps I'll take one for the team someday and do a surströmming post but lutfisk? It's just not funky enough to be interesting.

I will defer to your more expert opinion, sir Bridgestone, and maybe the Tre Kronor lutefisk is more authentic than I give it credit for. I do seem to remember the use of a wooden bucket with a thick rope handle, which seems like it would be used for treating the fish...or easily disposing of it.

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Tweetyspacing @karlklockars.
Writing about craft beer at GuysDrinkingBeer.com
"You don't realize it, but we're at dinner right now." ~Ebert

Yeah, although I haven't had it yet, I've never had anyone describe lutefisk as particularly smelly to me. But that's coming from Norwegians. Maybe Finnish lutefisk is different.

Oh, dear, I made a grave, grave error in a previous post blaming the Norweigians for surströmming. It's a Swedish delicacy, how did I screw that up?

I mail ordered this stuff a couple of years back to sate my curiousity. Here's the email I wrote one of my Norwegian friends immediately after trying some:

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Subject: surstromming

I got this stuff with my latest order of snus.

Oh. My. God.

I cannot believe Swedes eat anything this bad. I opened the can
(outside) and was impressed by the pungency of this delicacy. It was
exactly as bad as described. Usually, I'm disappointed at what people
deem "disgusting" and "inedible." Surstromming does not disappoint.

I was too impatient to make some boiled potatoes and onions to go with
it, so instead I found a slice of bread to go with it. Plus some beer
to help drain it down. I had once filet of surstromming, and, unlike
my normal nature, I threw in the towel. This stuff is bloody awful. I
did finish my one piece, but I tossed everything else in the rubbish.
My brother--not an adventurous eater--was on hand just to get a whiff
of the legendary aroma. He was not disappointed either.

Nor were the flies. The instant I opened the can, a swarm of flies
apparently spontaneously formed and surrounded me. I accidentally
spilled some herring brine onto the steps, and now I have about 100
flies feasting on surstromming.

Ugh. You Norweigians don't eat this shit, do you?

I am happy, though--I have finally found one food that I legitimately
do not like on any level. I won't say I'll never try it again (who
knows? When in Sweden do as the Swedes...), but I won't exactly go out
of my way to look for it.

God, my breath reeks.
***

Even worse, because of the beer, I was burping that vileness for the next hour or so. I'd LOVE to hear your take on it, Bridgestone.

I think that comes much closer to what my great-grandmother was describing in her father's store than the thing we actually ate at Tre Kronor, which was sort of like eating the wet gooey soap under the bar in the soap dish. However, what it lacks in awful smell, it more than makes up in repulsive texture.

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Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.