Post by Bozur on Jan 9, 2008 12:29:36 GMT -5
Weird Food from Around the World
Jan 9th 2008
By Brian Childs
Chef Mario Batali rakes in miliions serving up tripe, sweatbreads and wild boar.
Anthony Bourdain practically makes a living out of eating the parts of animals that you don't want to think about being attached to your steak.
But would either of them want a three-course meal of with eye of newt, wing of bat, brain stew in a butter sauce? The book 'Take Me to Your Leader' has compiled a quick atlas of the strangest creatures on Earth humans consume. This trip isn't for the queasy.
www.asylum.com/2008/01/09/weird-food-from-around-the-world/
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United States
Before you start groaning about the foods people eat around the world Consider that Americans eat bison, water buffalo, yak, squirrels' brains, and calves' testicles -- known as prairie oysters, mountain oysters, or "swinging sirloin."
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Australia
Australian delicacies include kangaroo, ostrich, crocodile -- and Vegemite, made from yeast and malt by-products of beer-making. Nutritious witchetty grubs are high in protein and prized as "bush tucker."
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Spain and Italy
Calves' testicles are criadillas in Spain and granelli in Italy. They are often peeled and boiled before being fried, grilled, or sliced into a pie.
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France
Famous for eating frogs' legs and snails, the French also eat donkey, mule and horse, which can be used instead of beef in most recipes. Horse/donkey sausage is a delicacy.
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Indonesia
In Indonesia and much of Southeast Asia, fruit bats are mixed into soups, curries and stir fries. They're also eaten in the Pacific islands where the Samoans bake or fry them.
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Peru
Fried, grilled, or stewed -- guinea pigs are an important source of protein in Peru. The flavor is said to be similar to chicken.
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Japan
OK< maybe boiled octopus isn't so surprising And you probably won't be surprised that sushi and sashimi -- those raw fish dishes are popular. But what about live lobster sashimi, known as odori-gui, which you watch dance and then eat as it's still moving? A variant is umasashi -- raw horse.
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Norway
One Norwegian specialty is smala hove, a sheep's head, cut in half and grilled. The skull acts as a cooking pot for the brains, which are eaten with a spoon. Brains are also eaten as fritters and dumplings.
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Venezuela
In Venezuela Tarantulas can grow to the size of tennis balls with 10 -inch legs. They're also plenty nutritious, being 60 percent protein. The flesh of the abdomen is said to taste of raw potato and lettuce and the legs like prawns. The fangs are used afterwards as toothpicks.
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Democratic Republic of Congo
In the Congo, monkeys are smoked over open fires to preserve the meat. The flesh of the mandrill, a type of baboon, is particularly valued.
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China
Chinese delicacies include sheep's head, bull's penis, seahorse soup, bear's paw soup, shark's fin soup, and a parasitic fungus known as winter worm. Some people argue over whether it's an animal or a plant.
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Laos
Deep-fried scorpion is a delicacy, often seasoned with vinegar. Another is tarantula, skewered and cooked over an open fire.
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South Korea
We don't want to think about this one, but it's true. South Koreans eat dog in soup, stir-fried, as chops, grilled, BBQ'd, or sweet and sour. Dog is also popular in China, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central/South America. (We're not thrilled about it, either.)