While traveling, it’s important to sample the local cuisine. After all, what’s a trip to Paris worth without a delicious crêpe? Or Japan without some super fresh sushi?
Or, if you’re more adventurous, you can chow down on some of these stranger options found around the world. From bugs to blood, these unique choices definitely require a brave palette and strong gag reflex. You might think them disgusting, but some people love this stuff.
1. Dragonfly
Served in Indonesia and China, usually boiled or fried and apparently taste like soft shell crab.
2. Starfish
Served in China, the hard shell is broken and the meat inside is said to have the texture of something between toothpaste and ground beef.
3. Kangaroo Meat
Served in, you guessed it, Australia this is said to taste like a mixture of venison and buffalo meat.
4. Jellied Moose Nose
Served in Canada, of course, the nose is boiled in onion, garlic, spices and vinegar.
5. Wasp Crackers
Served in Japan, they’re exclusively found 100 miles outside of Tokyo in a town called Omachi.
6. Stargazy Pie
Served in England, the traditional pie comes from Cornwall and is said to honor a fisherman who went out alone to provide fish despite particularly stormy weather.
7. Lutefisk
Served in Norway, they ferment aged whitefish in lye.
8. Haggis
Served in Scotland, this meal consists of sheep’s stomach stuffed with sheep’s liver, lungs and heart, onions, oatmeal, and various spices.
9. Stink Bugs
Served in Africa, they can be eaten raw or cooked and are said to have an apple flavor as well as a tranquilizing effect.
10. Akutaq (Eskimo Ice Cream)
Served in Alaska, this not-so-sweet treat is made of reindeer fat, seal oil, freshly fallen snow, berries and ground fish.
11. Casu Marzu
Served in Mexico, you know this cheese is ready to eat once its full of thousands of yummy maggots.
12. Beondegi
Served in Korea, the silkworm pupae are served as a snack either steamed or boiled.
13. Nsenene
Served in Uganda, this long-horned grasshopper is a delicacy fried, sun-dried, or boiled. Goes great with onions.
14. Witchetty Grub
Served in Australia, this buggy grub can be eaten raw or sautéed and is said to taste similar to a friend egg with a touch of nutty flavor.
15. Cherry Blossom Meat
Served in Japan, it gets its name from being sold during cherry blossom season and is actually raw horse meat.
16. Jumiles
Served in Mexico, the stink bugs give an extra dash of intense spice to your salsa.
17. Shirako
Served in Japan, this delicacy is made from male fish sperm sacs.
18. Bird’s Nest Soup
Served in Southeast Asia, the “nest” is created using bird saliva.
19. Deep Fried Trantula
Served in Cambodia, they supposedly taste like spare ribs and include the eggs and excrement inside.
20. Soup Number Five
Served in the Philippines, this broth gets its flavor from bull penis and testacles.
21. Khash
Served in Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East, this soup is made with boiled cow feet.
22. Tong Zi Dan
Served in China, it is also aptly known as “virgin boy eggs” because the eggs are boiled in young men’s urine.
23. Served in Thailand and China, frying them is said to neutralize the venom in their tails and apparently has a buttery popcorn taste.
24. Blodplättar
Served in Sweden and Finland, it’s similar to blood pudding only this time the pork blood is put into crispy pancake form.
25. Cicada
Served in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and the United States these noisy night bugs are usually deep-fried with a mixture of spices.
26. Muktuk
Served in Greenland, the frozen whale skin and blubber is sliced, salted, and consumed raw.
27. Shiokara
Served in Japan, fermented squid guts are mixed with the squid’s gastric juices and seasoned with a bit of miso, salt, soy sauce, sake, red pepper, and yuzu peel.
28. Waxworms
Sautéed or roasted, the creepy crawlies are said to taste like a cross between a pine nut and an enoki mushroom.
29. Snake Wine
Served in China and Vietnam, the snake’s venom is neutralized by the ethanol in rice wine and it is believed to boost one’s virility.
30. Guinea Pig
Served in South America, they can be fried or grilled and apparently taste like a combination of pork, rabbit, and probably the tears of your childhood pet memories.
31. Southern Fried Rattlesnake
Served here in the good old United States, it is said to have a unique light flavor.
32. Mosquito Eggs
Served in Mexico, they start by drying them out then roasting them up.
33. Salmiakki
Found in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland, these gummies are perfect for anyone who thinks black licorice doesn’t have quite enough salt taste to it.
Maybe I’ll whip all these up for the grossest dinner party ever! I’m sure all my friends will love it.