World’s Top 3 strangest foods

Posted by writer on May 30, 2010 under Things To Eat | Be the First to Comment

Perry Belcher here and at last… the final installment to my three-part blog on devastatingly eerie and jaw-dropping untamed international food trip. The following are the three finalists that made it to the most coveted top three spots

#3 Monkey’s brain: China

I thought the scene of locals relishing on a live monkey’s brain in Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom was a hoax. I found out that it’s partly true.

Long before man finds this wrinkly whitish cuisine very appetizing, our dearest cousin chimps eat it as it provides them the needed fat in their diet. And when people in China and Indonesia discovered this supposed nourishing effect, monkey brain became a hit overnight, and eventually made it to the top ten lists.

Since then, monkey brain had been used as ingredients to some Chinese imperial cuisine and it’s even eaten raw in some parts of China. It was Anyang tradition that their new tribal chief must eat their hunted gorilla’s brain. Additionally, former butler of late Princess Diana attested that he’d been served with it wrapped in banana leaf and coconut palm.

On the contrary, it hasn’t been proven (yet) that eating a monkey’s brain while it still gasps for breath is real, although several movies depicted such bizarre food trip. And here’s a very graphic common description to that:

The monkey’s head was supported by its neck in a bracket, two pieces of wood with a semicircular hole on each side such that when you put them together, they form a complete circle around the animal’s neck, allowing the head to be exposed above the plank.

The hair around the head is shaven with a razor. A small chisel and hammer are used to quickly carve a circle around the crown, and the top part of the skull is removed. A teaspoon is used to scoop up the brain, which is immediately eaten. This has to be done before the monkey dies.

How’s that for a meal. But what these exotic food lovers don’t realize is that monkey brain actually triples their chances of contracting transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (brain diseases). So, maybe it’s best to just leave that feat to the chimps.

#2 Casu Marzu: Italy

Jerry the mouse so much loves cheeses. He even dares to be tortured by Tom time and time again just for a bite of mozzarella. But will he dare to dive in casu marzu?

Casu marzu is a one of a kind sheep milk cheese found only in Sardinia, Italy. In English, it is also called rotten cheese and maggot cheese. Why is that? This chunk cheese is home to live, fat, wriggly insect larvae. Actually, they are deliberately added to the cheese as fermentation emissaries. Their job is to bring the cheese into the brink of decomposition, at which point cheese fats are broken down. And such breaking down of fats makes the cheese even more delectable.

But such job description is a little messy, too. These wormy cheese workers defecate and die in their cheesy house walls for as long as they live there. That mixture of feces and decay gave casu marzu its pungent smell. And when disturbed, these teenie weenie lucent maggots can jump six inches high. But casu marzu lovers simply brush them off away before they enjoy a spoonful of this decaying cheese.

Such very insanitary preparation although it’s rooted to Italian tradition and familial history, defies the modern way of food preparation and sanitation requirements, making casu marzu an officially illegal cheese. And since it’s banned, it is hard to come by and very pricey, too.

#1 Balut: Philippines

Search the web, browse any bookstore or ask anyone. More or less, you’ll get the same answer. The most bizarre and strangest food and the all-time grossest delicacy on the face of the planet is balut. It bested out all its nine eerie “plateful” contenders in this top 10 list. Let’s see why.

Balut, which literally translates as “wrapped” is basically a boiled fertilized duck egg. In other words, it already contains a fully developed but still premature duckling inside. It is a very common street food in the Philippines and Vietnam although it was first introduced by Chinese peddlers. How is it made?

First, duck eggs are gathered from a farm and then brought to a “balutan” or balut developing yard. Hundreds of eggs are systematically stacked in temperature controlled wooden barrels then covered to permit incubation. After exactly18 weeks (notice: it has to be precisely that long), the eggs are removed from their artificial nest and then one by one checked if they are good to go.

One way of checking its doneness is through a hole with a bright light behind it. When it looks darker inside, it means a fetal duck has formed and that’s a good indication. However, if it still looks translucent through the light, no fertilization occurred yet. The “ready” eggs are then brought to a giant pan filled with steaming hot water to boil. Once cooked, these balut eggs are put inside insulated box or basket ready for peddling.

How then are you supposed to eat balut? Well, there is a “proper” way of enjoying balut egg. For squirmy eaters and first timers, you are not supposed to see the seemingly sleeping little ducky there. That’s why you consume the whole balut in cover of darkness. That’s also one of the reasons why balut eggs are sold at nighttime.

You crack a little bit of the shell, put a pinch of salt inside that opening and then slurp its warm amniotic juice. Once all the juices are dried up, open it up more. Just leave enough shell to hold on to. Add more salt and sprinkle it with specially prepared vinegar. Brace yourself, count one, two, three, and then dunk the whole egg inside your gaping mouth.

If you are truly adventurous, you can even dissect it and greet that tiny winged feathered duck fetus. Don’t worry. Its eyes are closed so it won’t see you “eye to eye.” Regardless of what manner you eat it, take pleasure in its very strange, texture-y but surprisingly tangy taste. Wash it down with a 500ml of Coke or the locally made coconut wine tuba.

This food is number one on this list because:

1. It is eaten in the simplest and most straight-to-the-tummy way no matter how disgusting it may sound or look like.
2. It’s good for your health (so they say). It doesn’t give you any diseases but in fact strengthens your knees and fuels you vigor.
3. It’s cheap and readily available all year round.
4. And it’s undoubtedly, superbly, incredibly out-of-this-world and totally wild. 

There you go. These are the most bizarre and strangest foods that the world has to offer, but of course that’s according to my westernized domesticated modern tongue. And I’ll quote what Andrew Zimmern always says at his program’s every episode finale, “If it looks good, eat it.”

Mmmm… I’ll think about it. Perry Belcher