From grilled tarantula skewers to cheese teeming with maggots to one of the most expensive coffees in the world, these strangest culinary specialties, will take you to every corner of the globe in search of the most bizarre dishes, sometimes as popular as they are disgusting!
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : Barnacles, Portugal
Although it looks like a miniature dinosaur leg ending in a protruding fingernail, the barnacle is actually a very meaty and juicy crustacean . Particularly appreciated in Portugal and Spain, it is generally fished on the high seas because it is found clinging to the rocks
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : Fried tarantula, Cambodia
You may find it hard to believe, but it is said that this staple of Cambodian street food tastes like chicken.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : Shirako, Japon
Sushi, ramen, matcha have no secrets for you? Do you love Japanese food? Are you sure? Then you must try shirako, seminal fish liquid , a culinary specialty that will surely not leave you indifferent.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : The March Cheese, Sardinia
Do you find the smell of camembert a little too strong for your taste? Roquefort a little too strong? Well wait until you taste the Casu Marzu! This sheep’s cheese from Sardinia whose name means “rotten cheese” harbors larvae in its flowing heart which are deliberately introduced into the cheese during its ripening.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : Bug tacos, Mexico
In Mexico, you don’t just fill your tacos with beef, chicken, beans or rice, but also with insects! 504 species of edible insects are listed in Mexico, that’s quite a choice, isn’t it?
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : Kopi Luwak, Indonesia
In Indonesia, civet cats called “luwaks” love coffee cherries. After consuming the fruit, they shed the coffee beans intact in their feces . It is with these coffee beans that one of the most luxurious coffees in the world is made, kopi (“coffee” in Indonesian) luwak.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : The Haggis, Scotland
A stuffed sheep ‘s stomach is already not very appetizing in itself, but if the stuffing is based on lung, heart and kidney fat, as with haggis, you really have to muster up your courage to taste it. That said, it doesn’t have to be that bad since it’s Scotland’s national dish.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : The Balut, Philippines
Can’t decide between a chicken cutlet and an omelet for dinner? Opt for a balut, a fertilized duck egg , steamed and garnished with a little salt.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : The Stargazy Pie, England
The Stargazy Pie is a fish pie that is traditionally eaten at Christmas dinner. Nothing really disgusting in itself but rather the aesthetic choices that bother, more precisely the heads and tails of the fish that protrude from the pie.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world :The Witchetty Grubs, Australia
With their delicate nutty taste, witchetty grubs are large white grubs , eaten for millennia by aborigines in the Australian outback.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : Cuy, Ecuador
If we consider it one of the most adorable pets in the world, the cuy, or guinea pig , is a particularly popular dish in Ecuador. After all, everything is good in the…guinea pig.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world :The Senenes, Tanzania
Senenes are a seemingly delicious kind of grasshopper that is eaten as a delicacy in Tanzania. They can be offered as one would offer a very good box of chocolate and are particularly appreciated by the locals.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world :The Tamilok, Philippines
The tamilok is a woodworm, or rather a mollusc living in the dead wood of the stagnant waters of the swamps in the Philippines. Admittedly, its sticky appearance and its origin make it unsavory, but it is in truth a refined and prized dish. It is eaten raw and it seems to taste like oysters with a slight woody scent.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : Tuna eyeballs, Japan
Eaten boiled and sometimes even raw, the eye of tuna is a particularly fatty dish that you can taste in Japan. You can even find it in the supermarket.
Strangest culinary specialties in the world : Hormigas Culonas, Colombia
If you are traveling to the Santander region of Colombia, prefer large ants , called “hormigas culonas” to chips for an appetizer. This salty snack is particularly crunchy and having tasted it, I can tell you that it looks like a kind of salty popcorn
