Culinary Culture Shocks

Using the Internet to Share Unusual Regional Foods

Gerry Pugliese over at Diet Blog has come up with a list of what he deems really disgusting foods. These may not be on everyone’s ‘most disgusting’ list, but I’ll gladly put them on mine:

1. Street vendors in Beijing’s night market sell Scorpion Kebabs as healthy and delicious. I’ll bet they’re crunchy too!

2. Durian Fruit reportedly smells like a rotting corpse. One YouTube video shows that the fruit is three times as smelly as a group of control substances comprised of stale vomit, rotten eggs and a sweaty dog poo shoe. Yum!

3. Casu Marzu Cheese is sheep’s milk cheese infested with insect larva. This stuff can be had in Sardinia, Italy. See the video above for the ‘live’ action!

4. Tripe is the entrails and organs of butchered animals. Again, the Italians love this one. It has been described as a dingy dish towel soaked in stale urine that can be dissected for cooking. Now who couldn’t love that?

5. The final item on this pentalist is is Kopi Luwak Coffee. Simply put, it’s the coffee made from coffee beans extracted from the poop of the Asian Palm Civet. Since the beans are roasted and presumably sterilized by the process, this one, I might be able to deal with.

I could add a couple of items to this list: Pickled Pig’s Feet would be first. My dad used to eat them like candy. I remained horrified well into adulthood. The second item would be Rocky Mountain Oysters, a euphemism for bull’s testicles. Apparently Bud Light sees folks who eat these as heroes.

What would you add?
Trend Themes
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3. Alternative Protein Sources - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Exploring and promoting alternative protein sources, such as insects, as a sustainable and unconventional food option.
Industry Implications
1. Food and Beverage - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Experimenting with unconventional ingredients and flavors to appeal to adventurous consumers.
2. Travel and Tourism - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Designing unique culinary travel experiences that showcase unusual regional foods and engage food enthusiasts.
3. Sustainable Agriculture - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing technologies and processes for cultivating alternative protein sources and promoting their adoption in mainstream diets.

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