What’s the Grossest Thing You’ve Eaten
I think the worst I’ve had was a scallop (I was 8 and thought was going to be a scalloped potato, what a terrible surprise) which doesn’t even begin to compare to Cracked Magazine’s 6 Most Terrifying Foods in the World.
While not giving away it’s place in the list, the balut reminded me of a great article I read in Salon a while back about food writers, and their worst dining experiences.
Steve Rinella travels to Luzon Island and is served balut, a Filipino national dish.
I now know that balut has many powers: It’s an aphrodisiac; it replaces lost sleep; it wards off Aswang, which are super-scary Filipino monsters that attack at night and suck out your guts. But at that moment, with balut in my mouth, I was aware of nothing except its wretched taste.
I don’t know why I take such pleasure in people eating horrible things, (particularly fermented shark) but I do. I really do. Maybe it’s because I’m a picky eater, and I like when other people share my suffering. Because to me, half the cuisine in the world is as appetizing as balut.
I’ve eaten snails before. Served in a garlic butter sauce. They were lovely
There’s people here in Australia who eat
bogong moths… apparently they’re very tasty… but no, not for me!
Eating snails gives me the chills just thinking about it! I’m afraid I’ll never be a real foodie, because I’m so particular. I’d also be an exceedingly rude traveler in a foreign land, I imagine.
I had rattlesnake once in Arizona. It had no taste and was kind of rubbery.
I think a tofu cube I was forced to try once and Vegemite are tied for the foulest thing i’ve ever eaten.
Hahaha. Tofu is nasty if prepared wrong. If you make it right, it can have a kind of chicken texture. But it’s more often wrong than right unfortunately.
My Dad’s Elk’s Lodge has a wild game dinner every year, I should go to the next one and report back. They serve all kinds of bizarre creatures. I never got more adventurous than buffalo.