Photos and food stories of food flooded social networks: the more unusual the dish, the more likes and views. It turns out that eating something exotic is a great way to grab the attention of your followers. To increase your chances of success, we turned to Andrew Zimmern and his author's show about unusual food. With satisfaction (and horror) we share the results.
Live octopuses
Where to look: South Korea.
Have you ever eaten a dish that tries to escape your plate? If not, we recommend that you visit the Seoul Live Octopus Eating Festival. However, you can simply wrap yourself up in one of the restaurants in South Korea, having previously specified whether there is a sannakchi dish on the menu. The delicacy is a live octopus, lightly seasoned with sesame oil. Small molluscs are eaten whole, wrapped on Chinese sticks, and large ones are cut into pieces. However, even in this form, they do not stop moving on the plate, and it looks very exotic. The most important thing is to observe the technology of eating octopuses: it is necessary to chew fast enough so that the "food" does not have time to stick to the palate.
Sea urchins
Where to look: Italy.
“Taste of Italy” is not only pizza, pasta and mascarpone, but also … sea urchins. They are eaten alive, like octopuses in South Korea. This dish is especially popular on the island of Sardinia: on the coast you can see local residents diving for hedgehogs in diving suits. Hedgehogs are appreciated, of course, not for the prickly and hard shell, but for the tender and fragrant caviar inside. It is believed that it tastes best a few minutes after fishing, so many people enjoy the dish right on the beach. For this, the hedgehog is cut and poured with lemon juice, and white bread is used for a snack. Caviar is also added to pasta with seafood, salads, or dried as a spice.
Wasp cookies
Where to look: Japan.
Some people prefer cookies with chocolate, someone with poppy seeds, and some Japanese do not mind eating crackers with wasps. An unusual dessert appeared in the land of the rising sun several years ago. It is called "jibashi senbei": dried wasps are added to the sweet dough made from rice flour. Moreover, the insects are baked entirely - with their heads, legs and wings. Fans of unusual cookies claim that wasps taste like raisins, only with a bitter tinge. By the way, in terms of protein content, these cookies can compete with meat dishes.
Fried Brain Burger
Where to look: USA.
Be careful with burgers in Indiana! Perhaps, instead of the traditional cutlet, brains will lie between the bread rolls. Usually beef or pork are used - they are fried in batter, and the burger is served with mustard and pickled onions. This dish has already become the hallmark of the state, although its historical homeland is Germany. For the first time in the United States, a "delicacy" was prepared at the end of the 19th century, and today many tourists come to Indiana just to taste it.
Lamb guts boiled in the stomach
Where to look: Scotland.
In one of Scotland's museums, there is a stuffed animal "haggis", from which the national dish of the same name is prepared. According to legend, the animal lives in the mountains and has legs of different lengths. The story is funny, but it has nothing to do with reality, because in fact, the popular Scottish delicacy haggis is prepared from mutton giblets boiled in the stomach of lamb. Chopped lungs, liver and heart are put into it, oatmeal and onion with spices are added there, and then they are all baked in the oven or boiled. Haggis is served with mashed potatoes or rutabagas (nips and tattis).
Ant eggs
Where to look: Mexico.
The Mexican cuisine that brought tacos and guacamole to the world is more than varied. For example, in a prestigious restaurant in Mexico, you may be offered escamoles - fried larvae of giant black ants. The dish is not cheap and is considered a delicacy - getting the larvae of poisonous and aggressive ants is not so easy. Traditionally, they are fried with chili and onions. In consistency, escamoles are similar to cottage cheese, and in taste - to butter with a nutty flavor - in any case, that's what those who have tried the dish say.
Photo: Getty Images, press archives
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