One man’s meat – 68 weird, wonderful (and downright disgusting) things that are eaten around the world

One man’s meat is another man’s poison, as the saying goes. Here on The Grind we have covered a whole variety – or should we say smorgasbord – of different types of food eaten around the world. We’ve written about kangaroo meat, and eating insects and just last month, about fake meat.

But take a trip around the world and you’ll see that humans eat almost anything you can imagine, and then plenty that you just can’t. So, in the interests of providing a (reasonably) comprehensive guide to all the weird, wonderful and downright disgusting things that are eaten around the world, we present you with the top 68, eaten in 38 countries.

You will notice that some parts of the world contribute disproportionately to this list, but you will also be heartened to see some Australian foods included. One that might have made the cut, but that we have decided to exclude, is fried cane toad legs, which you can read all about here.

So, without further ado, here is the whole list…

1) Food – A-ping
Part of the world – Cambodia
What is it? – Deep Fried Tarantula.

2) Food – Airag
Part of the world – Mongolia
What is it? – Fermented horsemilk – fizzy and slightly alcoholic.

3) Food – Balut
Part of the world – Philippines
What is it? – Fertilised duck egg.

4) Food – Beondegi
Part of the world – Korea
What is it? – Boiled or steamed silkworm.

5) Food – Bird’s Nest Soup
Part of the world – China, Malaysia
What is it? – Made from a small swift’s saliva, which is used to build the nest. US$50 a bowl.

6) Food – Black Pudding
Part of the world – UK
What is it? – Traditional sausage made from pig blood and pork fat. Often fried or grilled.

7) Food – Boshintang
Part of the world – Korea
What is it? – Dog meat soup.

8) Food – Brains
Part of the world – Africa, SE Asia
What is it? Self explanatory.

9) Food – Bushmeat
Part of the world – Africa
What is it? – A generic term covering meat from wild animals such as lemurs, giraffe and gorillas. Practice implicated in spread of ebola virus and clearly not great for conservation. Avoid.

10) Food – Casu Marzu
Part of the world – Sardinia
What is it? – Cured sheep’s milk cheese allowed to become infested with maggots. You eat the maggots and the cheese. Unsurprisingly not sold in supermarkets.

11) Food – Cat
Part of the world – SE Asia
What is it? – Self explanatory. See also dog.

12) Food – Century Egg
Part of the world – China
What is it? – Chicken, quail or duck egg soaked in salt, clay and ash for weeks (or months) before being eaten.

13) Food – Cherry Blossom Meat
Part of the world – Japan
What is it? – Raw horsemeat, often in sushi. See also Steak Tartare.

14) Food – Chickens Feet
Part of the world – SE Asia, Caribbean, South America, South Africa
What is it? – Self explanatory. A Yum Cha favourite.

15) Food – Cobra Heart
Part of the world – Vietnam
What is it? – Pretty cruel dish – the beating heart of the cobra is dropped into a glass of its own blood.

16) Food – Crocodile
Part of the world – Australia, SE Asia, Africa
What is it? – Self explanatory. Apparently tastes somewhere between chicken and crab.

17) Food – Cuy
Part of the world – Peru
What is it? – Fried or roasted guinea pig.

18) Food – Dog
Part of the world – Korea, China, Vietnam
What is it? – Self explanatory really.

19) Food – Dragon in the Flame of Desire
Part of the world – China
What is it? – Yak’s penis.

20) Food – Drunken Shrimp
Part of the world – China
What is it? – Living shrimp stunned in a strong alcoholic spirit called baijiu and eaten alive. Diners risk contracting the parasitic infection paragonimiasis.

21) Food – Durian
Part of the world – Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand
What is it? – A fruit that smells pretty bad (a bit like sewage).

22) Food – Escamole
Part of the world – Mexico
What is it? – Fruit ant larvae.

23) Food – Escargots
Part of the world – France
What is it? – Snails. In garlic butter. Yum.

24) Food – Frogs Legs
Part of the world – France, SE Asia
What is it? – Self explanatory. Taste like chicken with a slight fishy taste.

25) Food – Fruit Bats
Part of the world – Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Guam
What is it? – Self explanatory. Apparently taste like chicken (like most things).

26) Food – Fugu
Part of the world – Japan
What is it? – Blowfish. Very poisonous and must be prepared by a licensed expert chef.

27) Food – Gaebul
Part of the world – Korea
What is it? – A marine worm found on mudflats. Also called a ‘penis fish’, as it looks like one.

28) Food – Haggis
Part of the world – UK
What is it? – Are you ready for this? It’s made by stuffing a sheep’s heart, liver and lungs and some minced beef into the sheep’s stomach which is then boiled.

29) Food – Hakarl
Part of the world – Iceland
What is it? – Fermented (Greenland or basking) shark meat.

30) Food – Huitlacoche
Part of the world – Mexico
What is it? – Corn cobs that have gone mouldy with corn smut. Yuck.

31) Food – Jellied Moose Nose
Part of the world – Canada
What is it? – Self explanatory. Served in a broth.

32) Food – Jing Leed
Part of the world – Thailand
What is it? – Fried grasshoppers.

33) Food – Kale Pache
Part of the world – Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Mongolia
What is it? – Boiled cow or sheep parts, often eaten for breakfast. Similar to Khash.

34) Food – Kangaroo
Part of the world – Australia
What is it? – Self explanatory. Healthy option as it’s high in protein and low in fat.

35) Food – Khash
Part of the world – Middle East, East Europe, Turkey, Armenia
What is it? – Soup made from cow’s hooves and its head.

36) Food – Kopi Luwak
Part of the world – Indonesia
What is it? – Coffee beans that have ‘passed through’ the gut of a wild cat – an Asian palm civet. Get a 125g bag from Harrods for just $500.

37) Food – Locusts
Part of the world – Israel
What is it? – Self explanatory. Kosher. Deep fried or chocolate covered.

38) Food – Marmite/Vegemite
Part of the world – UK, New Zealand, Australia
What is it? – Yeast extract – a by product of brewing beer. You either love it or you hate it.

39) Food – Mopane Worms
Part of the world – South Africa
What is it? – A large type of worm, generally dried or smoked and then added to other food.

40) Food – Mouse Wine
Part of the world – China, Korea
What is it? – Live baby mice are dropped into wine which is fermented for 12 months.

41) Food – Muktuk
Part of the world – Greenland
What is it? – Frozen whale skin and blubber.

42) Food – Natto
Part of the world – Japan
What is it? – Fermented soybeans. A breakfast favourite.

43) Food – Pickled Egg
Part of the world – UK
What is it? Self explanatory. Don’t know what all the fuss is about.

44) Food – Raw Blood Soup
Part of the world – Thailand
What is it? – Also called ‘Lou’, it is made from pig’s blood and spices. Consume at your own risk.

45) Food – Rocky Mountain Oysters
Part of the world – US
What is it? – Fried bulls testicles.

46) Food – Sago Delight
Part of the world – SE Asia
What is it? – Sago grubs, raw or cooked.

47) Food – Salo
Part of the world – Ukraine
What is it? – Smoked lard.

48) Food – Sannakji
Part of the world – Korea
What is it? – Live young octopus, chopped into small pieces.

49) Food – Shark Fin Soup
Part of the world – China
What is it? Self explanatory. Very cruel as the sharks have their fins cut off when they are alive and allowed to swim off.

50) Food – Shiokara
Part of the world – Japan
What is it? – A raw mix of sea creatures.

51) Food – Shirako
Part of the world – Japan
What is it? – Sperm sacs of cod fish.

52) Food – Soup Number Five
Part of the world – Philippines
What is it? – A soup made from a bull’s penis and testicles.

53) Food – Southern Fried Rattlesnake
Part of the world – US
What is it? – Need we say more. A sort of revenge food.

54) Food – Spam
Part of the world – US
What is it? – Don’t really know. Supposedly chopped pork shoulder, ham and potato starch.

55) Food – Starfish
Part of the world – China
What is it? Self explanatory. Served dry, and you break the legs off and peel off the skin to eat the meat inside.

56) Food – Steak Tartare
Part of the world – France
What is it? – Raw minced beef or horsemeat served with a raw egg and seasoning.

57) Food – Stink Bugs
Part of the world – Africa
What is it? – Self explanatory. Boiled, they are crunchy and apparently taste a little like apples.

58) Food – Stinkheads
Part of the world – US
What is it? – Fermented head of a King Salmon.

59) Food – Su Callu Sardu
Part of the world – Sardinia
What is it? – Cheese made from goat’s milk left to mature in the stomach of a baby goat for 2-4 months.

60) Food – Surstromming
Part of the world – Sweden
What is it? – Fermented herring.

61) Food – Tripe
Part of the world – Everywhere
What is it? Stomach lining of an animal.

62) Food – Tuna Eye
Part of the world – Japan
What is it? – Yes it’s the boiled eye of a tuna.

63) Food – Turtle Soup
Part of the world – UK
What is it? – Self explanatory. Made from the soft shell turtle in Asia or the snapping turtle in the US.

64) Food – Wasp Crackers
Part of the world – Japan
What is it? – Yes, it’s crackers embedded with digger wasps.

65) Food – Whale
Part of the world – Japan, US, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Iceland
What is it? – Rightly banned in most countries, whale is still eaten in some parts of the world.

66) Food – White Ant Eggs Soup
Part of the world – Laos
What is it? – Self explanatory. Also called ‘Gaeng Kai Mot Daeng’.

67) Food – Witchetty Grub
Part of the world – Australia
What is it? Traditional bush tucker, eaten raw or slightly cooked.

68) Food – Ying-Yang Fish
Part of the world – China, Taiwan
What is it? – Another pretty cruel dish – a fish kept alive while it is deep fried.

Have we missed anything?