I'm not the most "touristy" traveler. I often bypass museums in favor of wandering around dive bar districts, I never buy souvenirs (much to my friends' and family's chagrin), and I usually spend more time with the locals than I do with the tour groups. But there is one die-hard gawker part of me--the part that demands that I sample every bizarre local food, beverage, or beer that I can find.
So, yes, I've endured headaches from Chilean jote (red wine and Coca Cola), cringed a little at kefir (a fermented milk drink), and rather enjoyed pan-cooked alpaca (a cousin of the llama). And once I make it out to the rest of the world, I'm definitely checking off these four "fine" dining options as well.
Cuy/Guinea Pig (Peru)
Guinea pig actually tastes more like chicken or rabbit than swine, but that doesn't stop Peruvians from eating over 65 million cuyes per year. These little guys get served up whole, and are either fried (chactado) or roast (asado) to meaty perfection. In fact, cuy consumption goes so far back that in several Cusco churches, paintings of the Last Supper show the disciples dining on roasted guinea pig.
Snake Blood (Vietnam)
I don't buy in to the health benefits of this particular elixir, but the residents of Snake Village (just outside of Hanoi, Vietnam) will tell you that it's all kinds of good for you. Order a shot of snake blood, and you get to watch as your waiter wrangles, defangs, and eviscerates a live cobra over your glass. Add a little liquor and drop in the snake's still-beating heart, and you've got Snake Village Viagra. I don't think I could do this one without a serious chaser.
Spoon Worms (South Korea)
The name of this dish is more attractive than the actual food, which is saying quite a lot when the food is "spoon worm." These boneless sea creatures are often kept in tanks or tubs of water until just before dinner time, at which point they get sliced up and served sushi- or sashimi-style. Locals claim the raw meat is delicious--once you get past the Lovecraftian wriggling.
Head Cheese (United States)
You don't have to cross the ocean to get a taste of something strange. In fact, there's probably a deli in your neighborhood (or the next one) that sells head cheese. Head cheese is not actually cheese at all--it's bits of meat stripped from the heads of various animals (calf, pig, sheep, etc.) and gelled together into a loaf. The loaf then gets cut into cold-cut style slices, or cubed and thrown in salads.
Comments
Aug 11, 2009
You are one brave cookie! I once was in a restaurant in Peru where the waiter walked by with a guinea pig on a plate and it made me shiver just *looking* at it.
Aug 11, 2009
I just heard an interview with a chef who was talking about head cheese. My only experience with it is seeing how nasty it looks in the grocery store deli section, but when when he described the ingredients it actually sounded tasty. He said that it was made with pork, simmered in white wine with herbs, then a gelatin is added. I think he said you eat it with French bread or crackers.
Aug 11, 2009
I've ALWAYS wondered what head cheese is! I just haven't wanted to get close enough to find out.
Aug 11, 2009
I TRIED GUINEA PIG IN CUSCO AND LIVED TO TELL ABOUT IT! And I even saw that painting of the Last Supper with cuy on the table.
Here's my report on how it tastes: Like rabbit, only chewier like squid.
Aug 12, 2009
Yak!i can't even see it.Eating is out of question
Aug 12, 2009
Ew, snake blood. I saw that on the China edition of Globe Trekker and literally felt nauseous.
One of the weirdest things I've tried (or, more accurately, taken a shot of) was a raw turtle egg (from a stranger off the street, no less) in Barranquilla, Colombia. It was Carnaval, and it seemed like a good idea. They also sold iguana eggs on the highways, at toll plazas. Besides being environmentally irresponsible, the egg was really gross.