What makes it ok to eat one thing, but not another? Who knows? But considering how squeamish most Westerners are in comparison to other nationalities, it's amazing how this list of rather nasty foods get so regularly onto our plates and into our shopping baskets!
Stilton – Everybody loves cheese, but less so cheese with mould injected into it. I'm not sure who came up with the idea of injecting penicillium roqueforti into Stilton before leaving it to mature, but it's sure proved a popular, if disgusting, idea.
Haggis – Want to gross out your friends? Take the heart, stomach and lungs of a sheep,
mix in some other lovely ingredients and boil the whole thing in the stomach of the aforeme
ntioned sheep for a few hours. Then tuck in!
Spam – Heavily processed pork shoulder, or something more suspicious? Neither seem terribly nice, but over 6 billion cans of SPAM have been sold to date! While the original name comes from 'SPiced hAM', many other ideas have been ventured: 'Something Posing As Meat' being a favourite.
Bovril – How appetising does the following sound: a thick, salty meat paste that can be made into a hot drink, a base for soups of simply spread on bread as a delicious topping! What? You'd rather have jam? Well, suit yourselves...
Black Pudding – A staple of the traditional English breakfast, black pudding owes its colour to...wait for it...blood!
Oysters – Whoever managed to turn a raw crustaceon into not only a gourmet treat but an alleged aphrodesiac should get a medal.
Gelatine – Made from collagen in animals' skin and bones – deeeelicious! Particularly disgu
sting considering we use it mostly commonly in desserts. Although I've heard chefs have had a good go at making bacon and egg ice cream, so I suppose a bit of cow extract in your pudding isn't so crazy.
Liver and onions – Although some swear by it, the idea of eating liver – as one person puts it 'a giant blood clot' – turns my stomach. Normally served with something along the lines of mash and fried onions, steel yourself before diving in...
Deep fried Mars bar – For many people, this is the epitome of delicious rather than disgusting. A Mars bar (for those who don't know, this is a milk chocolate bar with a caramel and fluffy marshmallow-like filling) is coated in batter, then deep fried for ten minutes.
Caviar – Another one scoring high on the entrepreneurial scale. I can't imagine who first came up with the idea of eating fish eggs, but whoever did it (perhaps on a bet) hit the jackpot! I suppose there's something to be said for taking risks afterall.
Tune in next week, when I'll be dishing up some of the most bizarre and unappetising dishes worldwide! I just thought I'd start on this note to remind us we eat some very weird things right in our own back yard (figuratively, not literally).
Have a nice weekend everyone!
0 comments:
Post a Comment