Ten most incredible and inedible dishes of the world

Food neophobia is a psychological disorder where an individual is afraid to eat something new. Yet, even mentally stable people are afraid of dishes from our list of ten of the most incredible and seemingly inedible and extremely unhealthy food. However, these foods are enjoyed by some. Moreover, they are considered a national treasure.

Kopalhem, aka rotten deer



This is the overall winner in the rating. Sometimes, it can be substituted for a whale, seal or walrus. Decayed bodies of animals are enjoyed by nearly all northern nations. In Scandinavia, people eat shark corpses. The recipes of this wonderful meal differ little in different people - an animal is buried in the ground and dug out a few months later. By that time the putrefaction bacteria transform the soft tissue into gray, slimy mass. Kopalhem is deadly for the Europeans because of ptomaine - cadaverine, putrescine and neuromas.

Syurstremming

This is a Swedish national treat and considered a delicacy. Herring is salted, put in a bowl and left to ferment. Then the fish is canned. When you open a can it produces a loud sound due to the release hydrogen sulfide, with a corresponding scent. This is why experienced foodies recommend opening these cans under water. In Norway, a similar meal is made with lutefisk (cod under alkaline). Stinking fish is consumed by some of the Nordic peoples. France, Britain and the United States banned the import of syurstremming allegedly due to the explosion of cans in the air.

Army Bigus



This is a Polish dish often served in the Russian army. The original recipe contains pork and sauerkraut. However, in Soviet times the Army genius modified the recipe a little. Bigus in terms of preparation technology is similar to kopalhem. A few tons of cabbage is rolled into an underground storage for clogging. There cabbage begins to ferment and sour. When cabbage is removed from the basement and delivered into the kitchen, everyone knows that there will be Bigus for dinner. Consequences are gastritis and gastric ulcer.

Kasu Marci

Sicilian goat cheese with cheese fly larvae. Unlike other varieties of cheese, where insects required for fermentation of curd (German cheese mite) are removed, Kasu Marci is eaten with live larvae. Troubled insects can jump to a height of 15 cm, so while eating Kasu Marci it is advised to close your eyes. The export of this cheese is forbidden, because the product is spoiled. Kasu Marci causes indigestion and bloody diarrhea due to the fact that the larvae of flies sometimes do not digest.Kopi

Luwak



This is the name of the most expensive coffee in the world that comes from Indonesia. Kopi Luwak is made from civet feces - cute little animal resembling a ferret. It is believed that civets select the best coffee beans that are fermented in their stomachs and obtain rich flavor in the process. The beans are not digested completely and leave civets' bodies in the form of "clusters". Farm workers wash them and then sell them for $500 per kilogram. Kopi Luwak is the safest product in our rating.

Fresh blood soup



In Vietnamese this dish is called tiết canh. It is made from fresh blood of ducks, geese and pigs, with the addition of nuts and herbs. The soup is popular in North Vietnam, where it is consumed with alcohol. Fresh blood soup has a very peculiar texture, and a strange metallic taste. Tourists are usually advised against its use because of the risk of avian influenza H5N1.

Balut

This is Philippine national fast food. Duck eggs with nearly-formed duckling are boiled. Then a hole is made in the shell through which one can drink the stock. Sometimes food street merchants add salt and onion sauce. Despite the embryo, balut tastes like a regular egg.

"Hundred Years Egg"

Sometimes the name reflects a different time period - a thousand years. However, this traditional Chinese dish takes only a few months to prepare. Chicken eggs in the shell are placed in a mixture with a strong alkaline reaction - lime, salt and clay. The product is then extracted to the daylight: protein turns into a rubbery substance, and the yolk turns into cream. In addition, the egg darkens and gets highly unique rotten odor. Alkalinity of the product reaches the level of soap.

Pacha

For a festive table in Iraq boiled sheep's head is served. The taste is not as repulsive as the appearance. Eating the sheep's face, quests gradually reveal the "smirk" of the skull and empty eye sockets. Pacha is prepared with the stomach and legs of the animal. It is considered an excellent product for metabolism acceleration.

Natto

Japan is the motherland of all the strange things in the world, from advertising, TV shows, to the national meal. For example, natto - fermented soybeans. Bacillus subtilis is added to a bowl, and the process of fermentation begins. In a day, soy beans turn into a good solid mass of threadlike slim with a strong smell of ammonia. The taste of natto does not match the smell - it is bitter and salty.

Kirill Matveev

Medpulse

Read the original in Russian