1. River Rats
Known as nutria when it's meal time, this semi-aquatic river rat native to South America is a touted as a nutritious and delicious source of protein. Considered an invasive species that is screwing up the Louisiana wetlands, the state has a website encouraging you to chow down: Check out these recipes for nutria gumbo.
2. Armadillo
Though probably not news to those of you in the creature's native warmer climates, these odd rabbit-lizard hybrids are said to taste like a cross between steak and pork. But just like the Holiday Armadillo, these little guys are a rare find since they are endangered, and thus probably best left off your food bucket list.
3. Tree Bark
Ground into bread in parts of Finland, tree bark is a great option next time you're lost in the woods. For the good stuff, peel back the tough outer layer to reveal the more tender "cambium" underneath. You can boil the strips for an admittedly rough pasta, or gnaw on it raw.
4. Cockscomb
Not just for show, the fleshy red growth atop a rooster's head is apparently gelatinous in texture but overall "delicious." More commonly used in Italian and French cooking, it's often paired with the rest of the bird or even other organs such as the liver. You can dazzle friends and family with your sophisticated palette with this super fancy recipe for candied cockscomb in rice pudding.
5. Guinea Pigs
6. Dirt
7. Wasp Crackers
8. Bird's Nest Soup
9. Black Ant Larvae
10. Snake Wine
11. Fried Tarantulas
12. Duck Fetus
13. Fish Sperm
14. 3,000-Year-Old Butter
An oak barrel full of butter dating back to the Iron Age was found in a peat bog in Ireland in 2009. So naturally, folks ate it. The butter had decomposed into adipocere, essentially an animal fat of the same sort "that is found on well-preserved bodies of people or animals found in the bog."
15. Maggot Cheese
16. Fermented Rotten Shark Meat
These hunks of cured Greenland shark go by the name of hákarl, and they're a traditional Icelandic snack. Why must the meat be spoiled, you ask? Because the flesh of the shark is actually poisonous when fresh. Described by Anthony Bourdain as "the single worst thing I've ever put in my mouth," this fishy concoction seems to be truly an acquired taste.
17. Jellied Moose Nose
18. Bat Soup
Considered quite the treat in parts of West Africa and Southeast Asia, the perfect bat soup is achieved by 1) catching a live bat, 2) boiling it in coconut milk, and 3) tenderizing the body along with your favorite herbs and spices. For all the Ozzy Osbourne wannabes with refined palettes.
19. Deep-Fried Fair Food
Butter, beer, pig ears, Kool-Aid, alligator, White Castle burgers...you name it, a state fair in America has probably deep-fried it. Maybe not surprising (because deep-fried is the best way to consume anything), but certainly impressive in its variety.
Bon appetit!
