8 Extremely Weird Meals from Around The World | The Student Pocket Guide
by Alex Paton
So, you may think living on a typical student diet of packet noodles and tinned soup is questionable. Take a look at the following list of extremely weird meals from around the world and think again…
WARNING: Don’t read any further if you have a squeamish disposition or are about to eat your lunch!
Snake Wine
Snake Wine
Snake wine is an alcoholic beverage made by immersing venomous snakes in rice wine. This concoction has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine as cures for various illnesses ranging from the common cold to hair loss.
This drink does definitely have a bite to it though. Earlier this year, a Chinese woman had been marinating a pit viper for three months in alcohol with the intention of using it to cure her rheumatism. However, when she opened the bottle the snake had survived and bit her on the hand!
Chef preparing Fugu
Fugu
This legendary delicacy from Japan is made from highly toxic pufferfish. A dish which offers a kind of sushi roulette, as if it isn’t prepared properly it can kill! The fish contains a poison called tetrodoxin which paralyses its victims who eventually die.
Considering Fugu can cost £100 upwards per meal, it could be one very expensive last dinner.
Sannakji
Sannakji
How fresh do you like your sushi? In Korea, they like it still squirming. Sannakji is sliced octopus served whilst still alive. Suction cups on tentacles are still active when swallowed and have the potential to choke.
Fried Spiders
In the UK, we have sandwich delis and burger takeaways. In Cambodia, they have fried spiders. Although they may look like they have scuttled out of a horror movie, these edible treats are available from a surprisingly large amount of street vendors. The arachnids are cooked in garlic and are available for as little as 300 riel (10p). Apparently they have a taste somewhere between chicken and fish.
Pieds de chameau a la vinaigrette
This dish is definitely considered to be fine French cuisine but unless you like camel’s foot for lunch you might want to avoid it. Literally translates to Camel’s Foot with Dressing.
Paniki (Smoked Bat anyone?)
Paniki
This popular meal available in Tomohon (Indonesia) may sound like flavoursome Asian grub but if you don’t like smoked bats then you’re probably out of luck. Amongst the various stalls selling vegetables and fruit in Tomohon market you can grab yourself a smoked bat for lunch but this isn’t the only place in the world where these winged creatures are eaten. ‘Hot Rod’s BBQ’ in Florida looks like your average redneck restaurant where you can chow down on ribs and catfish but don’t let looks deceive you; smoked fruit bat is also on the menu.
Gau Jal
A political party in India has started to sell this beverage as an alternative to popular fizzy drinks. Gau Jal directly translates as cow urine!
The unglamourous beginnings of Black Ivory Coffee. Mmm…
Black Ivory Coffee
Hmmm…the smell of coffee in the morning, just the way to wake up!
The ‘Black Ivory Coffee’ website describes its coffee as “naturally enhanced by elephants, ethically and with relentless passion”. You may ask how the coffee is “enhanced by elephants”. The answer: through their dung.
Arabica coffee beans are eaten by elephants then collected with “relentless passion” from their faeces. This flavoursome coffee is in no way cheap either; you can pick up a kg for around £700.
