Top 5 Disgusting Delicacies

ABC News ^ | May 4, 2010 | LAUREN COX

[nickcarraway]

Delicacies in other countries may seem disgusting at first glance, but chefs and dietitians say they can be delicious and nutritious.

Just imagine the protein and minerals in an appetizing course of balut, followed by warm Casu Marzu, sizzling boodog and a refreshing bite of hasma for dessert.

Technically that's boiled duck fetus, maggot-ridden cheese, a beheaded goat stuffed with stones and frog fallopian tubes. The whole meal is a good source of protein.

Below is a list of foods you may find disgusting, delicious and perhaps nutritious -- if you can only bring yourself to try them.

Corn Smut, or Huitlacoche

For years farmers in the U.S. tried to avoid the fungal infection called corn smut. But Americans are discovering the tasty treat people in central and southern Mexico never stopped eating.

"It looks like a stalk of corn that looks like a brain, it's all lumpy but it's grey," said Dr. Christine Gerbstadt, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Once the fungus infects the corn, the kernels expand and change color to various shades of grey and black. As the fungus grows it also changes the corn's flavor and adds nutrients.

"It has tons of fiber, it also has beta-glucans which it's a kind of carbohydrate, and it's got a lot of other free sugars, which is very unusual for a mushroom," said Gerbstadt.

Corn smut, called huitlacoche in Latin America, also adds cancer protecting antimutigens and lysine to the corn, Gerbstadt said.

SNIP

Escamoles, or Ant Eggs

Only one percent of people in the U.S. refuse to eat eggs in some form, according to the Vegetarian Resource Council.

[Bob]

...I never could drink that many san miguels,that I had enough nerve to actually eat one

They've never brewed enough San Miguels to get me to try one. Olongapo street vendors with their Bar-Be-Que!! (I noticed they never said barbequed what.) were quite enough of an adventure going back to the ship.

[ApplegateRanch]

I'll see yours, and raise you igunaq!

[oldsalt]

...I guess they were showing me how to do it,but I never could drink that many san miguels,that I had enough nerve to actually eat one

I could and did drink that many! Baluts aren't so bad,they have a strong hard-boiled egg taste...though I did find them a little crunchy and found a few feathers at times.

For some reason it seemed eating them would sort of endear you to the B-girls...at least that was my experience FWIW.

[TheOldLady]

Delicacies? More like someone got desperately hungry and would eat almost anything.

[PA Engineer]

Drunken shrimp -- you may have seen a dish by this name on a menu in your country, but those are usually cooked. In Shanghai, drunken shrimp is not only raw -- it's alive !! Now I've heard many a Shanghai person talk with disgust about how the Cantonese eat all sorts of weird creatures, but eating a live animal is as weird as it gets. OK, some Americans eat raw oysters, which are actually alive also, but these Shanghai shrimp have little claws -- they bite back as you try to eat them.

[Junior_G]

Somewhere, someone was the first person to eat a raw oyster.

I'm just as amazed that there was ever a second, and a third...

[Slings and Arrows]

Got it in one.

[Sgt_Schultze]

Balut

[Textide]

Found a youtube video of that. Blech!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pJn5vJeHyc&feature=related

Call me old fashioned, but these steps seem pretty basic.

Step 1: Kill Food
Step 2: Cook Food
Step 3: Eat Food

[a fool in paradise]

Corn Smut, or Huitlacoche For years farmers in the U.S. tried to avoid the fungal infection called corn smut. But Americans are discovering the tasty treat people in central and southern Mexico never stopped eating. "It looks like a stalk of corn that looks like a brain, it's all lumpy but it's grey," said Dr. Christine Gerbstadt, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Once the fungus infects the corn, the kernels expand and change color to various shades of grey and black. As the fungus grows it also changes the corn's flavor and adds nutrients. "It has tons of fiber, it also has beta-glucans which it's a kind of carbohydrate, and it's got a lot of other free sugars, which is very unusual for a mushroom," said Gerbstadt. Corn smut, called huitlacoche in Latin America, also adds cancer protecting antimutigens and lysine to the corn, Gerbstadt said.

Any relation to the fungal infection in rye that causes people to hallucinate? LSD is a synthetic version of it.

[a fool in paradise]

Don’t eat month old leftover asian food you find in the back of the fridge!!!

[a fool in paradise]

but these Shanghai shrimp have little claws -- they bite back as you try to eat them

Virtually all aquatic life experiences this every meal...

[Trillian]

At least it’s not meecrob ;)

[Slings and Arrows]

Crispy noodles?

[Grunthor]

“I will not eat veal because of the inhumane confinement of the calf.”

That’s ok, I’ll eat your share.

[aruanan]

The civet cat coffee beans look a bit like PayDay candy bars. I’m sure they are for someone along the chain.

[LadyDoc]

I can't eat the chicken embryos either but my husband does...he claims they are an aphrodisiac...