Food tours have become amazingly popular these days. Google “culinary travel” or “food tours” and hundreds of sites come up. The desire to try food in different countries and regions around the US has spawned its own specialty industry.

If you’re like most avid travelers, you tend to want to immerse yourself in the culture and try the local food specialty: Octopus in Croatia, Guinea Pig in Peru, Springbok in South Africa, Kangaroo in Australia, Pho in Vietnam.

We comprised a quick list of unusual foods from around the world. Dying to know… would you try them?

100-Year Egg (China)

Century Egg, also known as 100-year egg, is not really 100 years old, but rather months old. It is a Chinese dish made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months, depending on the method of processing. A friend said she had one in Hong Kong and that it was mostly flavorless with a bit of a moldy taste.

Surströmming (Sweden)

Surströmming (“sour herring”) is known as one of the smelliest foods in the world – so much that it is banned on planes due to its powerful odor (move over durian)!

Swedes usually eat Surströmming with thin flatbreads and oat breads and it reportedly has a very sour, sharp, peppery taste with a salty flavor. One taster described it like this, “You know the fetid liquid that gathers at the bottom of bins? Well, the contents of the tin smelled like that – only if the bin had also contained a partially decomposed cadaver in soiled underpants. It was absolutely vile.”

Fugu Fish (Japan)

Fugu is a type of pufferfish eaten as a delicacy in Japan and known for the fact that it can be potentially deadly if not prepared correctly. The fish naturally contains poison which needs to be very carefully separated from the meat by chefs with special training.

It contains a toxin hundreds of times more poisonous than cyanide; its liver alone can contain enough poison to kill five men. Japan has laws in place to ensure it is prepared and detoxified properly before it is sold.

Bulls Testicles Criadillas (Argentina)

In Argentina, Spain and Mexico the testicles are fried and served with salsa, but in the US you might know them as rocky mountain oysters or prairie oysters. Criadillas is the Latino recipe for bulls testicles that some say they taste like a hotdog and claim they are quite delicious! Eating testicles might not sound too appetizing but it is a surprisingly common snack in countries where bullfighting is popular.

Bondegi (South Korea)

Beondegi are a South Korean delicacy consisting of cooked silkworm pupae, typically either boiled or steamed. They are a very common street food snack where they are served in a paper cup with a toothpick. It has a strong, notable taste but not an unpleasant one, and are said to smell like burnt wood. They are said to make a popping noise when eaten.

And, on the flip side, what do people think of foods in OUR country? In 2008, the WOW! Travel Club visited southern Africa. Contraband – in the form of Jet-Puffed Marshmallows – had been brought from home for a special after-dinner surprise. After a full meal, our guests were too stuffed to eat anything more – but the African chefs were intensely curious about the strange white blobs that their guests were threading onto freshly-whittled sticks . . . Read the full story on the blog:  https://www.wowtravelclub.com/marshmallow-glue/

 

And speaking of the good ol’ U.S. of A., here’s a couple odd ones:

Fried Butter Balls (most state fairs)

Fried butter balls are exactly that: chilled balls of butter, covered in batter and deep fried. The flavor was compared to that of french toast, and described as tasting like “the most buttery bread you’ve ever had”. In 2011 at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, California, deep-fried butter was paired with chocolate-covered bacon and dubbed the “coronary combo.” Doesn’t your chest hurt just thinking of that?

Rattlesnake (Arizona or Texas)

If you find yourself in parts of Arizona or Texas, you may just find rattlesnake on the menu. Apparently, it is white, tender, and tastes like a cross between frog legs and turtle. While others say it tastes like alligator meat. Not sure many of us had had the opportunity to know what frog legs, turtle or alligator even taste like as a comparison!

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten (or seen) in your travels?

---

Apparently, you all are itching to travel! And we’re grateful that you’ve chosen to travel with us!

Our WOW! Travel Club trips have sold out in record speed with our recently announced trip to Kenya selling out in a week! Thank you for putting your trust in us during these interesting times. We promise to always keep your health, safety, and happiness as our main goal.

And, in case you didn’t hear, our recent trip to Egypt & Jordan (last month) was one for the record books! It was met with rave reviews from all who went. It was SO well-received that we are doing something we don’t normally do… we’re repeating the trip in early December, 2022! Please email Gabriel at gabriel@wowtravelclub.com to let him know you’re interested.

This one is going to fill up fast! We’ve already got several travelers (mostly folks who were seeing all their friend’s posts on Facebook!) who’ve said they’re in. Once it’s announced, definitely DO NOT WAIT to get on the list!