Many people say every strange dish must have some form of snails.
I disagree.
To prove my point, here are the five strangest dishes I could find on the internet that don’t include escargot (that means snails).
- Balut (Philippines): A fertilized duck egg with a partially developed embryo inside, boiled and eaten in the shell.
- Tuna Eyeball (Japan): A large tuna eyeball boiled and served as a delicacy in some Japanese restaurants. It has a gelatinous texture.
- Surströmming (Sweden): Fermented Baltic Sea herring that is known for its pungent odor. It's often eaten with bread and potatoes, but the strong smell can be off-putting to some.
- Hákarl (Iceland): Fermented shark meat, traditionally buried underground for several months and then hung to dry for several more months. It has a strong ammonia-rich smell and taste.
- Casu Marzu (Italy): A traditional Sardinian cheese that contains live insect larvae (maggots). The cheese is left to ferment with the larvae inside, and it is typically eaten with the larvae still alive.
Pretty crazy.