5 of the Strangest methods of preparing food

Over time the human race has developed a number of methods to preserve food for the colder winter months, mostly out of necessity, but many of these methods have huge cultural differences and what is considered normal in one, would be considered inedible in others. Here are 5 of the most unusual and, lets say interesting foods that people have discovered as a way to preserve or improve their meals.

1) Fermented Musk ox Steak

The musk ox is named as such because of the very heavy, sweat like odour it gives off during mating season. The animal itself is supposed to make a good meal as its basically just a really hairy cow, but food preservation techniques are limited in the far north of the arctic circle where its found. Various Inuit populations have discovered a way to preserve the meat which is now considered a delicacy. To do this they simply bury a load of musk ox steaks in the ground, and leave them there until spring over a span of up to 6 months. The steaks freeze in the ground but not enough to stop them from partially fermenting, and are then dug up in spring and cooked as normal, apparently having a very musty and aged taste but also being incredibly tender.

2) Yam spit cakes

In the Amazon rainforest, yams are grown as one of the main vegetables because they grow very well in the climate and conditions. The Amazon tribes use the yams in a variety of ways, but one of these is especially unsanitary. The yams are chewed up raw by the various members of the cooking team, who chew them into a mush before spitting them out into a central bowl. When there’s enough chewed up yam mush, it’s mixed with corn flour and formed into flat biscuits before being cooked over a fire.

3) Century eggs

No one seems to know exactly how old this method of preserving eggs is, but it goes back at least several hundred years. There are various other names they are known by, but they are all essentially the same thing, aged and decomposed eggs. A freshly boiled egg is wrapped in some kind of preservative material, normally a mixture or clay and ash, but there are many types of covering that can be used. The egg is left inside the shell and then smeared in the covering mixture so its completely airtight, before being buried in the ground or more commonly, put in a box and covered with sand or soil. Despite the name, century eggs are usually between 4 and 6 weeks old, with the taste being described as tasteless for the egg white, and a very strong and pungent ammonia smelling, aged cheese like flavour for the yolk.

4) Casu martzu (Maggot cheese)

This cheese is illegal in many countries because of how dangerous it is. There are no documents for the origin of this cheese but its thought to have been a product of poverty and likely discovered by mistake a long time ago. A normal wheel of cheese is made from sheep milk, and when it’s finished ageing, flies will be allowed to lay their eggs in it, which in turn hatch into thousands of tiny maggots. The maggots eat the cheese and then excrete it back out again, which caused the cheese to break down and become incredibly soft. The main problem is that when the maggots die, their decomposition makes the cheese toxic and very dangerous to eat. So if you want to try some maggot poo cheese, complete with thousands of live squirming maggots that you also have to eat, then head on over to the island of Sardinia where they can still legally serve it.

5) Fish sauce

An ancient far eastern method of making sauce that sounds disgusting, but is surprisingly tasty. A load of whole anchovies are caught and put fresh into a large container where they are mashed into a pulp before being transferred into their clay fermenting pots. These large clay pots then sit out in the sun for several months where they ferment and produce a dark red/brown coloured liquid. The mixture is filtered to remove any bits of rotting fish and the sauce is then pasteurized before being bottled as it is. Even though the method may sound unpleasant, fish sauce is one of the most popular table condiments in far East Asia and is quite delicious.