Cultures around the world have very different views on what they consider to be “safe” to eat. A delicacy in one country wouldn’t be fed to prisoners in another, with some of the dishes out there being so strange its hard to think of how they came about eating them in the first place. Here’s a list of the most unusual and seemingly unhygienic dishes that have been created by the tribes of our planet.
Amazon tribes – Yam cakes
There’s nothing wrong with eating yam cakes in general, but the thing that puts this one on the list is how they are made. The tribe sits around a large pot with a load of raw yams which they then chew up into a slurry. When the half chewed yam mush is juicy enough they all spit it out into the pot were spices and corn flour are added.
The mush then gets made into small flat cakes which are baked on a stone to form something that looks a little like round hardtack. Even though this may seem very unhygienic (and it is), tribes that live in isolation and all eat the same things generally don’t get sick as they aren’t exposed to illnesses or artificial ingredients from the outside world, so passing sickness to each other through the process simply doesn’t happen.
Inuit tribes of northern Canada – Buried and fermented Ox steaks
Starting around the middle of the arctic circle is an animal called a Musk Ox, named so due to the very powerful smell it gives off during breeding season. The animal is just another type of cow and gives off a huge amount of meat, making it one of the more favourable targets for an Inuit hunter.
When an animal is caught and butchered during the Autumn, the tribe take a number of steaks and bury them in the ground. Over the winter the steaks partially ferment and freeze, and when they are dug up again at the start of spring the tribe consider them a delicacy, with it being compared to something like extremely aged beef.
People of ancient China – Century eggs
This foul smelling creation is a favourite food of the Philippines and numerous other surrounding countries. This one is believed to have originated in China as a way to preserve eggs, which didn’t really work, or at least not in the sense you’d expect.
A normal chicken egg is soaked in salt water and wrapped in a mixture of clay and ash before either being buried in the ground or put in a box filled with sand or some other kind of packing material. They are left there for any were between a few weeks and several months, depending on a number of factors. What used to be the white of the egg is said to be almost tasteless with a slight salty hint, but the yolk smells like a mixture of ammonia and sulphur, or stagnant urine to be more direct.
Brazil – Ant larvae biscuits
Insects are eaten as a staple in many countries around the world, and ants are often close to the top of the list when it comes to taste. All you need to make an ant biscuit is some flour, a blanket and a cooking surface. The blanket is spread out on the ground next to an ant mound with the edges folded over, the top of the mound is then shovelled into the centre of the blanket.
The ants realise their larvae are exposed to the sun and take them to the nearest safe dark space, knowing the mound has been compromised, which ends up being the folded over edges of the blanket. The ant larva can then be easily collected were its then mixed with flour and formed into a biscuit.