Think back to your last trip to the grocery store; what was the strangest food you noticed? It may have been canned, boxed, or sitting out in the produce section. But I would make a pretty good bet that you hadn't seen a durian fruit, fried bats, or duck blood soup. What about insects paired with fertilized duck eggs? These foods sound crazy to us, but in South Asia they are considered delicacies.
The durian fruit is either cherished or despised in South Asia; the fruit has a disgustingly pungent smell often compared to bad body odor or vomit. Fried bats are unseasoned and sold plain, and are eaten without sauce. The taste is compared to chicken, although the appearances turn most tourists away. Duck blood soup, which can also be made into blood tofu, is described as spicy because of the use of multiple spices and is eaten usually at parties or at a get-together. Insects are a common street food, along with fertilized duck eggs (baby ducks still in their shells) and can be eaten with a variety of sauces and spices. Not so tasty to us, delectable to the citizens of South Asia. Would you eat any of these foods?
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ReplyDeleteI probably wouldn't eat any of these foods, but I have eaten some weird meals. It might be worth a shot to taste what they're having over there, just for the sake of (quite literally) getting a taste of another country's culture. If I had to, I would try the durians or possibly the fried bats, if I had to. But duck blood soup, as you would think, sounds less than appealing. I would probably also need something cold to wash these down with.
ReplyDeleteExcellent picture!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could ever get paid enough to eat any of these foods! Just reading your post about these foods made me cringe, and can't imagine what would happen if I tried to eat them! It's hard to believe that people actually eat fertilized eggs, but after reaching this topic I have learned that boiling a nearly developed embryo is called a balut, and this food is very common in markets all over South Asia.
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