Monday, April 21, 2008

Vinitra's Post

International ‘Creepy’ Cuisine
By: Vinitra Swamy
When I say International cuisine, I am sure you can imagine the delightful Thai cuisine, spicy Indian curries, flavorful Mexican cuisine, cheesy Italian pasta, colorful Japanese Sushi and so on. But have you heard of some creepy International cuisine?

People from all over the world have been eating various kinds of foods since long time back. In fact, some of these foods are so special and rare, that they have become part of their culture. Let me introduce you to some such strange and creepy foods.

Scorpions:
Yes! Scorpions! It is an Asian delicacy. People in Hong Kong, pickle the scorpions in wine, then deep fry it before eating them. To top that, some people in China, eat scorpions alive!!! Chefs get these scorpions drunk by giving them alcohol before serving them live to the guests.

Crickets:
In our neighboring Mexico, people fry crickets, then dust it in chili powder and other spices for a delicious crunchy snack. If you have been to Mexico, you can see people selling these delicacies by the bagful on street corners.

Tarantulas:
In Thailand, people eat Tarantulas! Yes, they are poisonous and big. They roast these hairy scary creatures and serve it with coconut cream and lime leaves. I would like a piece of Tiramisu with coconut cream and lime leaves instead.

Bats:
People even eat bats. That’s right, bats! Poor Stellaluna! People of Guam (an island near Japan) boil whole bats and eat them. Some bats have wingspans of three feet and weigh about three pounds. They even leave the fur and the wings on when they boil the bats. Imagine the size of the pot in which they are boiling it!

Are you ready to try any of these delicacies? The scariest thing for me is to eat a scorpion alive or even to watch someone eating it alive. Which is the scariest food for you? Do you know of any other creepy foods to add to my list?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The scariest for me is eating a bat. I know that some Japanese eat some kind of poisonous puffer fish called fugu. A chef would have to cut out the poisonous parts and wash it very thoroughly.

Anonymous said...

I am totally not ready to try anything on that list! the scariest thing ( to me ) on that list cooking tarantulas. Just saying the name makes me shiver all over! I also agree with Vinitra:
eating a scorpion or watching a person eating a scorpion just makes me want to throw up!!!
D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G!!!
Still, it's too bad i don't know any disgusting foods to put in this comment. Oh Well. I'm very glad I don't need to eat these poor creatures for dinner. But I'll never know. It just might end up on my plate anyday...

Anonymous said...

I'm probably not going to be able to handle the tarantulas. I've seen people do it on TV though. On the discovery channel, there is this show called Man VS. Wild. It is this one man, Bear Grylls, which goes into some abandoned place with a camera crew. His mission: to find civilization. He teaches you how to survive and eats these scary things. He looks like he enjoys it most of the time. Just visit his site at http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/manvswild/manvswild.html.visit his site at http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/manvswild/manvswild.html.

Anonymous said...

If there was one scary food then I would chose a rattle snake. They are poisonous and can kill people. Their venom is very strong. Very scary!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Vinitra, creepy post! I never knew that you could ever eat those things. The scariest and most creepiest food that I saw on the post was the scorpions and the tarantulas. I also herd that people eat ants and worms. I think I would never try any of those foods. They just sound so gross.

Anonymous said...

I would say that the tarantulas are the scariest. It is good the do not eat them alive! Why do they eat it with coconut cream and the lime leaf? That is something I will try to find out. I heard that some people eat rats! That is something I wouldn't try for a million bucks.Cool post Vinitra!

Anonymous said...

I would be freaked out if I got any of those dishes for my dinner. I would SCREAM if I saw tarantulas on my plate!!! In MAN vs. WILD(the show that Joel mentioned)I saw Bear Grylls eat a cobra, a frog, ang a bug! How does he do it?!?

P.S. I miss u all, a lot :)