10 Odd Foods to Try This Christmas Eve!

The Mescal worm

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Mescal, a popular Mexican alcoholic beverage is made from fermented maguey or agave plant. Wondering if you’ll find mescal worms  deposited at the bottle’s bottom, then you are mistaken –you get worms in bottles of mescal. These worms usually either a gusano rojo (”red worm”) or a chinicuil (”maguey worm”) live in the agave plants but are removed before the  heart of the maguey plant ( piña) is baked and then fermented. To enjoy mescal’s strong smoky flavor, drink it straight and  then bite into a slice  of lime sprinkled with “sal de gusanito”.

Century eggs

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Century egg, also known as hundred-year egg, popular in China, is made by preserving ordinary eggs, such as chicken, duck or quail eggs and coating it in clay, lime, salt, ashes and rice hull before burying it for several weeks or a few months. After the process is through and the eggs are dug up, the yolk becomes a dark green, cream-like, while the albumen, becomes a transparent jelly dark brown in color with a strong flavor. . What transforms a century egg is its alkaline material that increases the pH of egg from around 9 to 12 or more. I admit that century eggs don’t look appetizing and it takes a lot of courage to try them.

Black pudding

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If the name rings a bell, then you are mistaken, Black pudding or blood pudding isn’t the dark chocolaty delight–it’s a blood sausage! Along with pig or cattle blood, and other similar flavorings such as onions, pork fat, oatmeal, black pepper, barley and herbs, is made by cooking the blood and other ingredients and  when cooled down is stuffed into a sausage casing.

Fermented shark

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In Iceland, fermented shark, locally known as Hákarl or kæstur hákarl is a delicacy. It is prepared by beheading Greenland or basking shark, allowing the curing process by placing it on a shallow hole and covered it with sand and gravel. Normally, the shark ferments for 6-12 weeks. Following this fermentation process, the shark is then sliced into strips and hung to dry for 4-5 months.  

Cow urine

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Take this, offer your guests soft drinks made from cow urine mixed with herbs! India’s oldest, biggest national Hindu group, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is about to introduce such drink to rival Coke and Pepsi . To be known as “gau jal” , this drink will be mixed with gooseberry, aloe vera and other herbs and RSS believes that it will have medicinal benefits to combat diabetes, cancer, and other diseases. 

Live octopus

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Sannakji is a type of raw dish, in Korean cuisine, The dish consists of live baby octopus that has been cut into small pieces, seasoned with sesame that is served immediately.
When serve, the baby octopus are usually still wriggling on the plate. Special care must be taken when eating sannakji, since the octopus, arms’ suction cups are still active when the dish is served. If you new to eating sannakji, then a piece of caution, chew it up into tiny particles before swallowing.

Casu marzu cheese

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Casu marzu, or rotten cheese, is a type of sheep milk cheese from Sardinia. What makes Casu marzu cheese controversial is the added ingredient of live insect larvae. Casu marzu is created by deliberately introducing these larvae on the cheese outside and letting it ferment.  During this process, the cheese fats breaks down and cheese becomes very soft, with some liquid. If you want to try it out, make sure to eat it before the maggots die because Casu marzu is considered toxic when the maggots in the cheese have died.