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Bizarre foods: European "delicacies," by country
What constitutes "food" is relative, depending upon what part of the world you call home. In Asia, pretty much anything on no (snakes), two, four, six, or eight legs is up for grabs. Europe, however, has its own culinary oddities, as detailed below. Got maggots?
Iceland
Hákarl: Fermented, dried Greenland or basking shark. This tasty treat is prepared by burying the beheaded and gutted shark in a shallow hole in the ground for six to 12 weeks. Unsurprisingly, the end result is considered noxious to pretty much everyone on the planet aside from Icelanders.
Norway
Smalahove: Boiled lamb's head, traditionally served at Christmas. The brain is removed, and the head salted and dried before boiling. Because they're the fattiest bits, the ear and eye are eaten first. More fun than a wishbone.
Sardinia (yes, it's in Italy, but this one deserved its own listing)
Casu marzu: This sheep's milk cheese has maggots added to it during ripening, because their digestive action creates an "advanced level" of fermentation (also known as "decomposition"). Some people prefer to eat the soupy results sans critters, while the stout of heart go for the whole package. Be forewarned: according to Wikipedia, irate maggots can propel themselves for distances up to six inches. Here's fly in your eye.
Northern Sweden or Finland
Lappkok: This charmingly-named concoction consists of blodpalt--a dumpling made with reindeer blood and wheat or rye flour--served with reindeer bone marrow. Well, Santa's herd had to retire sometime.
[Photo credit: Flickr user fjords]
SwedenLutefisk: This dried whitefish treated with lye is beloved by Scandinavians and their American Midwestern ancestors (let's just say it's an acquired taste). It's traditionally served with potatoes or other root vegetables, gravy or white sauce, and akvavit.
Scotland
Haggis: Who doesn't love a cooked sheep's stomach stuffed with its lungs, heart, and liver, combined with oatmeal?
Poland
Nozki: Literally "cold feet," this dish of jellied pig's trotters isn't as repulsive as it sounds. The meat is simmered with herbs and spices until falling off the bone, and set in gelatin. Think of how much fun this would be as a Jello shooter.
Ukraine
Salo: The cured fatback of pork is actually quite delicious, and similar to Italian lardo when seasoned. It's chopped and used as a condiment, or eaten straight-up on bread. Plan your angioplasty accordingly.
England/Ireland
Black (or blood) pudding: Technically a sausage, this mixture of animal blood (usually pork), spices, fat, and oatmeal or other grains is surprisingly good. It's served uncooked, fried, grilled, or boiled. Sound bad? At least it's not called Spotted Dick.
Italy
Stracotto d'asino: A northern Italian donkey stew, often served as a pasta sauce. Donkey and horse are eaten throughout Italy, but this particular dish is a specialty of Veneto, and Mantua, in Lombardy.
France
Tête de veau: You have to love that the venerable French culinary bible, Larousse Gastronomique, describes this dish of boiled calf's head as, "a gelatinous variety of white offal." Mmm. While there are many different preparations for the classical dish, it was traditionally served with cocks' combs and kidneys, calves sweetbreads, and mushrooms.
Eastern Europe
P'tcha: A calves' foot jelly enjoyed by Ashkenazi Jews throughout this part of Europe. It's uh, high in protein.
Germany
Zungenwurst: This sausage is made of pork blood and rind; pickled ox tongue, and a grain filler, such as barley. It's available dried, or can be browned in butter or bacon fat before eating. And bacon makes everything better.
Netherlands
Paardenrookvlees: Culinarily-speaking, the Dutch usually cop grief for their proclivity for pickled herring and eating mayonnaise on their french fries. That's because most Americans don't know this smoked horse meat is a popular sandwich filling. Trust me: Seabiscuit tastes pretty good.
Greece
Kokoretsi: Lamb or goat intestines wrapped around seasoned offal (lungs, hearts, sweetbreads, kidneys), threaded onto a skewer, and cooked on a spit. You know what's good with grilled meat? Meat.
[Photo credits: black pudding, Flickr user quimby;lutefisk, Flickr user adam_d_; kokoretsi, Flickr user Georgio Karamanis]
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Learning, Food and Drink, Europe, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gadling Mar 16th 2011 1:34PM
You forgot this Scandinavian "delicacy"
SurströmmingFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Surstromming)
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Opened can of surströmming in brine.Surströmming (pronounced [sʉ̌ːʂtrømːiŋ], "soured (Baltic) herring"), known colloquially as Scandinavian rotten fish, is a northern Swedish dish consisting of fermented Baltic herring. Surströmming is sold in cans, which often bulge during shipping and storage, due to the continued fermentation. When opened, the contents release a strong and sometimes overwhelming odour, which explains why the dish is often eaten outdoors. A Japanese study has shown that the smell of a newly opened can of surströmming is the most putrid smell of food in the world, beating similar fermented fish dishes such as the Korean Hongeohoe or Japanese Kusaya.[1]
Laurel Mar 16th 2011 1:49PM
You win! Surstromming sounds worse than eating tete de veau fermented with maggots, and served in a sheep's stomach!
Erin Mar 16th 2011 7:25PM
See, we always get a bad rap here in Asia for the most bizarre and strange foods, but I will eat 90% of the stuff here -- I don't think I'd touch anything on the Europe list. My stomach is turning after reading this (especially at the Sardinia one). I'll stick to my Taipei night market! LOL
I am curious though at the Scandinavian one posted in the comments...it's declared the most putrid smelling dish in the world...it actually beats out our durian fruit here? The smell of durian is so bad it's been banned from hotels, public gathering places, and trains/buses in some Asian countries. Perhaps it is just because it's a Japanese study and durian is found mostly in SE Asia and here in Taiwan.
Secret Asian Man Mar 17th 2011 12:16AM
Makes me feel a little better about Cambodian cooking...
Fatcat Mar 18th 2011 1:01PM
Seems They Forgot ROCKY MOUNTON OYSTERS .(Deep fried Pig Nuts) !!
Karen Griffee Mar 18th 2011 3:52PM
Scottish haggis is wonderful!! Traditionally eaten during a celebration of Robert Burns' birthday (He wrote a lovely (hehe) poem about its excellent qualities.
an American Mar 18th 2011 7:12PM
I will stay with simple menus that include grains, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. With strange eating and lifehabits; comes strange diseases and awful deaths. You guys: try fresh and simple eating: you will feel great! God Bless America
Carole Mar 18th 2011 10:16PM
I eat squirrel brains (cooked, of course), calf brains mixed with scrambled eggs, fried tripe (cow stomach), and fried chitlin's (chitterlings)(port intestine). I also, like the Norwegians listed in the article, eat mayonnaise on french fries. I would hesitate to try some of the foods in the article however.
Gringo Mar 20th 2011 9:48PM
You must be Mexican. you are describing many of their favorite foods! And they are not too bad, after 30 years living with a Mexican wife.
Stella Ntouliou Jan 24th 2012 6:13AM
Iceland's Hakari is amazing, I loved it once I tried!! (I prefer kokoretsi too as a Greek ;)
Stella from Mykonos island, Greece
http://www.mykonosgold.com