From fermented shark that made Anthony Bourdain gag to cheese crawling with live maggots, these are edible tests of courage that separate true adventurers from those who play it safe at the dinner table.
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Picture this: I'm sitting in a night market in Chiang Mai, staring at a plate of fried insects while a vendor grins at me expectantly.
My brain is screaming "absolutely not," but my curiosity wins out.
I pop a cricket in my mouth; crunchy, nutty, surprisingly good.
That moment taught me something crucial about adventure.
It's not about climbing mountains or jumping out of planes, sometimes the greatest adventures happen at the dinner table.
After spending three years living in Bangkok and exploring every corner of Southeast Asia's food scene, plus years working in luxury hospitality where I tasted everything from molecular gastronomy to ancient recipes, I've realized that food is the ultimate measure of how adventurous someone really is.
Think about it: What you're willing to put in your mouth says everything about your openness to new experiences.
Trust me, if you've tried at least seven of these ten foods, you're braver than most people will ever be.
1) Balut (Philippines)
Let's start with the heavy hitter.
Balut is a fertilized duck egg that's been incubated for about 18 days before being boiled and eaten.
Yes, there's a partially developed embryo inside and, yes, you can see it.
During my time in Southeast Asia, I watched countless tourists turn green just hearing about it.
But here's what they miss: In the Philippines, balut isn't some dare food.
It's comfort food, sold by street vendors who call out "baluuuut" in the evening like ice cream trucks in American suburbs.
The taste? Rich, savory, almost like a concentrated chicken soup.
The texture takes some getting used to, sure, but if you can get past the mental barrier, you'll understand why millions of people love it.
The real test is whether you're willing to challenge your preconceptions about what food should be.
2) Hákarl (Iceland)
Fermented shark that smells like ammonia and tastes like it was buried in the ground for three months because that's exactly what happened to it.
Anthony Bourdain called it "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing" he'd ever eaten.
That's quite the endorsement, right? But Icelanders have been eating hákarl for centuries.
It started as survival food when fresh shark meat was toxic due to high urea content.
Fermentation made it safe, if not exactly pleasant.
The first bite hits you like a wall of fishy, funky intensity.
Your body wants to reject it but, if you can push through, there's something almost addictive about the challenge.
Plus, washing it down with brennivín (Icelandic schnapps) is part of the experience.
3) Century egg (China)
Despite the name, these preserved duck eggs are only aged for a few weeks or months, not a hundred years, but that's long enough to turn the whites into dark amber jelly and the yolk into a creamy, cheese-like green-gray substance.
I first tried these in Bangkok's Chinatown, sliced over congee.
The vendor watched me nervously, probably expecting the typical tourist freak-out.
Instead, I discovered something incredible.
The eggs taste like a rich, complex cheese with hints of sulfur and earth.
Century eggs challenge everything Western palates expect from eggs.
They're dark, funky, and intense.
Once you acquire the taste, regular eggs seem almost boring by comparison.
4) Casu marzu (Sardinia)
This Sardinian cheese takes things to another level.
It's pecorino that's been deliberately infested with cheese fly larvae.
The maggots break down the cheese fats, creating a soft, spreadable texture.
Here's the kicker: The cheese is typically eaten while the maggots are still alive.
They can jump up to six inches when disturbed, so locals often hold their hand above the cheese while eating to prevent them from leaping into their eyes.
The EU actually banned it for a while, though it's still produced and sold through traditional channels.
The taste is intensely sharp and slightly spicy, with an aftertaste that lingers for hours.
Would I eat it again? Honestly, probably not, but trying it once taught me that our food boundaries are entirely cultural.
What seems insane to us is tradition to someone else.
5) Shirako (Japan)
The Japanese word literally means "white children," which should give you pause.
It's cod sperm sacs, usually served either raw or lightly cooked.
In high-end Tokyo restaurants, shirako is a winter delicacy that commands premium prices.
The texture is creamy, almost like a savory custard, with a subtle oceanic flavor that's surprisingly mild.
What strikes me about shirako is how it represents the Japanese philosophy of using every part of the animal, so nothing goes to waste.
There's something admirable about that, even if the thought of eating fish sperm makes most Westerners squirm.
6) Blood pudding (United Kingdom)
Black pudding might seem tame compared to some items on this list, but hear me out.
How many people do you know who actively seek out congealed blood mixed with fat and oatmeal?
During a work trip to Scotland, I had proper black pudding as part of a full breakfast.
It was rich, savory, with an iron tang that's unmistakably blood.
The locals treated it as casually as Americans treat bacon.
Blood pudding exists in various forms worldwide.
From Korean sundae to Spanish morcilla, cultures everywhere have figured out that blood is too nutritious to waste yet most modern Western eaters won't touch it.
7) Surströmming (Sweden)
This fermented Baltic herring is famous for one thing: Being possibly the smelliest food on Earth.
Airlines ban it.
People have been evicted for opening cans indoors.
The smell hits you like a physical force.
Imagine rotting fish mixed with sewage and multiply that by ten, yet Swedes have been eating it since the 16th century, usually on thin bread with potatoes and onions.
The taste is actually far milder than the smell suggests.
Salty, fishy, funky, but not unpleasant if you can get past the aroma.
It's proof that smell and taste are two different things, even if our brains struggle to separate them.
8) Fugu (Japan)
Pufferfish that can kill you if prepared incorrectly.
Chefs need years of training and special licenses to serve it.
Every year, a handful of people still die from eating improperly prepared fugu.
Why risk it? Well, because it's delicious.
The flesh is delicate, subtly sweet, with a texture unlike any other fish.
There's also a mild tingling sensation on your lips and tongue from trace amounts of toxin, which fans say enhances the experience.
Eating fugu is about trust, tradition, and yes, a little bit of thrill-seeking.
It's the ultimate expression of putting your life in a chef's hands.
9) Escamoles (Mexico)
During one of my Mexico trips, a local convinced me to try "Mexican caviar."
Turns out, that's a euphemism for ant larvae harvested from agave plants.
Sautéed in butter with a bit of garlic, escamoles have a nutty, slightly buttery flavor with a texture like cottage cheese.
They're actually quite mild and pleasant.
The hardest part is getting over the mental image of eating baby ants.
What I love about escamoles is how they represent Mexican cuisine's incredible creativity and resourcefulness.
This is a culture that looked at ant larvae and thought, "bet we could make that delicious," and they were right!
10) Kiviak (Greenland)
Finally, we have what might be the most extreme fermented food on the planet.
Kiviak is made by stuffing 300-500 whole auks (small birds) into a seal skin, sealing it with fat, and burying it under rocks for several months.
The fermentation process breaks down the birds from the inside out.
You eat them by biting off the head and sucking out the fermented insides.
The taste is supposedly similar to very mature cheese mixed with licorice.
I haven't tried kiviak myself, and honestly, I'm not sure I would, but I respect the ingenuity of Arctic peoples who developed this method to preserve food through brutal winters.
Final thoughts
Food adventurousness is about willingness to step outside your comfort zone, challenge your assumptions, and experience the world as others do.
Every strange food on this list is someone's comfort food, their connection to home and tradition.
When we try these foods, we're participating in centuries of human culture and innovation.
So how did you score? If you've tried seven or more, congratulations.
You're part of a rare breed willing to push past disgust, fear, and social conditioning in pursuit of new experiences.
And if you haven't? Well, maybe it's time to find that Filipino restaurant you've been driving past and order some balut.
Your adventure has to start somewhere!
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