Sometimes travelling the world, visiting exotic places and foreign coasts isn't enough for the boldest and the bravest. Be it for the bragging rights or the need to push your boundaries, next time you are on the road, try and see if these unchartered foods that are guaranteed to make the faint-hearted cringe, flood your mouth with water.
Anything still alive, squirming and trying to claw at your tongue is disgusted by the standards of most people and that is why eating the Korean delicacy of raw octopus or squid is not for the timorous. There are two variations of eating it, one of which is to slice it up before chomping down; sure, it's technically dead, but try saying that to the detached, yet still squirming leather-tough tentacles trying to escape the plate. The other variation is to get a baby octopus and shove it into your mouth, and experience the pinnacle of palatable bravery.
Sheep's head is a traditional delicacy served in various world religions, including the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. In fact, Absa Kirkwood Wildsfees in South Africa conducted a Sheeps Head Banquet from 27 June 2014 - 29 June 2014, where 400 lovers of traditional sheep's head (smiley) were invited to tuck into a meal at the same time in order to set a world record. Whether it is smoked or made into soup, one thing is certain, the head remains whole and intact, brains and all. The bulging eyeballs and tongue are considered as special treats. "There is a whole ritual and tradition around the eating of the head – from the removal of the eyes to the slicing of the delicate tongue," explained festival director Jenni Honsbein to Herald Live.
For the voracious eaters, there are some vendors in China who sell bright yellow twice-boiled eggs from steaming pots; they are hardboiled first and boiled again in a the secret ingredient after removing the shell. Locals swear by these eggs that stink of ammonia and brine. What is the secret ingredient? What else than the urine of prepubescent boys, which is collected in buckets passed around in schools, of course.
If these did nothing to tame your bold spirit, perhaps popular cow's blood, an indigenous recipe of Samburu warriors from Kenya would placate your audacious palate. The Moran (Samburu warriors) passing through a vital graduation ceremony that usually takes place once in every seven years and marks the middle of the 15-year period after which a Moran becomes an elder, each Moran will kill a cow by his own hand and drink blood directly from the fresh wound on the neck. Although slaughtering is common during this rare ceremony, on regular days, an arrow is shot at close range to puncture the jugular vein of the cow and the blood is drawn into a skin gourd and later mixed with the milk to be drunk. Cow survives the intrusion, but can you survive this protein-rich cocktail these Morans can't live without?
