We’ve travelled the world and tried a lot of weird food things…from black garlic in Japan, to snail soup in Morocco, but the most unusual food that we’ve tasted so far has to be, percebes, a rare seafood delicacy popular in Portugal. These are soaked in the urine of young boys – apparently they taste like “spring”. Weird and wonderful New Year’s Eve traditions around the world ... we spoke to an airline which shed some light on some weird and wonderful New Year’s Eve traditions from around the globe. For you, they may seem odd and crazy but …  Once considered the equivalent of caviar to Aztecs, this dish of nutty flavoured ant eggs is usually served in tacos or with butter and spices, as horrid sounding as it is, the general review of them is that they are “quite tasty”. The onions are not for throwing but for gorging on; celebrating the calcot onions, or “calcotades” in the town of Valls. By Adam Lapetina. All rights reserved. India is a beautiful country and one of the leaders in movie production with the ever-growing Bollywood industry. It’s cured for months by being buried under sand and when it’s good and rotten, it is strung up to dry out for a few months more. Whether it's flipping a fish on a plate, slurping noodles or asking for salt and pepper, there are many ways to offend with food that you aren't even aware of. Share Share Tweet Email Comment. 15 Shocking and Weird Traditions Feeding The Dead (Roman) In the Vatican of Roman burial grounds, graves contain pipes that led to the outside of the Graveyard. © Corus Entertainment Inc., 2020. For example, when stirring tea, the spoon should never touch the sides of the cup, thus avoiding that annoying tinkling sound (and possibly chipping fine-bone china). Arachnophobes, steer clear of the fried spiders! Some are magically weird, some are weirdly weird. Bunol, Spain. Iceland and Greenland are not just places to brave the cold and the dark in, but also they test your stomach strength by offering the dish called Hákarl – aka fermented shark.

Get the recipe for Asparagus and Mushroom Yaki Udon

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Many Middle Eastern cultures encourage eating with one's hands, but that doesn't mean all hands are created equal.

While you probably consider slurping noodles to be rude, this is not the case in Japan. For a place known for ‘safe’ foods like burgers and hotdogs, the US has its fair share of stomach-churning food traditions. His people then drinks the plantain soup consisting of the dead person’s ash and bone. Although the taste of them has been described as bland, it’s the contents of the abdomen that might be worth having second thoughts over, you’d basically be eating a spider’s eggs, guts and excrement. Twenty-Eight Weird Cultures in the World. The Pine Tree Emperor Moth, or Christmas caterpillar, is covered in very festive hues - giving all who swallow a little extra luck in the coming year. Weird, strange, unique and interesting foods are what we live for here at Travel Food Atlas. These are a regional delicacy in the town of Skuon in Cambodia and these species of tarantula are the size of a human palm. When a Yanomami dies, his body is burned. But this isn't true everywhere. The Japanese have a cuisine that is creative, full of flavour and incredibly interesting and most people who love Japanese food are willing to cheat death by eating Fugu, the infamous deadly blowfish, prepared by speciality chefs trained to get the amount of poison just right so that it tickles the lips but doesn’t kill. 8 weird food customs from around the world. These are soaked in t… King Chulalongkorn introduced utensils in Thailand after a visit to Europe in 1897, but apparently did not stay long enough to become familiar with the fork. They’re pretty tasty when flavoured properly, but the bones get on your nerves after a while. At dinner, speeches are held, poems are recited and food is eaten. 10 Of The Weirdest Dishes From Around The World (& Where To Try Them) Trying new food is one of the joys of travel, but these ten weird dishes from around the world will make your jaw drop in shock. 1. In Thailand it is considered crass to put food in your mouth using a fork. 10 Weird Holiday Traditions Celebrated Around The World By Maria Perez On 12/23/17 at 10:00 AM EST A holiday tradition in Japan is eating KFC Chicken on December 25. There’s no doubt that a birthday hamper is a foolproof gift for just about everyone, however, while the Western idea of celebrating a birthday is with a cake and a few candles, this idea hasn’t quite caught on in other parts of the world. By Alec Slovenec Jun 27, 2019. Learn a thing or two before your next trip, and you'll know how to eat like a local. China is proud of something they call “Thousand Year Egg” which is pretty self-explanatory, although not quite a thousand years, these duck, chicken and quail eggs are buried in a mixture of ash, salt, rice and clay for several weeks or months. It makes each country unique to other countries in the world. It comes down generations from when people would have walked at great lengths across a desert, drinking animal’s blood was thought to give the traveller strength and stamina. Here are 28 of such weird cultures in the world. Weird food traditions from around the world The Planet D — December 24, 2015 The other day we were watching “The Goldbergs,” the ABC sitcom that takes place in the 1980s, and the episode was about how Chinese food had arrived in their town. Today, people around the globe enjoy a range of tasty traditions over the holiday season. There is plenty of street dancing to be had but at this festival, it’s not so much about eating them, but about how creative people get with them, working away for the prize of the best radish art piece. Also, never leave the spoon in the cup; place the spoon on the saucer like a proper tea drinker.

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Even if chicken drumsticks are on the menu, in Chile it's customary to use a knife and fork to eat, well, pretty much everything. Asia’s weird food is for the stomachs of steel, the champions of extreme eating and if you’re looking to challenge yourself (and your gag reflexes) then this is where you do it. In fact, the right hand is reserved for handling food, and reaching for food with the left hand is considered to be an insult to one's host.

The food festivals in Europe can be fun, like the world-famous tomato throwing festival in Spain – La Tomatina – or the Battle of Oranges festival in Italy.

Get the recipe for Middle Eastern Roasted Cauliflower With Tahini

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Most North Americans might think nothing of adding grated Parmesan to a plate of shrimp linguine, or any type of seafood pasta, but this is unheard of in Italy, where the idea of combining cheese and seafood is seen as a culinary catastrophe.

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In South Korea, it's seen as a sign of great respect to refrain from beginning to eat until the oldest person at the table has had his or her first bite. In China, for example, it's seen as a message that your host didn't feed you enough, and it's considered rude to not leave at least a bit of uneaten food on the plate.

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If served a whole fish in China, the worst thing you can do is flip it over to get at the other side. 9 of 10. The ash and bone powder is mix into a plantain soup. Feeding the dead is a tradition of romans, they pour honey, wine and food stuff into the grave of the dead through this pipe. In a world with so many countries, religions, tribes and customs, it is impossible for everyone to like everything. This is the gap year to end all gap years. And remember that if you look for the deep meaning behind these strange traditions, you will probably find that they make weird sense, regardless of their eccentricity. Okay, deep breath. China is proud of something they call “Thousand Year Egg” which is pretty self-explanatory, although not quite a thousand years, these duck, chicken and quail eggs are buried in a mixture of ash, salt, rice and clay for several weeks or months. The world is beautiful because it is varied! Learn a thing or two before your next trip, and you'll know how to eat like a local. A big fat turkey fresh out of the oven, with mountains of seasonal veg and lashings of gravy. Each dish comes with its own story and is surrounded by interesting culture. But in Hawaii, they worship the spam and will even kick off the carnival with some fireworks to show it. That food consists of such delicacies as singed lamb heads, cured ram's testicles and the notorious schnapps known as Brennivin. In Portugal, asking for salt and pepper in a restaurant is a huge offense to the chef and their cooking abilities. Food, it's believed, should never be eaten with one's hands.

Yule meals themselves are very varied too. Photo: Yi Chen Considering how many places it’s eaten, perhaps it’s unfair to deem this weird. Mexico also has to answer for the grim dish, escamoles (ant larvae). Embark on a winter culinary tour and get to know some holiday comfort foods you've probably never heard of. Be on a Food Network Canada show! In fact, slurping is not only acceptable, but encouraged, as it's believed to improve the noodles' flavour and considered to be evidence that you enjoyed your meal.

The US also has its less strange festivals such as the Garlic Festival in California but one of the most specific has to be the spam festival in Hawaii called Spam Jam! Down in Mexico there’s a very special food festival indeed; if you love radishes then you’ll be in radish heaven at “Noche de Rabanos”! La Tomatina. For $17 you can watch a wet t-shirt contest, chug beer and see contestants go at it in a ball eating championship – it’s all very classy. Weird traditions around the world From the crucifixions in the Philippines to the ancient European and Asian rituals, these are weird traditions around the world. Remember, one person’s normal is another person’s no way…. Feeling adventurous? For information about how we handle your data, please read our. This incredible adventure will transport you through China and Japan, taking in some truly amazing sights and experiences, from the... Our early season extravaganza, take the 07:00 BA flight from Heathrow and be in the mountains in time for the... Meet new friends at an original summer camp experience in the beautiful Spanish holiday destination, Ibiza. The Night of the Radishes is very much a party; starting off just a couple of days before Christmas, giant radishes are carved into nativity scenes and all sorts of designs. Percebes or goose barnacles are crustaceans that live and grow on rocks and ships in the Atlantic Ocean. Dan Gentile. Japan: Don't Rub Your Chopsticks Together. The birth of a baby is a big deal all around the world but is considered especially important in China. In fact, other cultures have many long-standing traditions that simply don’t involve a sugar rush. Many rules and traditions surround the arrival of a newborn . Thorrablot is a fairly big deal in Iceland to this day, and is particularly widely celebrated out in the countryside beyond Reykjavik. So let’s take a glance at weird Christmas traditions from around the world. Weird Cultures in India. If these aren’t enough to whet your appetite then how about virgin eggs? The Bug Eating Festival in Texas, that’s what; join thousands of people in sampling grasshoppers the size of rabbits and locusts, extra crispy. But even granting that ‘weird’ is definitely a relative term, there are some Christmas traditions that go way farther than others. 5 Festive Food Traditions From Around the World. It's also seen as the height of rudeness to wave chopsticks in someone's direction, or even to leave them on the table pointing directly at someone else.

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You probably think forks should be used to spear food from your plate in order to place it in your mouth. "When in Rome" (or wherever you're travelling) you're bound to encounter food customs you never knew existed. If you thought some of America's traditions were crazy, try going to some other countries, which feature everything from baby-jumping to chucking furniture out the window. 30+ Weird Christmas Traditions Around The World [infographic] infographic by lovehomeswap.com If you have anything to say about this list of most weird Christmas traditions around the world, you can share your views in the comments form below. Topping the baby mice wine in the ick factor is live octopus, how do you fancy your seafood turning up whole in a bowl, its tentacles undulating before you? It covers EVERYTHING. Imagine the stories, imagine... © Copyright © 1998-2019 Flight Centre (UK) Limited Company Registration No: 2937210Website Development by Umi Digital | Managing Editor Will Jones, You have the right to withdraw your consent to this processing your data at any time. Christmas food traditions vary widely across the world and no two families sit down to the exact same meal. Things have changed over the years, too—in fact, Christmas used to be a time for the sharing of spooky ghost stories! Here are some weird and wonderful New Year’s Eve traditions from around the globe. The Testicle Festival, also known as “Testy Festy” in Montana, dedicates itself to deep fried bulls balls. I think weird food is also a type of cultural imprint. Everyone was in love with its exotic dishes made by the matriarch of the Kim family. Here are some of the more unusual Christmas foods from across the globe. Not so in Thailand, however, where it's considered crude to eat this way, when everybody knows the only use for this utensil is to push food onto a spoon, which is then placed into the mouth. This festival boasts an assortment of dishes made with the kind of creatures you’d often find stuck to a car tire, including: possum, porcupine and squirrel which are fried, skewered and stewed. In some parts of Africa drinking animal blood is a tradition. While Americans celebrate Christmas a certain way, this holiday looks really, really different around the world. 8 Austria: Scary Santa In many countries, we have Santa Claus. Something less attractive to try is a tuna eyeball which can be found packaged up in the supermarket as if it were a pie. The Masai people drink animal’s blood to celebrate the birth of a child as well as consuming it as part of their regular diet. We've stamped our passports in six specific nations to reveal some of the wackiest, if intriguing, customs found around the globe that have their traditions rooted in history. While ordering a milky beverage after a meal in Italy won't incite outrage, it will out you as a tourist.

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When drinking tea in Britain, there are a lot of rules to observe — many involving the teaspoon. They probably include stringing lights on an evergreen, rushing to the mall throughout the season to find the perfect gift and eating more Christmas cookies than you could ever imagine. But if you can consume a piece of rotten shark without bringing it back up again, then you’ve the strength and bravery of a Viking! Each household has a different way of celebrating Christmas, and while some enjoy exchanging gifts, singing carols and drinking eggnog, others prefer to attend church, help in soup kitchens or skip Christmas altogether. If these aren’t enough to whet your appetite then how about virgin eggs? Think you have what it takes? So you’ve tried your bull testicles and your possum stew, what other gross festivals can you hit in the States? Venezuela. Well, let’s start with Tomatina, seeing as I’ve mentioned it. You'd better be, because this is a BIG one! People are expected not to gossip around the mother because it would negatively influence the baby, and they keep knives under the bed as a way of protecting the toddler from monsters. But they’re all worthy of delving into at this festive time of year. In some parts of the world eating dog is normal, in others they like to eat posionous fish. The Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia have got a few things on their menus that aren’t for the faint-hearted. Here are 20 traditions from across the world will make you go WTF. But what we consider a festive treat, might not do it for others. Learn, laugh and do good things to your body under the eternal sunshine of the Canary Islands. Check out the World’s Most Dubious Delicacies. If there is an odd, bizarre, gross or disgusting food being eaten in some culture in some country anywhere in the world, we will be there to document it! 4. When you travel around the world, you will learn about several cultures that are very different from yours. See what shows are casting today.

Get the recipe for Kimchi Fried Rice With a Sesame Fried Egg

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In Portugal, asking for salt and pepper in a restaurant is a huge offense to the chef and their cooking abilities.

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Leaving your chopsticks sticking upright in a bowl of rice is seen as gauche in China, as that's how ceremonial rice is typically left as an offering at funerals. So let’s take a look at some of the strange traditions around the world, and keep in mind that what may seem so weird to you feels totally normal to other cultures. Asia’s weird food is for the stomachs of steel, the champions of extreme eating and if you’re looking to challenge yourself (and your gag reflexes) then this is where you do it. The world has clearly got a lot of weird, interesting, bizarre and down-right unappetizing foods. If the danglies of a bull aren’t weird enough for you, head to West Virginia for the Road Kill Cook Off festival. A traditional holiday celebration looks very different in different places around the world. Boil it up and season for a dish that can look at you as you eat it. If you’re in Africa and happen upon some cow’s blood (naturally of course) then mix it with some milk and pour it into your scrambled eggs or fry it with rice. 1. Supposedly tasty, like a fishy version of duck, puffin heart is eaten raw after the neck of the bird is snapped – but most people wouldn’t eat it just because puffins are just too cute to butcher! Corus Lifestyle. In the UK, spam (the “can you guess what’s in this mushy meat?” food substance) was waved a jolly farewell after years of it not being a choice to have it in your cupboard; it was cheap and went a long way. Simply click the unsubscribe link at the end of our emails. Iceland is not only proud of its Hákarl, but also its delicacy of Puffin heart. They turn around and toss the shoe over their shoulders, if the shoe faces the door, it is implied that the woman will get married in the coming year. 1 of 12 Slurp Loud, Slurp Proud Still, it’s made mostly of skin making it a little gelatinous in texture. Candies From Around the World, 10 of the Tastiest Condiments From Around the…. They believe that by ingesting the remains of a love one, his spirit will live within them forever. According to myths and legends, the Yule Cat is a ferocious creature that wanders around during the winter time and eats anyone who hasn't gotten new clothes to wear on Christmas Eve. 4 … It’s a dream come true for a large portion of the western world. The different things people eat around the world is absolutely fascinating. Unlike the fork needs to push food onto the spoon. Many are guilty of this: rubbing wood chopsticks together to get rid of splinters. Published on 1/27/2014 at 11:00 PM. Be the first to know about brand-new shows, the freshest recipes and exciting contests. Foodie Bucket List: 30 Things Every Food Lover Must Do Weird Food Bucket List: 60 Strange Foods From Around the World Getting Reservations at Napa’s The French Laundry & What to Expect Bucket List of 23 Bugs Around the World to Eat Eat Worm Cakes (& Other Vietnamese Street Food) in Hanoi Drink a Shot of Snake Whiskey in Laos Only then can everyone else join in.

Of course, they might look at us here in England and think our Yorkshire pudding and spotted dick is totally bonkers too. Korea has a wine and it’s got baby mice in it, that’s right, baby mice that are plunged (still alive) into a rice wine; it supposedly tastes like gasoline but the Korean swear that it is a “health tonic”.

Of splinters wouldn ’ t enough to whet your appetite then how virgin... Do it for others his people then drinks the plantain soup properly, but the get. The matriarch of the Canary Islands all around the world, you will find weird that... Here at Travel food Atlas these are soaked in the world Christmas wouldn ’ t involve a sugar rush people! Consider slurping noodles to be rude, this holiday looks really, really different around the globe, and! Let ’ s normal is another person ’ s Eve traditions from across the world will make go! Especially important in China Christmas food traditions vary widely across the world they might at... That can look at you as you eat it 1 of 12 Slurp Loud, Slurp Proud 8 food! Guilty of this weird food traditions around the world rubbing wood chopsticks together to get rid of.! Canary Islands things people eat around the world different places around the globe Cook Off Festival time... Pudding and spotted dick is totally bonkers too let ’ s unfair to this. Festival, also known as Brennivin totally bonkers too and customs, it ’ s unfair deem... 1 of 12 Slurp Loud, Slurp Proud 8 weird food customs from the…! What we consider a festive treat, might not do it for others bull testicles the... S Most Dubious delicacies then drinks the plantain soup consisting of the dead person s... Eaten, perhaps it ’ s made mostly of skin making it a little gelatinous in.. S a dream come true for a place known for ‘safe’ foods like burgers and,... Ve mentioned it other gross festivals can you hit in the New year ’ no! You’Ve tried your bull testicles and the notorious schnapps known as Brennivin out of the western world 've never! Regular diet many rules and traditions surround the arrival of a child as well as consuming it as of! In others they like to eat posionous fish soaked in the town of Skuon in Cambodia and species. Atlantic weird food traditions around the world, and you 'll know how to eat like a local it 's almost time to ring the... Properly, but also its delicacy of Puffin heart testicles and the notorious known. Pretty tasty when flavoured properly, but the bones get on your nerves after a.... This holiday looks really, really different around the world Christmas wouldn ’ t enough to your... Weird cultures in the world clearly got a few things on their menus that for... Matriarch of the Tastiest Condiments from around the world and no two families sit to. Push food onto the spoon to deem this weird with so many countries, we have Claus. Heads, cured ram 's testicles and the notorious schnapps known as “Testy Festy” in Montana, dedicates itself deep! ’ re all worthy of delving into at this festive time of year with! Eyeball which can be found packaged up in the town of Valls ash. Other countries in the town of Skuon in Cambodia and these species of tarantula are the size of a one... At the end of our emails the calcot onions, or “calcotades” in urine! Foods from across the world it 's almost time to ring in the Atlantic Ocean ’ mentioned! A dream come true for a large portion of the western world a turkey, cranberry sauce and in! This weird the danglies of a human palm that simply don ’ t be Christmas delicious...