Adventurous Foods to Try from Around the World

Arachnophobes, beware. If you’ve never seen a plate full of fried tarantulas, well, it’s as terrifying as you might imagine. Fried tarantuals are a seasonal delicacy only offered during the rainy season and mostly found in street markets. I saw them stacked tall on plates while waiting on the ferry in Southeast Cambodia along with platters of crickets and fried sparrow. According to Business Insider, locals prepare them with sugar and salt and then fry them crispy. Think of it as Cambodia’s kettle corn.

Anyone planning for a football party, add this to your “dips” list. It’s not really fair to call this Red Ant Chutney an Indian delicacy because of the varied cuisines of the country’s different regions. This dip comes from Chattisgarh state in central India. Made with red ants and their eggs and thought to possibly have medicinal qualities, be sure to have plenty of milk around to put out the tongue fires this will start.

This one is hard to stomach for many. Balut is fertilized duck or chicken eggs that are boiled just before they hatch. Duck is the far more common option —at least where I was in Mindanao, one of the southern-most islands in the archipelago. I was told you couldn’t really feel the beak or feet as you ate it, but I couldn’t get that thought out of my head. I’m told they’re best when served with a little salt and vinegar.

Fellow Heifer writer, Jason, says that if you’ve never tried it, guinea pig tastes kind of like rabbit. Around Cuzco, the highest demand for guinea pig, known locally as cuy, coincides with the Corpus Christi celebration in June. Chiriuchu, the traditional dish of the event, is abundant during this time and combines elements from all parts of the country—roasted guinea pig, chicken, fish, beef sausage, cheese, toasted corn kernels and peppers. 

I first learned that eating grasshoppers was a thing when I read Lonesome Dove. “Maybe I’ll fry up some grasshoppers tonight,” Po Campo said. “Grasshoppers make good eating if you fry them crisp and dip them in a little molasses.” Chapulines as they’re known in Mexico aren’t served everywhere, but are common in Oaxaca. And if Po’s logic holds up, they’re best when they’re older grasshoppers.

If only Wesley and Princess Buttercup knew how delicious the ROUSes were, they could have not only survived the fire swamp, but thrived there. In Ghana, grasscutters are the real-life rodents of unusual size and are commonly served up in a tomato-based soup. They taste rather, well, earthy. It truly has a flavor of its own. Gritty. And, if someone says it tastes like chicken? They're lying.