Casu Marzu

Another icky traditional dish for you today. I like cheese. I like cheese a lot. But this cheese is a step too far. Casu marzu is known all over as being gross. So gross that is was banned by the EU. A perfectly normal pecorino cheese has its rind cut off and is left outside for a while so that flies have a chance to get at it. The flies lay their eggs in the cheese which then hatch into maggots. The maggots eat the cheese, making it soft and fermented. It is then eaten. Some people take the maggots out before they eat it. Most people just eat it, larvae and all. You have to be careful though, because the larvae can jump out of the cheese at you. Great, a food that fights back.

Apparently it can leave an aftertaste in your mouth for up to twelve hours. Like other foods (common theme, I suppose) this apparently tastes strongly of ammonia. 

Should you eat this? While one could debate the use of insects as a protein source, I’m thinking you should eat the pecorino before it gets infested.

Have I personally tried this? No.

Cheesburger in a Can

Behold, another gift that comes in a can. Today’s delightful offering comes from the Swiss company Trek’n Eat. TNE makes “food for your outdoor life”, as well as disaster preparedness dishes. Among these is this cheeseburger.

To eat this cheeseburger, because no one likes a cold cheeseburger, the entire can is dropped into a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. Then you’re good to go. Yeah, the whole cheeseburger is in there, bun and all.

Did I mention the fixins? This product comes complete with mustard, ketchup, onions, and pickle fragments already on the burger.  There is no possible way that this doesn’t become a soggy mess between the canning and the steaming. Do you want to eat a soggy preserved cheeseburger? I certainly don’t. I suppose if you were lost in the woods, far from civilization, this could be edible. 

Should you eat this? Only if you get lost trekking up Everest.

Have I personally tried this? No. I’m a little more gourmet than this on my outdoor expeditions.

Available online, among other delicious edible boil and eat meals at trekneat.com. The website is in German, just so you know.

Lutefisk

I thought for a while about whether I wanted to write about Lutefisk, but I decided it deserved a place on this site. I’ve been exposed to lutefisk several times, but have always managed to escape without having to eat it. This Scandinavian dish, some say Norwegian, others Swedish, still others call it Finnish, is fairly common in the Midwest where there are loads of Lutherans.

Preparation is simple. Take some dried whitefish and soak it in cold water for about a week. The fish is then treated with lye. Yes, the corrosive dangerous compound. To make the fish edible, since it is now also caustic, it has to get soaked in water for another. It is then cooked. The result is both fishy and gelatinous, while still tasting of, guess what, lye.

I am somewhat hesitant about eating foods that need to have the toxic compounds rinsed off of them before they can be consumed. I am also wary of fish that can be described as “jelly-like”. It smells bad. It looks bad. Conclusion? It is bad.

Should you eat this? Do you like fish that can be described as gelatinous?

Have I personally tried this? No.

Available at any Minnesota family reunion or holiday dinner.

Hákarl

Let me set the stage for you. You’re a Viking, hanging out in Iceland, and you really want to eat some shark. But you want the shark to be special. Maybe you’re giving it to your lady-Viking companion. Whatever the case, just cooking it won’t be good enough. No, let’s really do some crazy stuff to this shark. You bury it for six to twelve weeks, then hang it up in your shark-meat curing shed for some months. Four or five ought to do it. Yeah, now we can eat it. Yum.

People actually enjoy this rotten shark extravaganza. It’s popularly sold all over Iceland. Anthony Bourdain, noted for eating just about anything said that this was the “single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing”. I suppose it’s an acquired taste.

Should you eat this? I guess if you want to after hearing that delightful description of its creation.

Have I personally tried this? Not yet.

Bonus: Watch Gordon Ramsay try to eat this thing here.

Haggis in a Can

If you would like to eat haggis, I am not judging you. I truly am not. However, I strongly advise that it not come out of a can. Important to note, this is "traditional skinless haggis". I can only imagine how much better it would be with skin.

Available for purchase here at a cost of $25.95 (for two cans!).

Should you eat this? Only if you're Scottish.

Have I personally tried this? Not yet.