The Top 10 Foods in the World that You've Never Heard Of

 The Top 10 Foods in the World that You've Never Heard Of

We’ve all heard of foods like sushi, tacos, and spaghetti but there are plenty of other foods out there that you may not know about! These food items aren’t common in the United States, so it’s no surprise that we haven’t heard of them before now. Take a look at this list of the top 10 foods in the world that you might not have heard of before, and learn about these delicious foreign delights!

1) 10. Balut

Balut is a boiled and eaten egg with a very young chicken inside of it. Picking at the shell to remove it will reveal a partially developed embryo, which then needs to be dipped into sauce made from pickled red peppers, ginger and garlic before consuming. The eggs are hard-boiled while they're still inside their mother's body to make them easier to peel when you break through the membrane and get down to where they were incubated. This food originated in Asian countries like China, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines but has also been consumed all over Europe by Catholics on fast days. Some people call balut an acquired taste because of its strong flavor, or extreme taste if you will.

2) 9. Otoro

There are plenty of dishes from all over the world you may not know about. The foodies of Reddit were asked to share their favorite food from another country and to tell us what it's called. One Redditor mentioned a dish called Otoro. With help from Google, we were able to find a recipe for Otoro- one for grilled and one for raw- which seems like a really awesome fish dish, something you might have never even heard of before. Let's break down what this dish is actually made out of: 

1) The first ingredient listed is Kombu seaweed, which is an algae-like substance found in aquatic environments such as oceans or lakes.

3) 8. Kopi Luwak

Kopi Luwak is often touted as one of the most expensive foods in the world. Native to Indonesia, these coffee beans are usually eaten and not just brewed. To make Kopi Luwak, farmers boil and roast a coffee bean until it turns black and then put it inside an Asian Palm Civet's stomach for about 20 hours, which allows enzymes from the animal's gut to break down the sugar and protein coating. The beans are then removed, cleaned, roasted, ground, and made into coffee.

4) 7. Khash

Khash is a hearty stew made from lamb, goat, or beef and can be slow-cooked overnight. Khash is sometimes served with porridge. It can be served on top of yogurt or as an accompaniment to rice pilafs and/or thick Persian flatbreads such as lavash, saj bread, nan khatai.

#6 - Tinga Poblana (eleven sentences) 

Tinga poblana is a dish originally found in Mexican cuisine that consists of chunks of chicken or pork (sometimes both) simmered with tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and chiles. The sauce derives its characteristic taste from spices such as black pepper or hot peppers like serrano chiles.

5) 6. Sweetbreads

It's actually not uncommon for people to come across dishes like sweetbreads, but only recognize them by their less appetizing name--which is a shame, since they're tasty and often quite healthy. The closest cousin to these unique meats would be beef tongue--most likely because both are made from the same muscle group, which are between tongue and cheek. More precisely, they're taken from the thymus gland (a body part found in most mammals) located near either throat or windpipe. For humans, this means near where your neck joins your sternum. Since sweetbreads have many of the same benefits as other animal offal--such as being rich with protein and iron--they can be cooked just about any way you would beef tongue.

6) 5. Pescado Zarandeado

In Paraguay, Pescado Zarandeado is a delicacy made by soaking fresh white fish (or dried salted cod) in water overnight and then frying it to crispy perfection. The more fatty the fish, the better. When enjoyed with a mound of saltine crackers and hot pepper sauce, this meal is served as an entrée or appetizer with coffee or maté to enjoy afterwards. It is typically eaten on Mondays because this dish originated from fishermen's custom of having their family come over for dinner so they could rest on Sundays before another week of labor at sea.

7) 4. Buffalo Wings

Everyone knows about the chicken wing. But did you know that there are regional variations? Buffalo wings are a regional variation of fried chicken, created by Teressa Bellissimo in 1964. The dish originates from Buffalo, New York and was invented as a late night snack for dipping in blue cheese dressing or other sauces, including mild hot sauce or ranch dressing. Teressa Bellissimo's son came up with a coating of melted butter and Parmesan cheese, seasoned with salt and pepper before frying.

8) 3. Cassava (Yuca) Chips

4. Cassava (Yuca) Chips. These root vegetables have a crunchy, nutty, and sweet flavor which helps make them addicting. We bake them until they are just crispy on the outside but still soft and chewy on the inside. We grind them up into cassava flour, cassava breadcrumbs or gluten-free cassava chips to add to salads, use as a side dish or just eat with your favorite dip!

9) 2. Hákarl

A dish from Iceland, hákarl is fermented shark meat. Fermentation preserves meat, allowing it to last without refrigeration. But, because this dish is fermented in Greenland shark guts, the result is one of the most gag-inducing dishes imaginable.

1) Casu Marzu (Eight sentences) 

Casu Marzu was originally a sheep's milk cheese but today most of it comes from cow's milk because sheep dairy products are too expensive. The fermentation process and pecking by insects creates holes and makes holes inside the cheese while it's being made and there are also toxins created during fermentation which give this cheese its high insect activity.

10) 1. Head Cheese

Head cheese is a cold dish made from animal or dairy foods. It contains gelatin which sets when refrigerated and can be eaten after being cooked. The final product has a pasty, jelly-like texture and an extremely high fat content (7/8). 

It was first documented during the late 18th century where it was served to European royal houses for their dinner parties as well as for any other occasion when top chefs were being catered for. Head cheese is made by taking scraps of meat, fat, ears, lips and all edible offal from animals such as pigs or calves, and cooking them together. The mix is strained to separate the bones from everything else.