I Wouldn’t Swallow That If I Were You

No telling how many things I’ve read about as edible and either tried them or thought about it. Mostly, I thought twice and didn’t. But you can ask my kids–we tried some pretty odd wild foods during their growing up. We didn’t have to eat them or starve; but you have to think about the things far stranger than puffballs or crayfish that folks have been hungry enough to munch over the course of human survival–or not.

Take a quick tour through the slide show at Forbes Traveler at some of the bizarre things people eat, including a disproportionate number of poisonous fish.

I learned something that I think I knew and forgot: that if you eat Inky Caps (guilty, see image, consumed an hour after the photo) then for up to five days, if you even come close to alcohol, you’ll be very sorry. And elderberries: we tried to make wine from them one time long years ago. It’s probably a good thing it went to vinegar instead.

I think my favorite on this list is the “illegal cheese, Casu Marzu that

“has an almost un-acquirable taste and may have catastrophic, long-term health results. The Sardinian delicacy is made from rotten goat’s milk and served coursing with live maggots. If you can handle the idea and tactile sensation of eating live larvae, you’re rewarded with a strong sour taste that can reportedly stay with you all day. Unfortunately, the human body has difficulty processing maggots, and in some extreme cases the little guys bore through the small intestine, causing bleeding, vomiting and other cheerful moments.”

Got your mouth watering? Then you might want to enter the “stinky cheese eating contest” that includes an elder-flower liquor to wash it all down (where it will stay, hopefully.) Man is such a strange beast, don’t you agree? (Women, no clever retorts here.)