I was reading the blog of H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche and I found an article regarding 20 of the weirdest dishes from around the world. I will only be writing about 10 of them.

http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/20-things-you-dont-wanna-eat-or-do-you.html

I will be writing about my take on the various foods mentioned in the post. Why? It is because I am a food lover hehe.. 

1. Cambodia: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Yikes! I have arachnophobia  and that sense of fear is coming. Spiders are extremely scary little bugs (or arachnids). I find it very odd that people are willing to eat them. I know, I know, Cambodia was once a poverty-filled country and it still is. But eating spiders is going a bit to far. But I must say, the presentation for the dish is not half bad if it weren't for the spiders.

Weird factor: 6/10

2. Philippines : Balut



This is a snack that is made from half-fertilized duck or chicken egg. Yucks! I guess PETA was right this time with eggs having the life of a animal (or not really as the ones we eat are unfertilized). It is served with a little bit of salt (hopefully while it is not alive)  after being boiled (Ok...It most probably died while being boiled which is still bad). It apparently as popular as hotdogs in the US in the countries that do sell them. Yikes.

Weird factor:  8/10

3. Snake and Scorpion Wine



After a few days of fermentation, the venom is dissolved and it is ready to drink. I wouldn't drink that! One, I am creeped out by scorpions (even though they are a bit cool) and I wouldn't want them in my drink. And it seems that they drowned them in the wine. Disgusting!

Weird factor: 4/10

4. Cobra heart



This takes being bloodthirsty to a whole new level. It is like being a vampire except you are not glittered up and it is cobra blood instead of human blood. I would accept that I could be something that natives drink to prove their manliness but I would not have expected that people sell this commercially.

Weird Factor: 5/10

5. China : Birds Nest Soup



I actually do not know why this is on the list but it is still a bit weird as a lot of people spend a lot of good money on this! It is one of the most expensive dishes that people buy due to the difficulty in obtaining it.

Weird Factor: 1/10

6.  Baby Mice Wine

Traditional in China and Korea, this type of wine is said to be a "health tonic". People say that it tastes like raw gasoline. Yucks. The baby mice are drowned in the rice wine and left to ferment. Disgusting!

Weird Factor: 5/10


7. Casu Marzu, Sardinia

 This is maggot cheese. You know, when I first saw the word "Sardinia" I thought it would be infected Sardines but it was cheese. I am a cheese lover but I would never eat this cheese. If the larvae died, the cheese would be toxic. It is like eating a poisoned apple. Just, yuck.

Weird factor: 7/10

8. Indonesia: Kopi Luwak

This takes the term "This coffee tastes like shit" to  a whole new level. This coffee is made by a cat-like animal called the luwak. It is found in its shit. Yuck. It is also one of the most expensive and rarest coffees ever. So, now you can really tell people to eat shit!

Weird Factor: 6/10

9. Tuna's eyeball


 According to many people, it tastes better than it looks. I just find it odd to have a meal that looks back at me. Instant guilt trip!

Weird Factor: 9/10

10. Rocky Mountain Oysters



Yummy oysters! Oysters were once my favorite seafood. Well... These are not oysters. They are bull testicles.  I can guess why they decided to call the dish "oysters". I guess people will feel uncomfortable when the waiter says, "Wanna have some testicles on a plate?" People might be weirded out!

Weird factor: OVER 9000!

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Ah, South Korea, it is a land full of wonderful scenery, the homeland of K-Pop artists and the birthplace of the popular Gangnam Style music video. South Korea is a very beautiful place. Or is it?

South Korea is also the land of dog meat consumption. In western countries, a lot of kids plead their parents for a pet dog. I would guess that some of the readers of this blog also had once longed for a dog, man's best friend, your companion that loves you even more than your wife in certain cases. 


Looks yummy, doesn't it?Well, that is the meat of an innocent puppy. The dish is called Gaegogi Muchim.



This is one of the common types of dogs fed to the South Koreans. They are called the Nureogi. They are so cute. Imagine cuddling with them as they lick you and love you.


Oh dearThat above, is the fate that these innocent Nureogi (or Old Yeller) in South Korea will have to endure. It is so saddening. How can cute doggies become food? It is so cruel.

Well, you may say that animals like cows and chickens are also cute and used for slaughter. That is true and that is one of the many reasons why I am vegetarian but the method of slaughter for these innocent doggies is very cruel and relentless and can even be more painful than the method used for slaughtering cows, chickens and other meats.

The way that these doggies is killed are that they are beaten after being prodded by electricity. Even though the electric prod had dulled their senses a bit, the dogs can feel the full amount of pain from the beatings they are given to help increase their tenderness.

After the painful beatings, the slaughterer will bring for the knife and use the popular method amongst all forms of slaughter, bleeding. They stab the knife into the throat of the dog and let it hang as it bleeds out while still alive.

Then after bleeding out a certain amount, the dogs, still alive, would be boiled to help make skinning the dog and removing its fur easier. The dog is drowned in the boiling water.

This cruelty must be stopped.

There is a solution. Go to facebook pages and spread awareness of this cruel practice. Email your friends. Tweet. The internet is a more powerful than the pen or the sword. Use it!

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