10 Totally Sumptuous but Disgusting Looking Foods

It is said that a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. A true saying, it holds true for women as well. Everybody loves good food, and a good meal holds the key to your mood for the entire day. We all have our favourites and preferences, and more often than not, it is the sight and the smell of food that we analyze to decide if we will find a particular dish tasty. Hence high end restaurants take so much more effort in the presentation of the dish apart from just the preparation. Food for people varies with their region hence there are a variety of different cuisines around the world. If you are a food connoisseur you will know that the appearance of a dish alone is not an indication of its taste. Here is a list of the top 10 totally sumptuous but disgusting looking food.

10. Caviar

Caviar

You all must have heard about caviar as one of the most expensive and exotic foods around the world which is loved everywhere, but is available only in high end restaurants on account of its rarity. Caviar is made from fish eggs (Acipenseridae family which includes salmons, trouts lumpfish) which are cured with salt. There are 4 main types of caviar which are Beluga, Sterlet, Sevruga and Ossetra ranging in colour from light white to black. A luxury delicacy, good caviar has a salty mild savory flavor which softly pops in your mouth with a lofty fishy essence and is generally used as a garnish or spread, but to taste it you have to get past its horrible appearance. Depending on the colour, they look like light or dark coloured, slimy eyes especially the black ones which are quite unnerving. And the very fact that they are tiny fish eggs reduces their allure!...

9. Truffles

Truffles

A type of underground mushroom, truffles are mainly found under trees and due to the difficulty in recreating conditions for these truffles to thrive, they are harvested from the wild. The countries where they are mainly harvested are France, china, Croatia and Italy and some places in the pacific northwest of USA. Very rare and difficult to obtain they are very expensive. The two most common type types of truffles available are black and white. Round, wart-like and highly irregularly shaped they vary in size and resemble weird burnt tuberous growths and its powerful pungent scent makes it hard to believe that this ugly looking mushroom is one of the most highly desirable ingredient for food connoisseurs worldwide. Usually used as a flavouring due to their strong aroma and the pungent essence, truffles are paired well with fatty foods like butter, cheese, cream and bland foods like pastas, rice and potatoes.

8. Laing

Laing

One of the most famous dishes of Filipino, it is also called as Ginataang Gabi. A spicy and creamy dish, it is prepared with the essential ingredients taro stem and gabi leaf which are cooked in coconut milk and salted with fermented shrimp or locally called fish bagoong along with Pork. Chilli peppers and coconut cream are what make this dish supremely sumptuous with its spicy creaminess. With the perfect mix of these complementary ingredients, the dish is not as good to the eyes as it to your tongue. Dirty green and moist, it resembles disgusting seaweed served on a platter and easily triggers a gag reflex. If you can close your eyes and take the first bite, its deliciousness will most certainly overcome its repugnant appearance.

7. Mussels

Mussels

Belonging to the clam or mollusk family, mussels are ocean seafood is usually grown in farms commercially. A popular part of the cuisine in many European and pacific countries, they can be baked, fried, broiled, steamed or smoked. The most popular type of mussels consumed is green lipped and blue mussels. With black or brown shell covering the gooey soft interior which is a strange grayish blue colour, mussels look absolutely unappetizing. A couple of fried or boiled mussels looks like a collection of mucus covered dirty cracked black pebbles which completely disagrees with their heavenly taste. Cooked with garlic, tomatoes, and fennels or served with soups or rice there are several ways these mouth watering mussels can be incorporated into a dish.

6. Olive Tapenade

Olive tapenade

To be very honest, it looks like defecation in a bowl, excuse the description. Used primarily as an appetizer, it is a tasty paste made from the main ingredient, olives which are finely chopped or crushed, anchovies, lemon juice, capers and olive oil. Garlic, herbs or brandy can also be added for extra flavouring. It is a Mediterranean dish which can be used as a spread, a dip or a delicious topping; it is a popular dish in the south of France. Highly palatable its tangy flavor leaves your taste buds asking for more; if you can get over its not so pretty outer look!

5. Oysters

Oysters

Belonging to the mollusk family they are a famous aphrodisiac delicacy consumed world over. Usually an important source of food in coastal areas, they are considered most nutritious in their raw form. The requirement for eating oysters is that they need to be cooked while they are alive or if consumed in raw form, need to be eaten alive! As disgusting as that sounds, their appearance makes them all the more unpleasant as food. The discoloured hard shell encompasses the fleshy part to be eaten which is gray and slimy. Distinctly reminding you of phlegm, oysters are descriptively icky! But as bad as it looks it tastes even better! Succulent and soft, they taste great in raw form but on cooking their flavour becomes more pronounced. Baked, grilled, and cooked with sauces or cheese they are absolutely delicious.

4. Hasma

Hasma

Do not let the sweet name Hasma fool you. It actually means frog’s fallopian tubes! A delicacy in china and central Asia this exotic sweet soup dessert is one of the tastiest sweet dishes. Generally sold in dried form, it expands to a much larger size when rehydrated. Gelatinous chewy and slightly sweet in taste, it generally acts as a soup thickener. Prepared with herbs and sugar it is served cold with a topping of nuts, dates and cooked fruits. Also used as an herbal medicine Hasma looks like a sea of swimming slimy, mucusy internal organs, and not the yummy dessert it is reputed to be.

3. Escargots

Escargots

Made of cooked edible land snails, escargots are a delicacy in France where they are popularly served as appetizers. Of the species of edible snails, each species has a distinct taste hence the variety of preparation techniques and dishes. Generally, these snails are purged, killed, removed from their shells and cooked after which they can be served with sauces, butter, and cheese after being replaced into the shells. Several flavorings are added as well such as garlic, parsley and pine nuts to enhance the taste of the yummy dishes that are prepared using snails to make this savory dish even more so. With a soft, pinkish-orange body which looks like a jelly like mass someone scraped off the ground, escargots can be described in one word- gross! Their appearance is definitely off putting which is why for people who do not know about it, it is usually not something they would want to try.

2. Squid

Squids

Popularly referred to as calamari which is an Italian word, squid is considered a delectable food around the world. Maximum consumption of squid is in Japan but it also widely consumed as a staple cuisine in North American restaurants. With firm white meat and equally edible tentacles they are preferred fried though they are also eaten raw or stuffed with ingredients such as rice, parsley, and garlic and stewed or cooked in sauces and chillies. With a mild nutty flavor and a tinge of sweetness, squid lends itself to all kinds of dishes with every country preferring to prepare it in a way indigenous to it. This extremely palatable dish contradicts your sense of sight by virtue of its nasty looks. Disgustingly repulsive with tentacles and bulging eyes it is one of the ugliest foods in the world but also a delightful example of why you should never judge a book by its cover

1. Balut

Balut

Greatly loved in the Philippines and Cambodia, this widely eaten dish sounds as gruesome as it looks. Balut is actually a duck egg with a foetus inside which has been in gestation for about eighteen to twenty days, wherein the duck foetus assumes a feathery appearance. The preparation technique involves boiling it for a considerable amount of time, and it is also used in dishes usually prepared with egg. As gross as it sounds Balut has a uniquely desirable taste on account of the crunchiness which is due to the unborn duck bones. A cherished delicacy for some, it can creep you out to be eating a duck foetus, which feels a lot like eating a baby bird since you can see the head and the developing flesh and rest of the yucky developing duck organs. It’s a daring dish no doubt, but for those of you adventurous connoisseurs it is not to be missed!