From caviar to filet mignon, every culture and society has foods that are considered delicacies. As such, these dishes are often thought of as the most delicious and prestigious foods one can sample. However, delicacies vary greatly from country to country. In many instances, the favorite foods of one country can be viewed with disgust and aversion by those from other places. One person’s filet mignon can look like gruel to another. Louise Fresco is quoted as saying, “Food is something holy”; these delicacies, however, can be viewed as terrors straight from Hell.
10. Casu Marzu
In Sardinia, cheese has disappeared terribly. Casu marzu is considered by Sardinia to be a valuable quintessence. But what makes this cheese so special?. Many flies can enter the cheese, filling from thousands upon thousands of eggs. Then, the eggs hatch, and the worms begin to do what they do best: eat and go to the toilet. When eating helminths, enzymes produced by the body will be rotten and molded inside the cheese so that when opened for consumption, the inside is a flat gum. Contains countless fresh worms. However, there is a risk of eating with this dish. EU does not want people to eat rotten cheese and live insects. However, the illegality of cheese has been overthrown, as Europe regards cheese as a traditional Sardinian food and therefore does not fall under its jurisdiction.
9. Hakarl

In Iceland, sharks are even more terrifying because of national dishes - fermented, mushrooms, and filled with ammonia clouds. Hakarl is a traditional Icelandic dish that can be traced from the Vikings. The Vikings soon learned that the flesh of the Greenland shark was a human poison, so in preparation for consumption, they discovered a way to clean the meat. To remove toxins, trimethylamine oxide and uric acid, a hole is dug, and the shark is placed inside. The stones are placed on the shark's head. The pressure of the rock causes the toxin to leak. This takes six to 12 weeks. During this time, the shark itself begins to rot and ferment in the ground. Once purification is considered successful, the shark is pulled from the ground, cut into long pieces, and dried. Soaking longer; Months will pass before the hakarl prepare to make sure the shark is ready. How to know when the rotten shark is ready to consume? When the smell is ripe, ripe, and crusty brown, formed on the shark's meat. Although the idea of eating hakarl seems disgusting to outsiders, Icelanders consider this a traditional national dish.
8. Huitlacoche
Mexico is renowned for its delicious cuisines. There is, however, one food that is considered a delicacy by native Mexicans that others would be rather shocked to find on their plates. Huitlacoche is often known as “corn smut,” “fungus,” or “Mexican truffle,” but this delicacy is a plant disease that afflicts corn. The disease grows in puffy, grey globules that look somewhat like river rocks. Though this fungal disease is considered a plague by most, in parts of Mexico, the fungus is scraped from leaves and actually put onto the kernel to promote growth. Huitlacoche can be prepared in many ways, often thrown into many dishes as a flavoring element, or it can be used to create soups and sauces. Many even eat the globular fungus by itself, relishing in its delicate flavor and soft, mushy texture. When cooking with huitlacoche, one must be warned: When heated, the fungus turns from grey to jet black, looking a lot like the ink of a squid.
7. Kiviak

In Greenland, holidays are just as special, and their celebrations would not be complete without the Inuit delicacy of kiviak. To prepare kiviak, the Inuit start by gathering their meats. First, they capture and slaughter a large seal. The seal is then disemboweled and greased. Then, hundreds of auks, a bird similar to a penguin, are caught and killed. The bodies are stuffed, whole, into the body of the dead seal. After the whole birds have been stuffed into the seal carcass, the seal is sutured shut and covered with heaps of grease to prevent maggots from entering the body. A hole is then dug, and the seal is placed, auks and all, inside and covered with heavy stones. After several months, usually close to the Christmas holiday, the seal is dug up. The sutures which were holding the auks inside the fermenting seal body are cut to reveal the birds. The auks are then eaten, bones and all, as they have become soft due to the fermenting process. The intestinal fluids are often sucked right out of the bodies of the birds and enjoyed as a rancid juice. This same intestinal fluid is also often used for sauces for other foods and dishes.
6. Virgin Boy Eggs

Eggs are a staple of nearly every culture. They are delicious, versatile, and full of protein. However, in China, one of their delicacies has a little more: urine. Virgin boy eggs are a delicacy in Dongyang. Each year in the spring, eggs are boiled in the urine of young virgin boys, usually aged ten and under. During the springtime pee-fling, urine is collected from nearly every boy under ten. Chicken eggs are then placed to soak in a bath of boys’ urine and then boiled in more urine. Once the eggs reach hard-boiled status, they’re removed from the urine, cracked, peeled, and then placed back into the urine to simmer. This urine simmering process can take nearly an entire day and can cost a buyer twice what a regular chicken egg would cost. This delicacy has been around since ancient times in China, and eating them is supposed to boost one’s health. Many claim that eating urine-soaked eggs will prevent a variety of ailments, but the most notable is preventing heatstroke.
5. Shirako

Japan is notorious for its weird eats, and shirako is definitely one of the oddest. Shirako is milt, or to put it bluntly, the sperm sacs and the accompanying semen of male fish. The little sacs of semen are considered a delicacy in Japan. Shirako is harvested from many different types of fish, including cod, anglerfish, salmon, and pufferfish. It is harvested during the winter months, as this is when these different fish are producing the most seminal fluid, meaning the shirako will be more delicious. Once harvested, the shirako can be prepared in many different ways to please the adventurous palate. Lightly cooked, the shirako becomes even creamier, turning into a seminal fluid–based custard. For those not quite ready to indulge in fresh shirako, it can be doused in tempura batter and deep-fried, creating a creamy, crunchy sperm sac for consumption. Shirako is often considered the most prized part of the fish, thus adding to its delicacy status. In some places, tiny portions of shirako sell for more than $100. The most prized shirako, however, is that of the pufferfish.
4. Century Eggs

Going by many names, such as the century egg, thousand-year egg, or pidan, this eggy creation is a favorite in rural China. A century egg is either a quail, duck, or chicken egg that has been fermented and preserved using an atypical array of ingredients. First, a large vat is filled with black tea, salt, lime, and freshly burned wood ashes and is left to cool overnight. After this vat has reached maximum potency, duck, quail, or chicken eggs are added in. The eggs then soak in this mixture from anywhere from seven weeks to five months, ensuring they are fermented and preserved properly. The egg becomes a jiggly, wiggly nightmare. Imagine an egg with the consistency of Jell-O. The white of the egg turns colors ranging from amber to nearly black. The yolk becomes a hard ball that is dark grey or green. The egg also reeks of ammonia, which only adds another hint of disgust to the black, eggy mess. This delicacy is often sliced into pieces and served as a side dish or enjoyed on its own.
3. Bird’s Nest Soup
Bird’s nest soup is made from the nests of cave-dwelling swiftlets. These birds make their tiny, special nests out of something easy to find for most birds: saliva. The birds use tons of their own spit to weave and build intricate nests on the side of the cave walls in which they live. To harvest the tiny nests, men must climb ladders to great heights within the cave to peel the little spit abodes down for consumption. The nests are then taken and used to create a soup or a gelatinous dessert which is claimed to taste like a Slush Puppie drink. The harvesting of the birds’ nests themselves is a disgusting act. Because of the harvesting, which happens up to three times per year, the bird populations are decreasing. The nests are taken before the swiftlet has time to lay an egg, thus forcing the small bird to create another nest during breeding season. So this delicacy may be one of the past if regulations on the practice of harvesting nests for soup are not moderated.
2. Shiokara
A regional delicacy of Japan is shiokara. Often passed on by Japanese natives, shiokara is not for the faint of heart. Shiokara is salted, fermented marine animals, most commonly cuttlefish. To create this dish, one simply catches a cuttlefish, slices it up into pieces, and then mixes the meat with the guts and juices found within the cuttlefish itself. After preparation, the cuttlefish and its body juices are allowed to ferment and rot for up to a month. When the month has passed, the container is opened, and what is found inside is the stuff of foodies’ nightmares. The cuttlefish and guts have turned into a viscous brown paste with the smell of stinky, rotten seafood. Japanese natives who consume the dish agree that the best way to eat shiokara is to simply swallow everything, slices and guts, in one giant gulp and then follow it with an even larger shot of whiskey. Some insist it tastes like anchovies.
1. Stinkheads
To prepare the perfect tepa, aka “stinkhead,” a whitefish or salmon is caught and slaughtered. The head and guts are then put into a wooden barrel, covered in burlap, buried, and allowed to ferment for a week. After the stinkhead has been in the ground long enough, it is removed and eaten as is. “As is” happens to be a rotten, putty-like mass of fish goop. Though considered disgusting by most, native Alaskans view the stinkhead as a delicious traditional delicacy. However, enjoying it comes at great costs. Alaskan natives suffer from the highest rates of botulism worldwide due to the consumption of their rotted delicacy. Fermented food contains amounts of botulism that can be removed through modern cooking and preparation practices.