ninemsn

Consider yourself a hardcore traveller? Forget climbing the Andes or hiking through the Alaskan wilderness. Instead, play Russian roulette with potentially deadly dishes, such as Japan’s poisonous puffer fish, or Italy’s illegal maggot-infested cheese. Are you prepared for these dangerous delicacies to be your last?

Fugu: puffer fish (Japan)

Fugu, also known as puffer fish, is an infamous Japanese delicacy containing the poison tetrodotoxin, which is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide. When prepared incorrectly, eating it can cause paralysis (all the while remaining conscious) and hours later lead to a terrifying death from heart failure or asphyxiation. There is currently no known antidote. In 1991, this notorious dish featured in an episode of The Simpsons, in which Homer consumes fugu prepared by a flustered apprentice chef and is informed that he has 24 hours left to live.

Note, when eating fugu, don’t be alarmed if you feel a slight numbing of the lips. Any halfway decent chef will have left just enough poison to tickle your nerves.

Danger alert: High, unless you heed our advice.

Safety advice: In Japan, most deaths occur after untrained people catch and prepare the food themselves before eating. Eating fugu in a restaurant licensed to sell the fish is a much safer idea, as every chef has been put through a difficult and rigorous examination. However, there’s never any sure-fire guarantee. Alternately, you could try the poison-free fugu bred by Japanese farmers, but where would be the fun in that?

Casu marzu (Italy)

Take some Sardinian sheep’s milk cheese and allow it to rot to the point of decomposition. Invite a particular kind of fly to lay its larvae to feast on the rotting cheese. And now, consume this torturous meal of decaying cheese riddled with live, wriggling maggots. Yum!

There are several dangers involved with eating this dish: allergic reactions to eating advanced decaying cheese, potential toxicity if the maggots have died, and best of all, if the maggots are still alive their resistance to stomach acid may lead them to take up residency in your intestines. At this point they may even use their formidable mouth-hooks to lacerate your stomach linings or intestinal walls as they attempt to drill through your internal organs. If this happens, say hello to nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhoea and a host of other health issues that will have your doctors asking, “Why did you do it?”!

Danger alert: High.

Safety advice: Well you pretty much know what you’re getting yourself into when eating a meal outlawed by the local government. However, if you’re determined to find this freaky food on the black market, our best suggestion is to consume the meal along with a nice glass of red. It won’t prevent any of the health dangers, but it may make you more pliable to doing something many would consider utterly insane!

Blood clams (China)

The deliciousness of this Shanghainese delicacy keeps foodies returning for seconds, and risking hepatitis, typhoid, and dysentery while they’re at it. The danger lies in the cooking style, which involves a quick dip in boiling water, that often fails to kill the clams’ harmful bacteria. Like Italy’s casu marzu, this dish is banned but can be found on the Shanghai black market for exorbitant prices.

Danger alert: High.

Safety advice: The Shanghai Centre for Disease Control and Prevention claims that the number of clams carrying hepatitis remains between 5 to 10 percent. So all we can advise is cross your fingers and hope you’re in the lucky 90 to 95 percent!

Sannakji, or raw baby octopus (Korea)

There isn’t much to sannakji. It consists of a small, live octopus cut into pieces and served immediately, seasoned with sesame seeds and sesame oil. While fairly bland in taste, the novelty comes from placing into your mouth an octopus arm still squirming disconcertingly. Beware of the active suction caps which have tendency to stick to the mouth or throat, potentially causing chocking!

Danger alert: Low.

Safety advice: As long as you thoroughly chew each mouthful, you should be able to avoid choking. More practised Koreans like the feel of the wriggling pieces as they’re swallowed, so they won’t chew up the pieces completely.

Giant Namibian bullfrog (Namibia)

You may not find the sight of this bulbous, slimy frog appetising, particularly when you hear that while eating one you run the risk of temporary kidney failure or a burning inflammation of the urethra. But in Namibia in southern Africa, this hefty frog (they can grow to the size of a domestic cat) is considered a delicacy.

While there’s been little formal study on this unusual dish, locals advise you wait until the giant bullfrogs start croaking or until “after the third rain”, before eating them. Antidotes to poisoning vary region to region, and so far no medication has proven effective — however, the symptoms usually vanish over time.

Danger alert: Medium.

Safety advice: In preparation for the dish, Namibians swear lining their cooking pots with pieces of dry wood of a particular local species of tree helps prevent poisoning.

Red rock cod (Australia and New Zealand)

The menacing looking red rock cod, with its camouflaging mottled red skin and its intimidating 12 dorsal spines, can add humans to its list of prey. One sting from its toxic spines can be excruciatingly painful, and last for half a day. The Australian Museum advises that if you’re poisoned the effects are “denatured by heat so immersing the affected area in very hot water is the best first-aid, before consulting a doctor”.

Danger alert: Medium.

Safety advice: If you’re an inexperienced fisher, it may be best to avoid reeling in the fish if you accidentally catch one. But many fishers are lured by the delicious flavour of the red rock cod’s thick meat, which helps the fish earn its reputation as “the cheap man’s lobster”.

ninemsn, September 2009.

Image (cc) Selva