Buckle up, brave taste-testers! All around the world, people sit down to meals that might make your eyes pop — crunchy spiders, jelly-like eggs, and fruit so smelly it can clear a room. What feels “strange” to you might be a delicious treat to someone else. Let’s take a trip around the planet’s most surprising dinner tables.
Fried Tarantulas
In Cambodia, crispy fried tarantulas are a popular crunchy snack sold at markets.
Century Eggs
In China, eggs are preserved for weeks until the white turns dark and jelly-like.
Witchetty Grubs
Aboriginal Australians have eaten these fat white grubs for thousands of years — they taste nutty!
Durian Fruit
Across Southeast Asia, this spiky fruit smells so strong it’s banned on some buses and in some hotels!
Why Bugs Are on the Menu
If creepy-crawlies for dinner sounds wild, here’s the truth: billions of people around the world happily eat insects! Crickets, grasshoppers, ants, and grubs are packed with protein, and they’re much easier on our planet to raise than big farm animals. Scientists even think bug snacks could help feed the world in the future. So that crunchy cricket is less of a dare and more of a smart, healthy bite.
📖 Big Word: Entomophagy
A fancy word that simply means “eating insects.” Say it like en-tuh-MOFF-uh-jee!
One Person’s “Strange” Is Another’s “Yum”
Here’s the most amazing fact of all: there’s no such thing as a food that’s strange everywhere. The dishes on your plate at home might look just as surprising to a child on the other side of the world! What we love to eat is shaped by where we grow up, what grows nearby, and the recipes our families pass down. “Strange” food is really just food you haven’t tried yet.
More Surprising Dishes from Around the Globe
Ready for the second course? Here are more real dishes that are everyday favourites somewhere in the world:
- 🥚 Balut (Philippines) — a duck egg with a partly-grown duckling inside, eaten warm right from the shell. A beloved street snack!
- 🫘 Natto (Japan) — sticky, stringy fermented soybeans with a powerful smell. Many Japanese families eat it for breakfast.
- 🏴 Haggis (Scotland) — a savoury pudding made from minced sheep’s insides, oats, and spices. It even has its own celebration day!
- 🐌 Escargots (France) — cooked garden snails served in garlicky butter, eaten with a special little fork.
- 🦗 Chapulines (Mexico) — toasted grasshoppers sprinkled with chilli and lime, crunchy and tangy.
Your “Normal” Food Might Be Strange Too!
Here’s a funny thought. Some of your favourite foods seem very odd to people elsewhere. Cheese is really milk that’s been aged until it goes tangy — a bit spooky if you’ve never tried it! Sticky peanut butter, wobbly jelly, and strong-tasting spreads like Marmite or Vegemite all make taste-testers in other countries pull funny faces. It just goes to show: “strange” food is simply food you grew up without.
🍽️ Try This: Be a Brave Taster
This week, try one food you’ve never had before — a new fruit, veg, or dish. Or ask a friend to tell you about a special meal their family loves. You might discover a brand-new favourite!
🤯 Whoa, Really?!
Even though durian smells like stinky socks to some people, fans say it tastes sweet and creamy — that’s why it’s nicknamed the “king of fruits”!
🧠 Quick Quiz — tap an answer!
1. In which country are fried tarantulas a popular snack?
2. Why do people eat insects like crickets?
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do lots of people really eat insects?
Yes — around two billion people worldwide enjoy insects, and more than 2,000 kinds are eaten around the globe.
Q: Are bugs actually healthy to eat?
Very! Insects are packed with protein, and raising them uses far less land and water than farm animals, so they’re kind to the planet too.
Q: Why is durian banned on some buses?
Its smell is so strong that it can fill a whole room — but fans say it tastes sweet and creamy, like custard.
Q: What makes a food seem “strange”?
Mostly what you grew up eating. Your everyday meals can look just as surprising to a child on the other side of the world.
Q: Should I try foods that look strange?
With a grown-up’s okay, a brave little taste is a fun adventure — that’s how you find new favourites!
📚 Where we learned this (for curious grown-ups):
• Britannica — Entomophagy (eating insects)
• National Geographic — Thailand & Edible Insects
• FAO (United Nations) — Edible Insects Report
Keep Exploring!
The world is one giant, delicious adventure. Every “strange” food is somebody’s favourite meal, full of history and flavour. Next time you spot an unfamiliar dish, remember: you might just be one brave bite away from a brand-new favourite!
Food traditions change and disappear across generations — and so do languages. Curious what else can vanish over time? Meet 10 Languages That No Longer Exist.
