After Starving for 3 Days, What Would You Eat?
Three days, zero snacks, and a stomach growling loud enough to scare the neighbors' dog. Now 24 of the world's most famous adventurous foods are on the table, from crunchy bugs to fearless cheeses. Grab a fork, forget your fears, and vote for what your starving self would happily devour first.
24 choices · 5 rounds · 8 byes
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The contenders
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Balut is a fertilized duck egg that is incubated for a couple of weeks, then boiled and eaten warm from the shell, a beloved Filipino street snack. After three days of nothing, I am not asking questions, I am asking for salt, vinegar, and a second egg.
A century egg is a duck egg preserved for weeks in clay, ash, salt, and lime until the white turns to amber jelly and the yolk goes creamy and dark green. It is not actually a hundred years old, but I have been hungry for what feels like a hundred years, so we are a perfect match.
Hákarl is Greenland shark meat that is cured and hung to dry for months, then served in small cubes with a famously strong ammonia smell. My nose filed an official complaint, but my stomach overruled it in about half a second.
Surströmming is Baltic herring fermented and then canned, famous for a powerful smell, and eaten on thin flatbread with potatoes and onion. Normally I would open the can outdoors, but at this point I would open it in a phone booth.
Casu marzu is a Sardinian sheep's milk cheese that cheese fly larvae are allowed to live in, softening it into a soft, tangy spread. Three days ago I was picky about cheese, and now I am just thrilled the cheese came with company.
In Cambodia, especially the town of Skuon, tarantulas are tossed with garlic, sugar, and salt and deep fried into a crispy street snack. I used to scream when I saw a spider, and now I am screaming because there is only one on my plate.
Escamoles are edible ant larvae harvested from agave roots and often sautéed with butter and onion, earning the nickname insect caviar. Did somebody say butter and caviar, because my three day empty belly just put on its fanciest outfit.
Chapulines are toasted grasshoppers seasoned with garlic, lime, chili, and salt, a classic snack in Oaxaca often piled into tacos. They are crunchy, zesty, and come by the handful, which is exactly how many I plan to eat at once.
The witchetty grub is a large white moth larva dug from the roots of the witchetty bush, a traditional Aboriginal bush food that tastes nutty, a bit like almonds or egg. I hear it is packed with protein, and after three days my muscles are writing me thank you notes in advance.
Mopane worms are emperor moth caterpillars harvested from mopane trees, then dried or smoked and often cooked in a stew with tomato and onion. A hearty stew sounds like a warm hug right now, and I am ready to hug it with a spoon.
Natto is soybeans fermented until they turn sticky and stringy, usually stirred with mustard and soy sauce and eaten over rice for breakfast. The strings stretch from the bowl to my mouth like a bridge, and I am sprinting across it.
Stinky tofu is tofu soaked in a fermented brine, then deep fried until crispy and served with pickled cabbage and chili sauce at night markets. I followed the smell for three blocks like a cartoon character floating toward a pie on a windowsill.
Durian is a spiky tropical fruit with sweet, custardy flesh and a smell so strong that some hotels and trains ban it. They can ban it from the train all they want, but they cannot ban it from my mouth.
Haggis is a savory pudding of minced sheep heart, liver, and lungs mixed with oats, onion, and spices, traditionally cooked in a sheep's stomach and served with neeps and tatties. Oats, spices, and mashed potatoes on the side make it basically a three course dinner, and I would like it served with bagpipes.
Blood sausage is made from animal blood, usually pork, mixed with fillers like oats, barley, rice, or bread and cooked until firm, known as black pudding, morcilla, or boudin noir. Every country in Europe has a version, so I plan to take a very hungry, very delicious world tour.
Rocky Mountain oysters are not oysters at all, they are bull calf testicles that are peeled, breaded, and deep fried, a ranch country favorite. Anything breaded and fried with a side of cocktail sauce is seafood to me today, and I refuse to read the menu twice.
Head cheese is not cheese at all, it is a cold cut made by simmering meat from a pig's or calf's head until it sets in its own savory jelly, then slicing it. I was promised cheese and got meat instead, which is honestly the best plot twist of my whole starving week.
Chicken feet are a dim sum classic, fried and then braised or steamed in black bean sauce until the skin turns soft and you nibble around the little bones. They come in a steamer basket with a whole squad, and I am ready to shake hands with every single one.
Jellied eels are chopped eels simmered in a spiced stock that cools and sets into jelly, a traditional East London dish served cold with a splash of vinegar. Fish and Jell-O in one bowl sounds like a weird dream, and after three days I am dreaming very weird dreams.
Lutefisk is dried whitefish, usually cod, soaked in lye for days, then rinsed and cooked into a jiggly, gelatinous fish served with butter at Christmas. It wobbles on the plate like it is nervous, and honestly it should be, because I am coming in hot.
Sannakji is a small octopus cut into pieces and served right away while the tentacles are still moving, seasoned with sesame oil and sesame seeds. Normally my food holds still, but today it can dance all it wants as long as it dances into my mouth, chewed carefully of course.
Beondegi are silkworm pupae that are steamed or boiled, seasoned, and sold in paper cups by Korean street vendors, with a nutty, savory taste. A snack that comes in its own little cup is fast food to me, and I am ordering the family size.
In Thailand, crickets are deep fried and sprinkled with seasoning sauce and white pepper, a crunchy, salty snack sold at markets and street stalls. They taste like a potato chip that can do the long jump, and I am eating the whole team.
Pickled pigs' feet are pork trotters cooked and preserved in a tangy vinegar brine, often sold in big jars at Southern stores and bars. That jar has been staring at me from the counter for three days, and today I am finally staring back with a fork.
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