Blood pancakes are enjoyed throughout Sweden, Finland, and Norway. They are prepared with a regular pancake batter that is elevated with the addition of animal blood. They are often enriched with onions and spices and come topped with fresh lingonberries or lingonberry jam. Blood pancakes are sold as a ready-made product across Finland and Sweden.
Sources: (TasteAtlas)
See also: The best cuisines in the world, ranked
This colossal meal is a creation of the Tre Kronor restaurant in the Swedish town of Skellefteå. It features a calzone pizza stuffed with hamburgers complete with buns, toppings, dressings, and French fries.
Hon mhai is a traditional Thai insect dish that is especially popular in Bangkok. Made by deep-frying silkworms, then seasoning them with salt, pepper, and sometimes a secret sauce; once fried, the silkworms turn crunchy and greasy, with a slightly bitter taste.
Chapalele is a Chilean bread made with potatoes and flour. It originates from Chiloé Island, where it is traditionally steamed and cooked in curanto – a hole in the ground used for preparing food. It can also be fried, pan-fried, or baked.
Jellied eels, a traditional Cockney street food from the 18th century, originated as a cheap, simple dish when Thames River eels were abundant. Chopped eels were boiled with herbs and then cooled, releasing natural gelatin that formed a soft, transparent jelly around the pieces.
This rich, aromatic fish curry from southern Thailand features a base of tai pla (fermented fish entrails) and a spicy paste of chili, galangal, shrimp paste, turmeric, shallots, and lemongrass. Common additions include dried fish, eggplant, bamboo shoots, and beans. Due to its pungent flavors, kaeng tai pla is best paired with steamed rice.
Thorramatur is a traditional Icelandic platter enjoyed predominantly during Þorri, from mid-January to mid-February. It features cured fish and meats, served in bite-sized pieces with rúgbrauð (rye bread) and butter. Common items include fermented shark, smoked lamb, lamb head, and blood sausages.
Ambuyat, Brunei's national dish, is a highly sticky meal made from sago palm starch cooked into a glue-like consistency. Typically served for lunch, it is accompanied by a tangy fermented sauce and various vegetables. Traditionally, ambuyat is reserved for special occasions as a rice substitute.
Often referred to as nervetti in insalata, this classic northern Italian dish consists of meat, cartilage, and tendons from beef shank that are cooked on the bone. The whole combination is seasoned and served in the form of a salad that is usually enjoyed as a cold appetizer.
Faves a la Catalana is a traditional Catalan dish of fava beans simmered in stock with botifarra negra (blood sausage), bacon, onions, garlic, tomatoes, white wine, olive oil, and paprika.
Tinutuan is an Indonesian rice porridge that originated in North Sulawesi in the city of Manado, but it's also often associated with Minahasa. It typically includes vegetables like spinach, pumpkin, cassava, and corn, though other options can be used. Due to its liquid consistency, it is served in a bowl, together with salted fish and a spoonful of sambal on top.
Bocadillo de carne de caballo is a traditional Spanish sandwich that's filled with horse meat. Typically, a Spanish-style baguette called barra de pan is sliced in half lengthwise and stuffed with pieces of roasted, fried, or grilled horse meat.
Angulas a la cazuela is a traditional Spanish dish originating from the Basque Country. The dish is usually made with a combination of rare and expensive angulas (baby eels), garlic, hot pepper flakes, olive oil, and salt.
In Cambodia's Skuon, known as Spider Town, locals began eating tarantulas in the 1970s due to spider infestations and food scarcity. The spiders are breaded, deep-fried, and served with herbs on rice or noodles. Their taste is said to resemble a mix of cod and chicken, but the abdomen, containing internal organs and bodily fluids, is best avoided.
Devilled kidneys, a dish that first appeared in the 18th century, was once a popular Victorian breakfast but is now enjoyed as a light lunch or appetizer. The dish features lamb kidneys fried in a rich, spicy sauce made with vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and occasionally a touch of fruit jelly.
Cantonese mooncakes, enjoyed during the Mid-Autumn Festival, feature a thin, slightly browned crust and sweet, dense fillings. The most common filling is lotus seed paste, often with salted egg yolks. The mooncakes are typically embossed with Chinese characters and decorative motifs.
Oil down is the national dish of Grenada, a flavorful one-pot meal consisting of local vegetables, starchy tubers, green bananas, salty meat, and a blend of various seasonings. The ingredients are all combined in a big pot and cooked in coconut milk.
Sneem black pudding is a traditional, firm blood pudding made exclusively in Sneem, South Kerry, Ireland. It contains beef suet, onions, oat flakes, spices, and fresh blood from local pigs, lambs, and cows. Unlike most black puddings, it is baked in trays rather than boiled.
Lutefisk is a Scandinavian dish made from dried whitefish that is soaked in lye, giving it a gelatinous texture and, depending on the type of whitefish, a strong, pungent odor. After it's been cooked, the lye-treated fish is served with an array of side dishes.
Czernina is a traditional Polish soup prepared with duck or goose blood, which is preserved in vinegar so it doesn't coagulate. The soup is made with a flavorful duck broth. Typical additions include dried fruits and a variety of spices such as cloves and allspice.
Yerushalmi kugel is a savory casserole made from thin noodles coated in caramelized sugar, mixed with eggs, olive oil, pepper, and salt, then baked until firm. A staple dish for Shabbat and Jewish holidays, it can be baked in round or rectangular pans.
Balaleet is a sweet and savory breakfast dish from the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. It's made with vermicelli, eggs, cardamom, saffron, butter, and water, but it can also include rosewater, nuts, dried fruits, and honey. The aromatic mixture is topped with an omelet and served hot or cold, typically for breakfast, but also for dinner during Ramadan.
Khai luk khoei, or son-in-law eggs, is a traditional Thai dish made with hard-boiled eggs, sugar, fish sauce, shallots, chili peppers, tamarind pulp, and cilantro. The hard-boiled eggs are fried and then cooled. A sauce of shallot oil, fish sauce, tamarind pulp, water, and sugar is cooked until thick and then poured over the sliced eggs.
Originating from North Sulawesi and traditionally made by the Minahasan people, this Indonesian dish features fruit bat as the main ingredient. While bats are sometimes fried or grilled, they are most commonly used in paniki, a soup-like dish. The bat is grilled to remove hair, cleaned, gutted, cut into chunks, and then boiled in water.
Jellied veal, or kalvsylta in Swedish, is a simple meat dish made with minced veal that is simmered in meat stock along with gelatin and seasonings. The jellied veal is then placed in a mold and cooled before serving.
Duck's head is a spicy local specialty from the Chinese city of Wuhan, but it is also a snack that is commonly eaten throughout China, most notably in Shanghai. The dish is made by stir-frying the head of a duck with herbs and spices.
Gamjasaelleodeu is a traditional potato salad originating from South Korea. There are many variations but the salad is usually made with a combination of potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, onions, hard-boiled eggs, Fuji apples, mayonnaise (Kewpie is preferred), salt, and black pepper.
Gachas is an ancient, traditional Spanish savory porridge consisting of flour, water, salt, olive oil, and garlic. Seasoned with garlic, paprika, or fried onions, its texture varies from soup-like to pie-thick with a golden-brown crust, depending on how it's prepared.
Svið is a distinctive Icelandic delicacy made from a sheep's head that is singed, halved, and cooked. The head is charred over an open flame to remove the fur before being prepared for consumption. Traditionally, this dish is served with mashed turnips, rhubarb jelly, and mashed potatoes.
Blood pancakes, jellied eel, fried spiders, and fermented fish entrails curry—would you dare try them? Depending on one's culture and bravery, what may be a nightmare meal for some could be a delicacy or even comfort food for others.
According to the travel guide TasteAtlas, which analyzes ratings from users in their database, these are 30 of the 100 worst-rated foods in the world, topping a recent list. Click through the gallery to get to reveal them.
TasteAtlas ranks the world's worst-rated foods
According to TasteAtlas
FOOD Travel
Blood pancakes, jellied eel, fried spiders, and fermented fish entrails curry—would you dare try them? Depending on one's culture and bravery, what may be a nightmare meal for some could be a delicacy or even comfort food for others.
According to the travel guide TasteAtlas, which analyzes ratings from users in their database, these are 30 of the 100 worst-rated foods in the world, topping a recent list. Click through the gallery to get to reveal them.