5 of the deadliest dishes on earth
By Lela S.
TW: Death
So you think you’re a foodie? I’ve got a challenge for you. Are you ready to learn about ten of the deadliest dishes on earth? Read on!
1. Fugu
This unfriendly-looking fish, the Fugu, is a Japanese word for pufferfish. These fishes are equipped with deadly neurotoxins, called tetrodotoxins, in their liver, ovaries, and intestines. One drop of this toxin smaller than the size of a pinhead can stop your breathing and kill you.
On the bright side, it’s actually a delicacy in Japan! Chefs that prepare the dish have to be properly and professionally trained for this task. As long as the chef prepares it properly, you should be safe… enough.
2. Ackee fruit
The Ackee fruit is the national fruit of Jamaica. Sounds friendly enough, right? Wrong. This snack, when unripe, contains a poison called hypoglycin, which causes a sickness called Jamaican Vomiting Sickness. This can put you into a coma and eventually cause death.
To eat it without dying, you must wait until the fruit ripens. The seams on the outside of the fruit will split open to let you know that they are ready to be picked. Be careful, though, since the seeds and the pink flesh are still poisonous. Only eat the cream-coloured pulp around the seeds.
3. Sannakji
This South Korean meal is baby octopus tentacles. Live baby octopus tentacles, cut into pieces, seasoned, and served immediately. If you aren’t careful, the suction cups on these long tentacles, despite having come from mere baby octopuses that have just been killed, will stick to the roof of your mouth and potentially choke and kill you.
If you try this, here’s a tip: you have to make sure to savour the tentacles quickly, and chew and swallow them as fast as you can, to prevent choking. Did you know that six people every year die from eating this moving meal? And you could be the next? I hope I don’t get in trouble for saying this…
4. Hákarl
From Iceland, this meal is actually Greenland shark meat. Traditionally, this meat has to be prepared in a special way because the shark doesn’t have a urinary tract. Because of this, they have to filter out toxins through their skin. Even a few bites of uncured meat, full of those toxins, can kill.
That’s why this type of meat has to be hung for three to five months to allow the toxins to evaporate and drain out, which makes Hákarl edible and non-toxic for everyone.
5. Cassava
Cassava is a root crop that’s similar to yams and potatoes. Don’t mix them up, though. Both types of cassava, sweet and bitter, contain toxic levels of cyanogenic glycosides. In other words: cyanide. Sweet cassava requires only cooking to make it safe for humans to eat, but the bitter version is a completely different story. To safely prepare it, bitter cassava must be grated, soaked and cooked properly before eating.
Normally, cassava is used to make pudding, juice, cakes and chips. Here’s an example of delicious, definitely not poisonous cassava cake:
So, are you up to the challenge of trying five of the world’s most deadly dishes? Sign up and comment down below to tell us which ones you’re going to try!
Or are you revolting at these unfriendly foods? You might want to opt for something a little bit milder: How To Make Common Breakfast Foods by Imagene. Check her article out by pressing the button below!