Spotlight Food of the Week: fried spiders

Fried spider is a regional delicacy in Cambodia. In the Cambodian town of Skuon, the vending of fried spiders as a specialty snack is a popular attraction for tourists passing through this town. The spiders are bred in holes in the ground in villages north of Skuon, or foraged for in nearby forestland, and fried in oil. The spiders are tossed in a mixture of MSG, sugar, and salt; crushed garlic is fried in oil until fragrant, then the spiders are added and fried alongside the garlic until "the legs are almost completely stiff, by which time the contents of the abdomen are not so runny."The taste has been described as bland, "rather like a cross between chicken and cod", with a contrast in texture from a crispy exterior to a soft center. The legs contain little flesh, while the head and body have "a delicate white meat inside". There are certainly those who might not enjoy the abdomen, however, as it contains a brown paste consisting of organs, possibly eggs, and excrement. Some call it a delicacy while others recommend not eating it.
 

Hi, my name is Tina and this is my partner Candace. Our blog is about exotic foods from all around the world. We decided on picking this topic because we both lave food and it's interesting to learn about foods from different cultures.
     One feature of our blog is the poll. We picked that feature to hear the opinions about our posts from our readers through votes. One thing we learned while doing our blog is that the foods that we may find weird and disgusting are actually normal, and quite delicious, in locals from the area.
     The design process helped us create our blog because we started out with an idea, exotic foods. Then we made our blog. There were some technical difficulties, so we had to modify our blog to get rid of the bugs. One post is Kopi Luwak. It's basically coffee that comes out of the poop from an animal. The 2 pictures are of the poop product, and the other is the animal that actually poops out the rare coffee. Another post is of balut, a delicacy in the Phillipines. It is an 11 day old fertilized egg that contains the partially formed embryo of a duck.
       It is important to learn about blogs because it allows us to increase our technology. Also, by reading other people's blogs, you can learn new information. In the future, we will be able to make our own blogs.

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/photos/10-exotic-dishes-that-might-make-you-queasy/bon-appetit
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0510/features/explorer_food_gallery.html

The links above have other awesomely weird foods to explore!

Here's another link for different foods.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/10-foods-you-should-eat-on-vacation1.htm

Wanna see even more exotic delectables? Then click on the link below and explore the intriguing world of food!
http://www.thekitchn.com/10-offbeat-foods-we-want-to-tr-91658

Care for a Cup of McBugs?

Tired of Fried? Allow me to mention the other ways a bug is cooked – raw (chopped and added to chili-based sauces and salads) and steamed (in a banana leaf with curry sauce).
In Isan, Thailand, villagers harvest many varieties of bugs. Big, black water beetles are regarded as a special delicacy. The legs get stuck between your teeth, though (Toothpick, anyone?).

Another weird food is Kopi Luwak. It's an extremely rare coffee from Indonesia that's made from coffee cherries eaten and then excreted (pooped out) by the Asian Palm Civet, also called a toddy cat. The waste is carefully collected and roasted and sold for up to $600 a pound. The civet's digestive system supposedly removes some of the bitter compounds from the beans, resulting a sweeter coffee.
         

 This is Kopi Luwak, the poop from...                   this animal, an Asian Palm Civet.

One really exotic food: balut, a delicacy in the Phillipines.

This is balut. It's a 11 day old  fertilized egg that contains the partially formed embryo of a duck, surrounded by egg. It's a popular food in some parts of Asia. Balut is most often eaten with a pinch of salt, though some balut-eaters prefer chili and vinegar with their eggs. All the contents of the egg are consumed, although the whites may remain.

Steps to eating balut( if you ever want to...):

1. Crack a small hole on the more rounder part of the shell (if you hit a hard white piece, then you did it wrong).
2. Crack it a little more until the hole is the size of a bottle cap.
3. Sprinkle whatever what seasoning you would desired sip the juice.
4. Don't be afraid to eat the small little duck inside, just eat it like a boneless chicken thigh, dip the yolk in some lime juice and eat!

5. Good luck, and enjoy!

Hi! My name is Tina and my name is Candace. In this blog we will introduce you to exotic and weird foods all over the world. There will be pictures of interesting foods, and a "spotlight food of the week", which will be the craziest food we can find. We will be including where the food comes from and how the native people eat it. Enjoy!