The Strange Divide Between Flavor and First Impressions
Food is one of the great contradictions of life. Some of the ugliest, slimiest, or downright suspicious-looking dishes end up being the most delicious, while others that appear innocent or traditional make you retch and push the plate away. Taste doesn’t always line up with appearance. Our senses betray us, sometimes steering us wrong, sometimes rewarding us for being brave. The line between delicious and disgusting is thinner than anyone admits. Let’s look at ten foods that shock with how good they actually taste, and ten that really just aren’t worth it.
1. Oysters
A pile of rough gray shells, cracked open to reveal what looks like something pulled from the inside of an asthmatic’s nose. Yet one squeeze of lemon, maybe a dash of hot sauce, and suddenly your palate is swimming with a taste that’s salty, briny, and strangely alive. They look awful, yet the taste is like the ocean itself.
2. Durian
This large fruit is spiky, intimidating, and famously stinky. The smell clings to everything without even needing to touch it, hence why so many hotel lobbies flat-out ban it. But inside that alien husk lies a creamy flesh that tastes like almond custard with caramel notes. You just have to get past the rotting onion aroma.
3. Kimchi
Let’s face it, fermented cabbage isn’t exactly photogenic with its red flecks, limp leaves, and bubbling jars. Yet on the tongue, it’s a strange paradox of sour, spicy, and umami. Serve it next to rice or wrapped inside a dumpling, and you’ll forget it started as pungent, wilting greens.
4. Blood Sausage
Yes, it’s animal blood mixed with fat and oats or rice. That alone makes many politely decline. And yet, seared on a grill, with the sausage skin crackling and absorbing that smoky flavor, it’s actually quite hearty and rich. Spain, Ireland, and Argentina all have their own version, and each is worth sampling.
5. Blue Cheese
This cheese has blue veins of mold winding through a block of dairy. It smells sharp, yet crumbled over a salad or melted onto a steak, it transforms the dish entirely with a collision of contrasting flavors. It’s salty, tangy, and oddly addictive.
6. Escargot
These slimy little garden intruders are snails by another name, only bigger than the garden variety. Smother them in garlic butter, bake them until tender, and suddenly they’re delicate bites of savory meat. France has known for centuries what the rest of us take years to admit: snails can be elegant.
7. Sea Urchin (Uni)
The gonads of the sea urchin look like orange custard scraped from a spiky rock. And yet, while the genitals of most creatures are seldom delicacies, those of the sea urchin are creamy and sweet—almost custard-like. For the uninitiated, it’s hard to believe something that looks like neon slime could melt so beautifully on rice.
Portuguese Gravity on Unsplash
8. Pickled Herring
This northern European staple is often dismissed by outsiders as pungent fishy excess. And yet, that first bite is persuasive. It’s tangy from the vinegar, subtly sweet, and delicate. Paired with rye bread and onions, and suddenly you feel part of a tradition.
9. Natto
This breakfast favorite in Japan consists of fermented soybeans strung together with sticky, stringy threads that look like spider silk. The smell is…challenging. But the taste? Nutty, funky, and complex. It pairs well with rice and a splash of soy sauce.
10. Sardines
These tiny headless fish are packed tightly in tins swimming with oil. They have a strong odor and honestly look like they belong more on the end of a fishing line than on a plate. Yet smashed onto toast with lemon, or mixed into pasta with garlic, they become deeply savory.
And now, here are ten dishes that look unappetizing, and surprise…they actually are.
1. Balut
This is a fertilized duck egg with a partially developed embryo. The beak, feathers, and bones are actually intact. Many swear it’s nourishing, and it’s regarded as a true delicacy in parts of Southeast Asia. But for most outsiders, the appearance alone kills any appetite.
Aterux at Vietnamese Wikipedia on Wikimedia
2. Surströmming
The moment you crack the tin of this fermented Baltic herring, the smell of rot hits the air like an invisible gas cloud. People film themselves trying it just for laughs. Swedish locals wrap it in flatbread with potatoes, but even then, the stench tends to linger.
3. Casu Marzu
This Sardinian cheese is deliberately infested with live maggots. Yes, live. The wriggling larvae are considered part of the experience. Although it’s illegal in most places, people persist in preparing this ill-conceived dish. If the maggots don’t kill your appetite, the strong ammonia taste will.
4. Jellied Moose Nose
This is an old Canadian dish that’s seldom served anymore. The hair is scraped off, and the nose is boiled and set in broth until it congeals into a pale gelatin. It’s then sliced like luncheon meat. It’s supposedly rich in flavor, but honestly, who really wants to find out?
5. Century Egg
These eggs are cured in clay and ash for months until they’re blackened, and the yolk turns a greenish gray. Chinese cuisine prizes them, but the sulfur smell and odd textures drive many away. It looks less like food and more like a science experiment.
Laughlin Elkind from Santa Cruz on Wikimedia
6. Hákarl
This fermented Greenland shark is hung to dry until it’s eatable…sort of. Even Anthony Bourdain called it the worst thing he’d ever eaten. The ammonia fumes start to choke you before it even hits your lips. Tradition keeps it alive in Iceland, but tourists rarely make it past the first bite.
Audrey from Seattle, USA on Wikimedia
7. Lutefisk
To prepare this dish, dried fish is soaked in lye until it rehydrates into a gelatinous slab. The texture is so off-putting it overshadows the mild flavor. Scandinavian holiday tables might serve it with pride, but to the uninitiated, it’s like eating fish-flavored jelly.
8. Sheep’s Head
Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. A sheep head is split in half, roasted, and served with eyes intact. In parts of Norway, Iceland, and the Middle East, it’s a celebratory dish. But when a face stares back from the plate, appetites shrink despite the supposedly tender cheeks.
9. Kiviak
This Greenlandic winter food consists of raw seabirds stuffed into a seal carcass and buried for months until it’s fermented. The idea alone of stuffing whole birds, bones and all, inside a seal, is not one that inspires an appetite.
Alastair Rae from London, UK on Wikimedia
10. Tuna Eyeballs
These big, marble-sized eggs are boiled or fried and are a common sight in Japanese markets. They taste a bit like squid, but the rubbery texture and unsettling gaze make it impossible for many to chew through.
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