In Bad Taste

I heard the funniest interview today on NPR's Fresh Air. Dave Davies was interviewing a teacher/scientist named Massimo Marcone, whom Davies described as the Indiana Jones of the food world. Marcone says he is more like Mr. Magoo. Nevertheless he has spent the past few years traveling the globe, dodging disease and danger, to collect and taste food that people of different cultures consider to be delicacies.

In his Mr. Magoo voice he described some of the more interesting (i.e. disgusting) foods that he has come across:

Kopi luwak coffee beans scavenged from piles of poop dropped by civets. Marcone said this coffee, which sells for $600 a pound, is notorious for being cut with regular coffee and sold for a high price.

Marcone with a prized bird nest and coffee bean poop:

Argan oil from the kernel of a fruit eaten by goats. In Morocco, argan "nuts" are collected from excrement, roasted and pressed to extract a golden-red oil. Almost as bizarre: the fact that it all starts with goats climbing trees. One of my favorite gourmet websites sells it for $26.50 for 250 ml. They never mention in the description that it's shat from goats. Rather, they say it is collected by Moroccan women. Marcone claims that since deadly scorpions hide in the dung a number of collectors (women) die each year.

Escamoles, the eggs of red ants, are called Mexican caviar. This is a hugely popular delicacy and is served by the best restaurants when in season.

King Scorpions - tastes like crab not chicken.

Italy's Casu Frazigu takes the concept of smelly cheese to new heights (or depths). When it's cut, thousands of maggots crawl out. The mess is smeared on flatbread and washed down with red wine. On his way to taste some, Marcone could smell it as he approached the door and heard the clicking of maggots against the cheese container six metres away. He said it was quite good.

Casu Frazigu after being mellowed and tenderized by millions of tiny maggots:

He probably described more yucky food but these are the only ones I heard him discuss. He wrote a book about his adventures and findings called "In Bad Taste." He claims his book is a study of why foods become delicacies. Ultimately, it is the story behind the food, rather than the food itself, that people find irresistable.

Wow, that story really grossed me out. I think I'll go comfort myself with a bowl of dried and processed seed heads soaked in the bodily fluid of cows and topped by bee vomit.