When Christopher Columbus set canvass from Genoa in 1492 , it was spices he was after – Indian spices likecinnamon , cardamon and cloves . No , the great adventurer did n’t have a craving for curry . Asian spices were all the rage in Europe , and they were so tightly controlled and heavily taxed that it be an limb and a leg to import them . Finding a new route to India would make esteem and gratitude from his supporter , the King and Queen of Spain . Plus , they ’d promised him governorship of any Din Land he distinguish and 10 percent of any profits it brought in .

Columbus never did incur his way to India . But his voyages spurred a trans - Atlantic food for thought exchange that transformed European and American culinary art , providingtomatoesfor Italian pasta sauce , potatoes for Irish swither and pigs for Southern barbecues .

Today , there are still culinary realms to search , and the path is as light as your Internet connexion . Let this article be your Niña , Pinta and Santa Maria , bringing you five curious food that live the far horizons of the world of cuisine . In other words , five foods that make you say : " People really eat that ? "

Do you have a mouthful for adventure ? Good . First , we look at a solid food that ’s been a anchor in Asiatic cooking for over 2,000 year – but it ’s one that most Americans still do n’t make out what to do with .

5: Tofu

Forty years after it was introduce to mainstream America , bean curd stay a mystery story to most the great unwashed . Tofu is a soya bean food , made through a process similar to cheese making . Hotwateris adjure through ground soybeans , bring out soymilk . The liquid is curdled to clump the dissolved solid using a mineralsalt . These curds are pressed and drain until they reach the want texture : firm , easy or slick .

Dieticians praise bean curd as a rich source of all the treat found in soybean , let in concluded protein , iron and atomic number 25 . But adventuresome cooks sleep together its culinary possibilities . Firm tofu is sturdy enough for grilling , baking or sauteing . easy bean curd is crumbly , near for stove top skillet dishes . Silken tofu is smooth , just right for pudding and ointment soup . Plus , pressed bean curd is like a wrung - out leech , thirsty to overcharge up any tang , fromchocolateto barbecue sauce . Frozen , thawed bean curd is specially absorptive .

Tofu can be avegansubstitute or recipe stretcher , replacing eggs in a cake and land beef cattle in a casserole . For a true tofu risky venture , however , pick out treatments that showcase the food . Firm bean curd can be sliced , marinated and grill like steaks . Try a milkshake of silken tofu , milk and sassy fruit . Blend flaccid bean curd with frozen lemonade concentrate for a no - bake lemon custard .

Our next food also lend itself to creation . But it does n’t hide its perceptiveness . You might even say it " hog " the spotlight .

4: Scrapple

Scrapple is just what it sounds like : scraps . Specifically , it ’s the parts of a pig exit over from butchering . It ’s afoodas down - to - earth and thrifty as the masses who invented it – the Pennsylvania Dutch , for whom waste was an law-breaking .

Authentic scrapple recipe include neck opening and shoulder meat , liver , heart , now and again the skin , and sometimes the snout . They ’re cooked with Indian meal and a combination of white , whole - wheatand buckwheat flour , all veteran withsalt , peppercorn , Allium cepa , and sage . This heavy porridge is poured into loaf of bread pans and chilled until firm .

Purists consume scrapple plain , shredded and pan - electrocute , which may be the good way for the novice to start . Then you could make up one’s mind how to dress it up . rightful to its German roots , some citizenry serve it with sautéed apple slices . Others wrap diced scrapple in tortillas along with peppers , onion and other Tex - Mex fillings for a grumpy - cultural fajita . It can also be a down - home plate , puff - food casserole , layered with stuffing intermixture and manna from heaven . Scrapple and scramble egg on white bread is a popular sandwich , too . It can even be served as an appetizer , wrapped in bacon and broiled .

If scrapple sound too overweight for you , how about a refreshing man of yield ? Nothing daring about fruit , you say ? Read on .

3: Durian

The first challenge to eating durian is finding one . The clean yield , imported from Malaysia and Thailand , is rare outside of cities with turgid Southeast Asiatic community and well - connected outside grocer . It ’s more unremarkably sold frozen in cultural supermarket and online .

The next challenge is muffle the gag reflex long enough to get a spoonful down your throat . The yield ’s aroma is notoriously noxious . It ’s been compared to dead Pisces the Fishes , rottingcompostand a latrine . Even in its aboriginal commonwealth , where it ’s hailed as " the mogul of fruits , " it ’s shun in hotel , airportsand the subway .

With a olfaction that awesome , you ’d figure a food must taste rottenly good to become a national picture . You ’d be right . The durian tree ’s taste has been likened to bananas , caramel and walnuts , and sometimes all three , with a hint of vanilla extract and gratifying onion . Its grain is soft , almost gooey , like custard .

What accounts for this cruel , gastronomic joke ? durian contain sulphuric compounds standardised to the one that give onions and garlic their center - tearing sting . But they ’re also unusually high insugarand avoirdupois , wee-wee them deep and creamy . It ’s leisurely to go overboard when eating durian , as legions of fans will demonstrate .

If you should develop a durian wont , take heart : Scientists are mould to create less stinky multifariousness . That upsets some farseeing - time durian lover . To them , the foul aroma sharpen the prediction of eating .

Next : a food that a lot of people study a pesterer .

2: Huitlacoche

A thousand years ago , a desperate ( or daring ) Aztec ate a bulbous , grayish tumour sprouting on an ear ofcorn– and a taste for huitlacoche ( hweet - Pelican State - CO - cheh ) was born .

Huitlacoche , visit " corn whisky smut " by exasperated North American farmers , and " Mexican truffles " by ingenious entrepreneurs , is a fungus that infect and explode corn kernels . The effects can be dramatic , a clenched fist - sized growth wrinkled like a humanbrain . Like its botanical cousins , the mushroom and the truffle , it ’s deemed a delicacy by some . smart chefs and Mexican villagers likewise savor its crude , smoky taste sensation and pleasingly barbed aroma . Huitlacoche may be mildly sweet , depending on the variety of corn it grows on .

Right now , only a handful of small Fannie Farmer in the U.S. grow huitlacoche , mostly for the kitchen of trendy restaurants . There ’s actually a ban on the signification of the fresh fungus , with or without its host . Also , this worthless being is deceptively fragile ; you ’d almost have to be waiting on the other side of custom to get it home before it loses caliber . The average stateside consumer has to settle for huitlacoche either canned or flash - frigid .

If the first four food for thought have primed your taste bud for unusual edibles , then our final entry will make your mouth urine in anticipation . If not , it will drop open in disbelief .

1: Haggis

In his " Address to aHaggis , " the expectant Scotch poet and nationalist Robert Burns hailed this traditional peasant dish as a symbolic representation of home identity . Today , the verse form and the food are synonymous with celebration dinners on Burns Night , Jan. 25 , the anniversary of the poet ’s nascency .

The ingredients of haggis aid excuse why it ’s not dish up much outside that one twenty-four hour period . Haggis is a sausage of sorts . Sheep organs , including the liver , lungs , heart and tongue , are chopped fine and interracial with suet , oat , onions , and herbs and spices . The mixture is stuff into a cleaned sheep stomach , which is sew close and boiled in water for several hours .

To get a unfeigned Scottish haggis , you ’d have to go to Scotland . The USDA outlawed the import of Scottish Elia and mouton after an irruption of BSE ( sick moo-cow disease ) in 1989 . Although the agency is reconsidering that regulation , its ban on sheep lungs remains . Domestic haggis makers have stepped in with a intimately identical recipe , minus the lungs . Some even use imported Scottish oats , which are coarser and chewy than the rolled oats used in American foods . Their version comes in a synthetic character casing or canned .

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