Best 10 Most Gross & Disgusting Food

It may come as no surprise to learn that, due to limited resources, many citizens of poorer countries are forced to eat whatever they can get their hands on. However, when it comes to gross foods, not all are born from utter necessity. You’d be amazed to learn what disgusting things many people eat by choice. And, while some foods can be identified as gross with a simple glance, others aren’t as easily spotted until you learn about their ingredients.

10. Casu Marzu

Sometimes referred to as ‘maggot cheese’, casu marzu is a Sardinian cheese made from goat’s milk. But what makes this food so disgusting is the way it’s prepared. Early in the fermenting process, the larvae of cheese flies are introduced. Over a period of weeks, the larvae hatch and begin feeding. As the cheese’s fats are broken down, a special flavor is produced which many consider to be delicious. When the time comes for human consumption, many people meticulously remove the maggots. However, some leave them in, believing that they add an extra flavorful punch.

9. Balut

If someone placed balut on your plate, you might think they were serving you a hardboiled egg. That is, until you cracked it open and a fully intact duck embryo spilled out. Balut, considered a delicacy in many Asian countries, is produced when fertilized duck eggs are placed in warm sunlight. After about eight days, the eggs are held up to the light and checked to ensure that the budding embryo is ready. Then, the eggs are cooked and served with a dash of salt and a few squirts of lemon juice.

8. Potted Meat

Potted meat is not some strange foreign delicacy. In fact, this inexpensive meat product produced by Hormel is available at most any North American grocery store. However, when it comes to grossness, this well-known product rivals anything you’ll find in a third world country. A check of the ingredients listed on the label is proof enough: mechanically separated chicken, beef tripe, partially defatted cooked beef fatty tissue, beef hearts, water, partially defatted cooked pork fatty tissue, salt, and less than 2 percent: mustard, natural flavorings, dried garlic, dextrose, sodium erythorbate, and sodium nitrite. Yummy!

7. Fermented Salmon Heads

Referred to as ‘stink heads’ by people who won’t eat them, fermented salmon heads are a traditional Alaskan delight. After the heads are lopped off, they’re buried in the ground for at least a few weeks. As you’d expect, during this time the heads begin to rot. Before they have a chance to disintegrate completely, they’re dug up, mashed into a sort of pudding and served cold in bowls.

6. Jellied Moose Nose

This gross food is also enjoyed in the northernmost of the United States. Preparation is relatively simple: first, the moose’s nose is removed. Then it’s boiled for a bit until the hairs become loose and can easily be plucked free. After a few spices are added, the meat is boiled even longer until it disintegrates into a gelatinous mass. Finally, it’s sliced and served chilled.

5. Bat Paste

This delightful dish is considered weird even in the few Asian countries where it’s eaten. First, a live bat is forced into a vat of boiling milk. Then, once it has reached optimum malleability, the bat is sliced into fine bits, mixed with various herbs and spices and mashed into a pulpy paste.

4. Hasma

In China, many people consider hasma dessert the perfect punctuation to a great meal. This disgusting dish is basically the fallopian tubes of frogs. Sold in a dried shrunken form, these amphibious reproductive organs are able to swell up to 10 to 15 times their dehydrated size once they are rehydrated with water. Afterward, a bit of sugar is added to give them that special sweetness most people desire from a dessert.

3. Haggis

A traditional Scottish dish, haggis is really nothing more than a type of sausage. However, this particular sausage is comprised of a sheep’s lungs, liver and heart. Many describe haggis as resembling stuffed intestines more than sausage. However, although they admit it looks unappealing, Haggis-lovers swear that those who are brave enough to taste it will come running back for more.

2. Cockscomb

If you’ve ever seen the floppy red mass resembling an upside down glove on the top of a rooster’s head, then you’ve seen a cockscomb. Once served as a garnish along side many traditional French foods, cockscomb is still used as a common ingredient in many Italian dishes and sauces.

1. Black Pudding

This dish is comprised largely of blood drawn from pigs, cattle or sheep. However, it doesn’t become blood pudding until the blood is allowed to coagulate, a filler of oatmeal, barley or sweet potato is added, and the entire mass is brought to a boil. During the cooking process, a delightful skin is produced atop the goo. While some like to remove the skin before plunging their spoon into the pudding, others enjoy its chewy texture and prefer to eat it last.

Best 10 Wines Under $10

Choosing a good wine you enjoy can be complicated enough, but finding wine you enjoy that’s under ten dollars can be frustrating. TopTenz is here to help. The next time you feel like having a nice bottle of wine but you only have $10 to spend here is a list you can trust to find the best wine for $10.

Every wine on the list was found, at least in one place, to have a purchase cost under $10 bucks. Links were provided under the title of each wine to a site selling each wine under $10.00. This does not included shipping and tax, of course. If you disagree or would like to provide your own list (such as top German or Spanish wines…) please submit your top 10 list to toptenz.net

10. Voga Quattro

Click here to find a bottle of Vog Quattro -$8.54

A blend of merlot, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, and pinot noir (hence the name) from Italy, the unique bottle and price (ranging from 4 dollars to 9) will hook many buyers looking for an interesting bottle of wine that won’t break the bank, but the pleasant way the different varietals blend will certainly have you coming back for more.

9. Little Black Dress Pinot Grigio

Click here to find a bottle of Little Black Dress Pinot Grigio – $8.99

Great with seafood (especially sushi), this pinot grigio from California works best when allowed to sit briefly after uncorking to really allow the flavors to open up. The apple and grapefruit flavors are quite refreshing and will be great on a warm day.

8. Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling

Click here to find a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling – $7.99

A great compliment to appetizers, this Riesling is sweet without being syrupy. The right hints of citrus make it refreshing and a great way to clean the palate before moving on to more complex food and wines during a party.

7. Bell’agio Chianti

Click here to find a bottle of Bell’agio Chianti – $8.99

The whicker wrapped bottle will catch many looking for a way to add ambiance to a nice Italian dinner, but this nice dry chianti will compliment most red sauces very well, and add a nice bite to a juicy steak.

6. Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz

Click here to find a bottle of Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz – $5.99

Great for the shiraz lover looking to branch out into cabernets with a blend. Nice tannins, but a nice smooth finish. A great “gateway” wine into some of the dryer varietals for those looking to experiment outside of their comfort zones.

5. Clos du Bois Chardonnay

Click here to find a bottle of Clos du Bois Chardonnay $5.95

A Californian wine with a French name (the name means “enclosure in the woods” – the maker of the wine is named Woods), this buttery and well balanced chardonnay is medium bodied with pear, citrus, and vanilla flavors. Very refreshing and a great compliment to pork and chicken.

4. Yellow Tail Chardonnay

Click here to find a bottle of Yellow Tail Chardonnay $5.99

Very approachable for those looking to move to the dryer white wines. Crisp and clean from being aged in steel barrels as opposed to oak, there is still a lingering nuance of oak in the wine that is welcome to those that are familiar with Chardonnays aged in oak.

3. Twin Fin Pinot Noir

Click here to find a bottle of Twin Fin Pinot Noir $7.99

A dark oak and cherry nose are a quick lead into a wine that some say has a bit of an “alcoholy” taste, but is nice and rich the whole way through, making it a great compliment to pizza, steak, or pasta with red sauce. A great way to be introduced to pinot noir (unless you’ve taken to watching the movie “Sideways”).

2. Robert Mondavi Private Selection Sauvignon Blanc

Click here to find a bottle of Robert Mondavi Private Selection Sauvignon Blanc $8.99

Nice citrus flavors from the west coast, with hints of grapefruit that are the staple of the sauvignon blanc. Great on a hot day, with spicy fish (Thai style tilapia is a great compliment), and a wonderful alternative to the more expensive sauvignon blancs made in South America.

1. Ravenswood Zinfandel

Click here to find a bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel $8.99

An excellent wine at a great price. Smooth with lots of flavor and a hint of pepperyness at the end that is quite enjoyable. Fairly dry, but a great find for the red wine lover on a budget that wants something they can really sink their palate into.

Honorable Mention

Evil Cabernet Sauvignon – a great cabernet sauvignon from Southern Australia.

Rosemount Diamond Label Shiraz – found at most restaurants, this Shiraz is a testament to the Australian style of making quality shiraz.

Oak Leaf (multiple varietals) – The house wine for Wal-Mart, this label offers cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay, and a chardonnay/pinot grigio blend. While none will change your view of that varietal, none are bad for their $3 price tag.

Best 10 Worst Unhealthy Fad Diets

Fad diets try to offer a quick fix for fast weight loss, and, even if they work, the result is short-term and the pounds come bouncing back. The biggest problem with unhealthy fad diets is that you shouldn’t stay on any of them for extended periods of time because they are generally unbalanced nutritionally. Many fad diets don’t work at all, and some can be dangerous because they’re based on bad or strange ideas, like “The Sleeping Beauty Diet” where you knock yourself out for several days at a time with sedatives.

10. The Pasta Chocolate Diet

Am I dreaming? Pasta AND chocolate? You know the old saying: “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is” and that’s the case here. You can’t drink anything but water, and the only chocolate you get is up to 1-ounce at the end of the day as an evening snack along with some popcorn, but you do get to eat pasta for lunch and dinner. Prohibited foods include sugar, alcohol, carbonated drinks, coffee, tea, nuts, all junk food imaginable except for popcorn, fried foods, dairy products, salt, and red meat. Do you know how small one ounce of chocolate is? Is it really worth it to not have a steak every once in a while? Most real diets encourage you to have some red meat prepared in a healthy way. This diet offers major food restrictions with a reward of 1 ounce of chocolate each night along with the absence of some very important nutrients.

9. The Chicken Soup Diet

You’re allowed one breakfast per day (only one?), then you can eat as much chicken soup as you want for the rest of the day. This can’t be good. You’re basically living off of cereal, bagels, yogurt, figs, and gallons of chicken soup. This is similar to the “Cabbage Soup Diet” and both diets smell of malnutrition–among other things.

8. The Zen Diet

It’s really a very simple plan–only eat food in its natural state, no red meat, and limit other meat considerably. Some Zen diets forbid all meat and dairy. The biggest problem is that little to no meat means not enough protein necessary for brain chemistry, muscle repair, and bone building; and little to no fat, the good fat, affects the body’s satiety and ability to stabilize blood sugar and decrease inflammation. Bring on the bacon!

7. Caveman Diet (Prehistoric Diet, Stone Age Diet, Paleolithic Diet)

As you might guess, this diet revolves around trying to mimic the diet of the caveman. Allowed foods include lean meat (I suppose dinosaur meat was lean), fish, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts; and excludes: grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils. All foods eaten are those that can be hunted and gathered. Please tell me why we would want to pattern our eating habits after a caveman? Wasn’t their average lifespan around 15 years old or something??

6. The 12-Day Grapefruit Juice Diet

This one really is too good to be true. You can eat till you’re full, you can double or triple the amount of meat, salad or vegetables for each meal, you can fry food in butter and use butter generously on vegetables, and you MUST eat bacon when they say to eat bacon. You can eat any kind of cheese, and you can have mayonnaise and regular salad dressing. But as the name indicates you must drink 8 ounces of grapefruit juice with every meal as it’s supposed to be the catalyst for burning off what you eat as long as you’re eating the right combinations of foods—don’t forget the bacon! You also have to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day. The promise, while gobbling down all that cheese, butter, bacon, and mayo, and swimming in water and grapefruit juice, is that you will lose 52 pounds in 2 ½ months. Right. NEXT!

5. The 3-Day Hot Dog Diet

I’m not quite sure why they call this a ‘hot dog diet’ since the only time you actually EAT hot dogs is on the 2nd day at dinner. Otherwise, you’re eating regular diet foods like cottage cheese, tuna, fruit, veggies, and black coffee or tea for 3 days. Correction, you are instructed to have ½ cup of vanilla ice cream every night. Go figure—hot dogs and ice cream? I think they added 2 hot dogs on the menu for the second night just so they could call this a hot dog diet.

4. The Magnetic Diet

The foundation of this diet is in understanding which foods attract either health or disease to the body. Contaminating magnetism supposedly attracts disease to the body and includes refined sugar, cholesterol, and white flour. Invigorating magnetism include fruits, whole grains, vegetables, lean meat, and foods containing antioxidants. In addition to only eating invigorating magnetism foods, the diet advocates doing meditation and re-programming the mind towards engaging in more healthy habits. Um, to me, it sounds like a new-age, catchy name for what we already know—eat a balanced diet, reduce sugar intake, reduce stress, and train your brain to replace bad habits with healthy choices.

3. Blood Type Diet

Developed by Dr. Peter D’Adamo, ND, you basically eat or avoid eating foods according to your blood type, and this is supposed to help you lose weight. For example, this diet specifies that blood type B people should avoid corn, wheat, lentils, tomatoes, chicken, peanuts and sesame seeds, and they should eat goat, mutton, venison, eggs, green vegetables, and low fat dairy. However, the Mayo Clinic doesn’t think much of this diet and they say that “eating or avoiding certain foods according to your blood type isn’t thought to have any favorable influence on weight or health” and they also feel that this diet plan is unlikely to meet your nutritional needs at all. Again, another diet that leaves you malnourished in the end as well as very tired if you’re a B blood type person who has to go out and start hunting and shooting all of your food.

2. The Air Diet

The Air Diet of the Institute for Psychoactive Research doesn’t require you to avoid any foods or change your current diet or exercise habits—you just breathe. Hmmm. How novel. Instead of focusing on what you eat or how much you eat, you focus on breathing. The idea is that if you practice rhythmical breathing, then you breathe more air. The more air you breathe, the more weight you lose. The best part is that you can do this anytime, anywhere—while driving, laying in bed, working, walking, having sex, and so on. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure I’m breathing when I do all of those things. Whatever. NEXT!

1. Tapeworm Diet

This must be the most disgusting diet ever thought of, and there is evidence that “tapeworm diet pills” were marketed from 1900 – 1920’s. Basically, you ingest beef tapeworm eggs (beef tapeworm is supposedly the best choice), and then you take medicine to kill the tapeworm after you’ve lost the desired amount of weight. It doesn’t take a genius to know this diet is both ineffective and unhealthy. You’re not changing your eating habits with this “diet,” so all the weight will come back once the worm is gone, and it’s extremely unhealthy to have a parasite living in your body sucking all of the nutrition out you.