Take a plate of food from a faraway land and place it on a table three thousand miles away and you may just have found yourself a delicacy. What one person might consider exotic, if not fear-inducing, another finds it a regular staple. A person’s sense of palate is usually developed by and associated with his or her history, culinary culture and geographic region. That being said, let’s take a quick gastronomic tour around the world and look at some of the foods that the non-initiated might find to be delicacies while natives view as dietary mainstays.
Once served exclusively during ceremonies in the Andean region of South America, cuy has become an acceptable culinary staple since the 1960s, especially in Peru and Bolivia. Moreover, it has found its way to some of New York City’s more imaginative restaurants. This dish of guinea pig meat is usually served fried, or roasted and, to some, tastes similar to dark meat chicken or rabbit.
Natives in and visitors to Taipei, Taiwan, may find themselves at the Shilin Night Market. The hours are 4pm to after 12am during which time you may order snake soup. Tourists view this soup as a delicacy while the locals believe it fights the common cold. The chef first removes a living snake from a basket and chops in into many pieces. The tail and head are discarded while the rest is put into a cauldron of hot vegetable broth.
Anyone in Clinton, Montana during the right weekend in fall may want to attend the Testicle Festival. This is one event that is not for the faint of heart. Rocky Mountain oysters, as they are called, are in fact bull testicles that are deep fried and apparently taste like chicken.
Coxcombs are another delicacy that is becoming popular. Also, called cock’s combs, the combs are the growths on top of certain birds’ heads. Such birds include turkeys, chickens and pheasants. The French feature it a lot as a food garnish and the Italian sauce Cibreo has it as an ingredient.
Thus far the delicacies mentioned may not be familiar to some. With that in mind, let’s be sure not to forget the more commonly known, if not more palatable, food delicacies. Some of the most popular and accessible ones include: pate foie gras, escargot, caviar, truffles, and even champagne.
The classification of certain foods as delicacies is hardly anything exact. It all depends on what you know and are familiar with. Availability of food in specific areas is one main factor in cuisines getting the delicacy label. What some folks may eat every day and consider a dietary staple, is to someone else a rarely eaten treat on which to splurge.
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