Food has long been enjoyed by cultures around the world. Wherever you travel, there are delicacies to be enjoyed. In fact, when people travel outside of their countries the number one mission is to get a taste of their new surroundings. However, what some cultures find to be the greatest of delicacies, others may find horrific.

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In France, frog legs are considered a delicious treat that is usually eaten around Christmas and Easter. They look similar to a chicken wing, considering that you are eating the top joint of the hind leg. The usual preparation of these tiny creatures is fried or deep-fried. Some common food served with frog legs is snails. Snails would traditionally be served in garlic butter sauce. Their shells and entrails are removed, much like a lobster or crawfish, cooked and then replaced in their shells to be eaten with a small fork. Surprisingly, most who try such food when in France rarely have harsh feelings, and actually find the dishes quite appealing.
Fried locusts, worms and cockroaches are eaten as a snack in many African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries. In Oaxaca, a city in Mexico, crickets are prepared with salt and lemon and then fried. These are known as chapulines. In Thailand, they also eat crickets as well as grasshoppers, beetle larvae and dragonflies. An interesting fact is that insects are actually good for you. Archaeological evidence shows that people have been eating insects since the beginning of time. Termites and earthworms are high in protein, while silkworms are high in vitamin A. For a dose of vitamin B1 and B2, grasshoppers are a good source.
The people of Iceland celebrate a tradition called Thorrablot. This is a festival of feasts. The feast however, is not catered with what we may find appealing. The dishes consist of rams’ testicles, sheep’s heads, and rotting shark. For the people in Iceland, this feast is a necessary part of their preservation of their Viking heritage. The festival is a way to feel as though the people are actually a part of their history.
The dictionary definition of a delicacy is put forth as this: the quality of being delicate or something pleasing and appealing, especially a choice of food. What is delicate to some cultures may be appalling to others, and what is pleasing and appealing to some may be completely the opposite for others. “One man’s poison is another man’s potion.” Which is why the choice of food in a culture can tell so much about it. In the United States, foods are eaten based on tastes, while in East Asian food is considered a delicacy based on its medicinal effects. India also relies on food for their good health. It is their belief that by eating the fetus of a pregnant animal, a pregnant woman will have good health and is also said to have healing effects on people with back pain.
The examples here are only a very small sample of the different food delicacies found throughout the world. So the next time you hear of a food that you have never heard of eating, such as kangaroo or fish entrails, don’t squirm in disgust. Simply accept it for a part of a culture that has been passed on for centuries.

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