Everyone has them: Strange eating habits. Elvis liked peanut butter- jam- banana sandwiches.

You may find that strange, but, as always, some habits are more strange than others. Let us see!

Cultural differences

Eating habits are very different in every culture, country, and sometimes even differ by region. The French traditionally liked a good glass of burgundy with their snails, the Germans liked a barrel of beer. That kind of different behavior gives every culture its charm. But there are… other differences.

Most western countries use knives and forks, whereas eastern nations like Japan and China prefer chopsticks. But the fork is a relatively new invention and was met with suspicion. When the fork was introduced in the late Byzantine Empire, church officials thought this implement looked a bit like the devil’s pitchfork. And what do you need a fork for anyway? Didn’t the Lord give you a perfect tool to eat with at birth- your hands? So the fork was banned from tables for a few decades.

Haggis from Scotland

If a Scotsman really wants to show off his culinary skills, he will make a haggis. If you want it or not. Haggis is the epithomy of Scottish cuisine. Now, you may feel honored by this generous gesture. Until you know what haggis really is…

Haggis consists of a sheep’s stomach, filled with its own entrails, like liver, heart, lungs, that kind of stuff- awful, sorry, offal basically. And that isn’t even the most disgusting ingrediënt of haggis- that most certainly must be the oatmeal.

As you understand… but still few Scottish restaurants did receive a Michelin star!

Check Michelin’s guide here.

Back then…

Everybody craves a little snack now and then. The Romans, being human and all that, experienced this craving too. But they did not have Snickers, Mars, or Raider. But they did have Mice, sorry- mice. Lots of them. So, what they did was this; they caught a mouse, drowned him (or her) in red wine (apparently the Romans seemed to think drowning in wine must be an absolute delight for the mouse, although no mouse ever told how it felt for them), and roasted the little critter over a small fire. Yummie! Mousekebab!

We going to end this story about strange eating habits a bit … well, there is no other way to put it; cheesy.

What about Italy

Italy is well known the world over for its refined culture, its historic heritage, and its cuisine. And that doesn’t stop at spaghetti and pizza, oh no!

The Italians are fine cheesemakers as well. The Italians have many local specialties, like Parmezano (from Parma), gorgonzola ( from Gorgonzola), and mozzarella (from…hey, there seems to be no Mozza in the whole of Italy…?). But the most extraordinary cheese of Italy, or indeed the world, must be the Sardinian specialty Casu Marzu.

This soft, white cheese, is made of sheep milk. The cheese is left outside to ferment to the point of rotting, so flies can lay their eggs in it. The maggots then wat their way through the cheese, and the actual product is the maggots poop. When the process is completer, the cheese is served with the still living maggots ( who are about a centimeter long) in it. It is recommended you eat the stuff with your eyes shut- not only because it looks revolting, but because the maggots could jump into them, and start eating away at you…

That’s it!

So next time somebody offers you a slice of strawberry jam-hamburger meatloaf, just be thankful; Maybe you could add a little bit of Penja pepper in it to make it tastier. It could be a lot more revolting than that- you could be invited to a Sardinian dinner…