If you take a trip to an exotic island in the Pacific Ocean or visit an African country you'll definitely encounter cuisine that's oddly different from what you're used to (unless of course you already live there).
Some of the delicacies there you might find delicious but others will seem beyond strange. Here are some of the most exotic foods you can be served in different parts of the world:
In Alaska they like to eat hot dogs with deer meat - and since it's rather dry it's usually mixed with pork and beef.
Hot dogs are an especially popular food, especially during the dog sled races they have every March. Perhaps this doesn't seem nearly that strange for those who love meat because all over the world they make hot dogs out of things a lot more repulsive than deer meat.
In South Africa they love to eat dried meat from exotic animals - usually from antelopes or ostriches. The food is called biltong and is available in all supermarkets there. To make this delicacy they soak the meat in malt vinegar or cider. Then they roll the meat generously in spices and leave it to cure.
A traditional dish eaten during the Malaysian heat waves is ABC, which stands for air batu campur, in translation a mix between water and "stone". In it they put milk, roasted nuts, a little palm sugar, sometimes vegetables - all this is mixed with shaved ice that's been prepared beforehand.
To this they sometimes add cincau. It's made by boiling the leaves of an herb belonging to the mint family - locals claim the plant has an iodine taste.
In Wales you'll be offered to try bread with seaweed - actually the bread isn't like what you're used to eating in the traditional sense. The dish is made from the Porphyra seaweed, which are traditional for local cuisine. In Welsh the delicacy is called bara lawr.
The seaweed in question can be found along the coasts of the Gower Peninsula. To make this so-called bread, the seaweed are boiled. The goal is to obtain a paste-like substance, to which oats are added and then everything is fried.
In Tibet, you'll be treated to tea but one that is rather different from the Western kind - instead of honey or sugar, they put salt in the local hot beverage. They also typically add a piece of lard from a Tibetan yak. The beverage is called po chai and is made from black tea - locals drink several cups a day.
The beverage is an excellent source of calories due to the fat, plus it warms the body and protects the lips from cracking, locals say. The rule is, the higher up you go, the more lard they put in your warm drink. Tibetan traditions hold that every time the guest takes a sip their cup be topped off.
The Thai are famous for their unusual cuisine. One of locals' favorite dishes are fried water beetles. The insects contain lots of protein and when fried they become crunchy and delicious - kind of like chips.
Aside from this bizarre food, you'll find fried praying mantises, crickets and grasshoppers sold at food stalls all across Thailand. The thing about water beetles is that they're about 3″ (8 cm) long and look a lot like cockroaches. To these insects you can add various flavors, including hot sauce.
If you like guinea pigs it might be wiser to avoid taking a walk through the markets in Ecuador - it's highly likely you'll run into a guinea pig roasted whole. Those who have tried them say they taste like duck.
Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines may truly surprise you with their delicacy called balut. It is a 2-week-old duck embryo that has rudimentary feet, feathers, a bill - all boiled in the egg shell itself.
The embryos actually swim in their own liquid, which collects in the egg - this dish is considered an aphrodisiac and is a top choice by locals.
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