Sheep eyes, snake wine blunt the appetite at Berlin Disgusting Food Museum
By Maria Garrido
Berlin, Jul 8 (EFE).- Sheep eyes, snake wine or tarantula soup are some of over 90 atypical menu items from across the world displayed at the Disgusting Food Museum of Berlin, which intends to prove that only culture and habits determine what is considered unpalatable, or a delicacy.
The DFM just opened its doors at the heart of the city, in the Mitte neighbourhood, where it hands a paper bag to visitors after they purchase a ticket, similar to those available in airplanes for passengers prone to be sick.
What whets the appetite of some could very well give the next person nausea, induced by the looks, smell, flavour or even just the shape of a dish.
The eyes and nose of the audience determine what is or is not disgusting, but the spectator is trapped by its own cultural biases, the museum argues.
In some regions of China or Japan, for instance, serpent or mouse wines are loved by the masses, while in European cultures, the thought of drinking alcohol from a bottle that hosts a python is hard to grasp.
In Mongolia, a popular version of the Bloody Mary cocktail serves as a homemade cure to hangovers: a blend of tomato juice and sheep eyes.
The altar of stinky cheese offers visitors a whiff of five different varieties, including stinking bishop cheese from the UK, with a scent the museum equates to that of a rugby team’s locker room after a game.
Bull penis from China, or even worldwide ingredients that still evoke feelings of disgust, such as pig brain, are among other potentially repellent items shown off at this peculiar museum.
“Some foods sometimes smell horrible, taste horrible or have horrible looks. Others don’t, but what is disgusting is knowing how they are made. For example, gummy candy,” said the museum’s director, Martin Völker.
