bizarre Foods

Bizarre Foods Activity 

Inspired by Andrew Zimmer

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What is a Bizarre food? That is a great question.  What is bizarre to one person is run of the mill to the next.  For most children their list of bizarre is much longer than their adult counterparts.  For example: My son was watching “Zombie Land” the other day, Woody Harrelson and Bill Murray are magic, and he asked, “What is a Twinkie? He is tearing places apart for something I have never tried.” If you were facing the end of times, what food would you be desperately searching for, and would someone in the world consider it Bizarre.

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If you are looking for a fun party concept,  for adults and children a like, I highly suggest the bizarre foods theme.  You can take it in so many different directions: bizarre ice cream, bizarre fruits, bizarre vegetables, bizarre processed foods, etc… the list seems endless.

Let’s take a minute and I will walk you through just one of the bizarre foods classes I have had the pleasure of hosting.

I took a trip to my local Asian market.  A place that is filled with fresh produce, strange creatures, and amazing fish flavored snacks. If you are looking for bizarre this place is right up most American’s Alley.  I filled my cart full of items I was familiar with, but had not yet had the pleasure of preparing myself. This is a win/win for my students and me, as I am a self taught chef. ​

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Class Set up

Before class began we laid our bounty on the table. ​Displaying items for the kids to walk around, touch, and explore​ while we waited for everyone to arrive.

​We passed each bizarre food around and discussed where it came from, how it is         prepared, and allowed the children to ask questions.

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Sugar Cane

Some of the items were familiar like sugar.   Sugar in it's raw cane form is  bizarre to many. 

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Taro root and Oroblanco

We sliced and fried taro root, a native of Southeast Asia and India, a food staple in places like Hawaii and the Caribbean .We peeled and divided up an oroblanco.  An oroblanco is a sweet seedless citrus hybrid fruit similar to grapefruit.

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Durian

The Durian, also known as jack fruit, looks like a dinosaur egg and when the kids found out that it was actually a smelly fruit, their little minds were blown.

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Quail Eggs

The quail eggs were a favorite.  They are cute, tiny, and the kids were impressed with the fact that they tasted just like any egg, but better because of their size! ​

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Dried Anchovies

​Dried fish is a huge part of Asian food cultures and I was proud that every kid was brave enough to take a nibble. 

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Balut

The most bizarre food on the table that day was balut.  We explored this food first by cracking open the fetal duck egg and taking a look at it in its raw form.  This was a science class for sure.  So many questions came from this one food. Why would someone eat this? Where does this come from? What is that sac

Then we cooked the egg and the questions just came pouring on in. ​

Questions are how we learn! Inspiring people to ask questions and learn helps us evolve and grow.  Even if the question is, “What is a Twinkie?”

This activity is sure to impress and will be remember by all involved!