From the opulence of the Ottoman Empire that continues to live on in unaffordable and over-the-top cakes, to the more humbling crickets, these sweet treats will make your jaw drop (and not in the best ways)!
Various cultures, around the globe, have developed truly unique desserts that may seem peculiar or bizarre. As more and more people talk about them, the peculiarity is apparent, especially when it differs from what we have at home or have had while growing up and are accustomed to.
Different parts of the world have different cultures owing to the varying local factors, like the availability of fresh ingredients popularized by time-honored traditions. So, it's important to be respectful towards each culture’s ‘weird’ elements, for what’s bizarre to us is normal to others. So here are some of the weirdest desserts that are undoubtedly delicious, despite how unappetizing they might seem.
Costing a whopping $1,000 (approx ₹85,000) the Sultan’s golden cake takes luxury to another level. It was created by the Ciragan Palace Kempinski Hotel in Istanbul, a place that was home to the Ottoman Empire. This cake is made from luxurious fruits, namely figs, quince, apricots, and pears, which are soaked in a rich Jamaican rum for two whole years. It takes a painstaking 72 hours to make, and incorporates rare ingredients that make it even dearer. A rare French Polynesian vanilla, caramelized black truffles, and 24-carat edible gold leaf are added as garnishes. If this was not extravagant and weird enough for us peasants, the cake makers serve it in a sterling silver box adorned with a gold seal.
This particular dessert makes it to everybody’s list when it comes to being weird. There’s honey chicken and sweet and sour chicken that we love with our fried rice, but chicken as a dessert? Perhaps an ingenious dairy farm owner’s dream, this Turkish dessert combines milk pudding with shredded boneless chicken. Also, this time, this dish is actually connected to the Ottoman Empire, for Tavukgöğsü was actually served to the Ottoman royalty.
East Asia is popular for their ingenuity in turning creepy crawlies, which we so love to hate, into actual delicacies. Thailand's chocolate-covered crickets is one such example. Some e-commerce sites actually sell them and they come in other flavors too, ranging from salt and vinegar to cream and onion. A curious kid might love these if it’s too disgusting for a non-curious adult who is not adventurous enough for insects.
This is the only dessert you can actually make at home and it's no surprise that it’s quite popular in North America, particularly USA and Canada. Tracing its roots to a bakery in the USA’s Nebraska, the maple bacon donut was ambitiously created to make the bakery the talk of the town—and it worked. Bacon being an evergreen favorite in that part of the world, it is hardly surprising that this odd combination was a hit with the locals and also started to become more popular in breakfast platters.
This Lithuanian Tree Cake is exactly how you would imagine it to look like, even though it does not exactly look like a mini Christmas tree. However, it definitely is all spiky with a protruding branch-like structure. The Germans call them baumkuchen, the Hungarians kurtoskalacs or tepsiben, and the Polish call them sękacz or senkacz. This tree cake is made by dripping egg-rich batter onto a rotating stainless steel rod or spit over a heat source. As more batter is added and the rod spins faster, the batter forms spikes resembling tree branches. Layer by layer, a skilled baker builds up the cake, which can take hours. Once cooled, the tree cake is cut horizontally into rings and then into pieces for serving.
Technically these should not be considered desserts since their key constituent is pig’s blood. But, it is said to have a sweet taste and is quite delicious. The Swedish call them Blodplättar, although the origin is said to be Finnish. This one is for those who do not flinch at the sight of blood or gashes. The history of the blood used…well, let’s just say it was not always pig, and from the sources you would actually want them to be . No matter the history this one is truly weird when you get to that bit of the bloody history.