Forbidden Feasts

We take a look at some of the world’s most taboo cuisines, foods steeped in both tradition and controversy.

For as long as we’ve had a choice of sustenance, various ingredients and their social acceptance have been a point of heated debate among communities, religions and foodies. After all, one man’s taboo might be another man’s tradition. We take a closer look at some of the most taboo foods and where the intrepid might find them on the menu.

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It’s mid-day on a chilly yet sunny Sunday afternoon in the historic Norwegian port town of Bergen, and I’m making my way through the stalls of the city’s lively fish market, an outdoor weekend affair that’s popular with tourists and locals alike. Among the ranks of stands offering chilled oysters, piles of gleaming roe and hung lines of dried cod, there’s one stall grilling up a storm. Huge dark purple steaks are sizzling away in the frigid air and the smell is nothing short of intoxicating. I can’t resist and order one meaty steak to go, tucking into the medium rare cut at a waterfront picnic table.

I’ll admit, it’s one of the best steaks I’ve ever had; lean, juicy, and packed with unami flavour. But this is no pasture-raised Wagyu striploin – this is a local crowd-pleasure, a Northern Minke whale ‘rump’, and an ingredient widely regarded in Norway to be a sustainable (the species has a healthy population and harvesting is government-regulated) alternative to emission-heavy beef cattle.

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Man can be a picky creature. Whether it’s because of religion, conservation or because of less obvious social rationales, we love to divide ourselves over which ingredients we would add to the pot. Some issue ingredients are fairly obvious and come coupled with centuries of precedence, including pork for Muslim communities, shellfish for Orthodox Jews, and animal products for vegans. Then there are more modern shifts in public opinion, including the consumption of whale meat, sharks and of course, man’s best friend.

“Foods that are now considered taboo were once foods that were consumed because they were affordable and easy to access through fishing, hunting, trapping or gathering,” says food historian Joyce White. “Even wealthy people in the pre-modern age ate foods that are now considered taboo, such as offal or variety meats, because it was wasteful to throw them away. When there are no grocery stores nearby, every type of food available to you is precious.”

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She says food taboos develop at times when food choices expand due to factors like economic growth, technological innovations, and improved transportation. Why eat kidneys or tripe when tender cuts of steak are available?

“We learn which foods are acceptable through a folk transmission of culture: observation, imitation/repetition, and variation,” says White. “If we observe the people around us scorning certain foods, peer pressure will teach us to [also] scorn that food. Similarly, if we grow up in a part of the world where “taboo” foods are consumed and then move to a different area, we may no longer have access to those foods and may no longer desire them. Having said all that, food tourism lures people to places where “taboo” foods are still integral to the diet. It gives people a chance to explore the unknown in a safe, guided way.”

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The cultural distinctions that define what foods are taboo and which are acceptable hover over geographic lines, and it’s usually chefs who are at the forefront of change. For example, it was acclaimed chef Heston Blumenthal and his sensationally popular restaurant The Fat Duck that was at the cutting edge of the nose-to-tail dining movement, one that tapped into our traditional cooking experience and one that’s now been re-adopted by chefs the world over, including acclaimed Australian chef Josh Niland, who uses every part of the fish to create imaginative dishes at his restaurants in Australia and Asia.

“People don’t know that things that started out simply as byproducts of food preparation became cooking techniques themselves, says celebrity chef Chris Cosentino. “Byproducts created braising, created pates, they created things like charcuterie and blood sausage. Take beef tongue. Beef tongue is huge in Japan; it’s like ten dollars a pound for grass-fed beef tongue. Here in the U.S., it’s four dollars a pound. So do we eat it? No, we export this excellent grass-fed product and we make a lot of money. But who is winning? We win on money and they win on flavour.”

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Here are some of the most taboo dishes eaten today (even if it is in secret).

Singing for Your Supper

For example, you might remember the scene from Billions (above) when Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (played by Damian Lewis) and his Axe Capital COO Mike “Wags” Wagner (played by David Costabile) are served Ortolan, a migratory songbird so rare it’s illegal to consume, by chef Wylie Dufresne. This dish is about as niche and taboo as it comes – only the richest, most connected people on earth get to experience it and do so with a napkin over their heads, as per a tradition that says those consuming the tiny songbird should hide their shame from God.

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The bird, which is caught at night and kept in a cloaked cage, gouges itself on grain until it doubles in size and is then unceremoniously drowned in Armagnac and eaten whole – bones and all – in one mouthful. The custom of eating ortolan, which traces its origins to Romans living in the South of France, was banned in 1999 due to plummeting population numbers and remains one of the most coveted – and taboo – dining experiences on the planet, not just because of the pressure on the ortolan numbers but because of the archaic and rather nasty means of its demise.

A Whale of a Meal

While the ortolan is controversial, it pales in comparison to whales, with Japan’s ceaseless capture of whales – despite international bans – a regular topic for conservation firebrands. However, whale has been a prime protein source in the diets of the Japanese, Norwegians and Icelanders for centuries, as well as for remote communities in Asia, Siberia and Alaska, as well as on the island of Flores in Indonesia.

“This may seem odd to some people but it’s part of our tradition,” an Inuit guide once told me while we sampled rubbery, cured Minke blubber during an expedition cruise through Canada’s Northwest Passage. “It’s not like we have cattle ranches here in the Arctic. Whale meat can sustain a whole community, and every part of the whale is used.” And in case you’re wondering, whale meat is noted for its gamey, slightly fishy flavour and lean texture.

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However, demand for whale meat is at an all-time low as decades of conservation efforts have cast the meat in controversy, even as numbers have returned to healthy levels after the indiscriminate fishing of whales by primarily Japanese fleets in the 1980s and 1990s, the by-catch of which also put other species, including dolphins, into jeopardy. Increasingly, Japanese consumers are refusing whale meat, leading to most whale fishing remaining the traditional remit of indigenous communities.

Man’s Best Friend

I was also been offered Bosintang, a spicy Korean soup made with dog meat, one frigid evening in Seoul but managed to resist (I don’t think my corgi Barry would ever forgive me). In Korea, dog remains a peripheral ingredient – ask any Korean and they will probably deny having ever partaken and its popularity is certainly in decline and the slaughter and sale of dogs for their meat is set to become illegal in South Korea from 2027.

Korea isn’t the only place where dog consumption has come under controversy. In Mainland China, the annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival in Guangxi sees an average of 3,000 dogs killed for consumption. The festival, which does not have roots in tradition and was created in 2009 by dog meat merchants looking to drum up sails, was banned during the pandemic but restarted in 2020 – despite a campaign against it by the government – albeit with dwindling numbers thanks to a global social media campaign that focused on the fact that many dogs caught for the festival were reportedly pets rather than bred for the purpose, as is the case in Korea.

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However, dog still appears on menus everywhere from Nigeria and Vietnam to Indonesia and India, where the meat is considered a great alternative to more expensive pork and beef, and is often more plentiful.

Sorry Fido!

The Chicken or the Egg?

Probably one of the most iconic of the taboo foods is a popular snack in the Philippines. Balut, a fertilised duck egg that’s boiled – partially developed embryo and all – and then eaten directly from the shell. While Balut is a common street food across the Philippines – one that’s also believed to be an aphrodisiac and a source of strength – the concept of eating a developing bird embryo is unsettling to many, making balut a polarising dish, with animal rights groups also raising ethical concerns about the consumption of fetal birds.

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And if you’re wondering, Balut combines the textures of a hard-boiled egg with the crunchiness of the developing bird’s bones. It is often seasoned with salt and vinegar, balancing the rich, savoury flavour with a tangy kick.

Horsing Around

Horse meat has long been consumed in various countries, including France and Kazakhstan, where the national dish, beshbarmak, is typically horse meat served with wet egg noodles (it’s actually surprisingly delicious) and which traces its roots to the country’s nomadic tribes. Horse meat doesn’t quite get the same controversy – probably because in France, it’s prized for its lean, tender quality and is often found in speciality butchers and gourmet dishes.

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That said, its consumption has always riled diners elsewhere (especially France’s traditional rivals, the British), as horses remain a near-and-dear second runner to the dog as man’s closest friend.

Deadly But Delicious

When we think of sushi, it’s hard not to let the mind wonder about the humble Fugu, the puffer fish that is not only lethal but a controversial ingredient in traditional Japanese cuisine. The Fugu is a high-risk delicacy thanks to the potent neurotoxin that is found in the fish’s organs, including its liver, ovaries, eyes and skin, and which paralyses those that come in contact with it.

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The intrepid diner will need to seek out specially licensed chefs, the only ones allowed by law to prepare fugu, as a single mistake in its preparation can be fatal – which only serves to make the dish in which it features, diodon, more intriguing. The flesh is subtle in flavour and is firm and slightly chewy.

Saved by the Shell

We love to think of sea turtles as the majestic residents of the world’s most sought-after snorkelling and diving destinations, something to enjoy and photograph, but not to turn into soup. That’s unless you live in the Cayman Islands, parts of West Africa, and the Pacific, where sea turtle remains a prized culinary addition to the pot and is typically served as soup.

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Skip over to Southern China and Hong Kong and you can try Guilinggao, a jelly made from the common turtle that was said to cure smallpox in Imperial China. Today turtles are still a common sight in the city’s wet markets while commercially produced turtle jelly, a Chinese medicine sold as a desert, can be found in pharmacies and supermarkets.

Formiddable Formaggio

One taboo ingredient you might not be familiar with is Casu Marzu, a traditional Sardinian cheese infested with live insect larvae. The larvae are deliberately introduced to promote fermentation, resulting in a soft, creamy cheese with an intense, pungent flavour and purportedly a spicy kick thanks to the maggots.

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As you might imagine, Casu Marzu is currently banned in the European Union due to the health risks posed by the live larvae – the idea of consuming a cheese crawling with maggots is off-putting to many, making it one of the world’s most notorious taboo foods and a hard sell for even the hardiest Italian fromagerie.

Eating Your First Pet

While those in the West often associate guinea pigs as the perfect pet, many a daring gastro-tourist has sought out Peru’s most controversial snack. Cuy or roasted guinea pig, traces its origins to pre-Columbian times, when the little rodents were not only prized for their flavour but also for their spiritual significance. Even today, guinea pigs continue to be used in traditional Andean medicine and healing rituals, believed to have mystical properties.

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You’ll find cuy across Peru, where it’s loved for its low-fat levels and which is roasted and paired with a spicy sauce called ají. In regions like Cusco and Arequipa, cuy is often served during festivals, holidays, and important family gatherings, symbolising hospitality and celebration.

Things That Crawl in the Night

Hailed as the potential protein source of the future, eating insects is no new fad. In fact, the consumption of insects, known as entomophagy, is a practice that has been part of human diets for thousands of years. Today, over 2 billion people worldwide regularly eat insects as part of their traditional diet, particularly in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Here in Asia, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Japan, and Vietnam have a long history of insect consumption, from fried crickets, grasshoppers (they’re great with a dusting of chilli powder), and bamboo worms to silkworm larvae, spiders, water beetles and even wasp larvae and locusts, which remain delicacies in Japan.

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More than just a culturally significant staple, insects are packed with nutrients and are rich in protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals such as iron and zinc. For many communities, insects provide a sustainable source of nutrition, especially in regions where conventional protein sources like meat or fish are expensive or scarce. Look out for crickets roasted or ground into flour; grasshoppers deep fried and eaten like popcorn in Mexico and Thailand; roasted silkworms in Korea and China; and leaf cutter ants, a popular snack in Latin America. So if you don’t fancy Jiminy Cricket as a conscious, you can always have him as an appetiser.

A Dish That Bites

Finally, one of the most controversial ingredients in Asia has to be shark fin. While conservation efforts have led to major hotels refusing to serve shark’s fin – mainly because of the wasteful nature of shark fishing, where only the fin is retained and the live shark is thrown helplessly back into the sea – it’s still a common sight in traditional seafood markets in Hong Kong and Southern China, where it’s used to make shark fin soup, which is typically served at special occasions as a sign of wealth and prosperity.

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The Humane Society International has reported that approximately 72 million sharks are killed for their fins each year. However, there is a popular movement against shark fin soup (85% of surveyed Chinese customers claim they gave up the delicacy in the past ten years) with alternative ingredients increasingly being used for their highly symbolic dish.

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