The Weird. The Unusual. The Unknown.

Howdy y'all! As I mentioned, I am up in the wild, wild west this weekend to get some birthday love and spoiling from my mama and daddy. While I'm gone, I've asked the lovely Kendal from Eating Abroad to guest for me by taking over this week's Freaky Food Friday. She's got a great blog that I very highly recommend you check out pronto. Read on, and I promise you won't be disappointed! This is a great post, filled with wonderful pictures--Thanks so much Kendal!
See you soon for a recap! xoxo, E

In the last 6 years, I have been blessed enough to travel to Italy, Thailand, Cambodia, Tanzania, Egypt, Luxembourg, Tunisia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and England. I have lived in Kenya, the USA, and Germany. In each of these places, I've seen some pretty weird things, especially when it comes to food.

Weird food makes traveling what it is- a chance to experience another culture.

What would we be without our food culture?

Would we still have a day to sit down with family and talk about our blessings if there was no Thanksgiving?

What would birthdays be without the cake and ice cream or summers without a barbecue?

What's Belgium without the waffle? What's a waffle without Belgium?

People form an identity based on the food they eat.

Vegetarian. Vegan. Pescatarian. Lacto-ovo-vegetarian. The list goes on.

To understand a culture, you've got to understand their food.

Some of my best traveling experiences around the world took place around tables of food and drinks with new friends. I've eaten traditional home-cooked meals and food cooked over a fire in the middle of a dusty street. Food helps make the experience.

Although food makes traveling much more fun, there are a few freaky foods I'm still unwilling to try- even in the name of cultural understanding.

This is my second year living in Germany as a traveling teacher. When asked to write about freaky food, plenty came to mind.

Luckily, I can avoid many freaky German foods by hiding behind the vegetarian identity. Such as...

Blutwurst (translation: blood sausage. Yes, it is really sausage made of blood.)

Presskopf (English speakers call it head cheese, but it's actually bits of gross meat chunks held together by a gelatin.)

Not wanting to think about this stuff or it's origins... let's move on.

It's freaky. It's German. It's Vegetarian. It's Knödel!

This freaky food consists of Stove Top Stuffing like bread bits tightly packed into a little pouch.

Notice the dimples in the plastic for the water to get through?

To cook: soak in water. Boil. Drain. Remove from plastic. Sauce. Eat.

What sort of sauce? You may ask. Most Germans would suggest using some sort of beef sauce, but I use mushrooms.

Lots and lots of delicious cooked mushrooms!

We are all familiar with German sauerkraut. Another strange variation on this traditional food is rotkohl.

Cooked red cabbage.

My favorite variety is rotkohl with apples!

Dinner

Germans are known for their seriousness and bad sense of humor. I disagree. Someone who created a phallic shaped food item and named it Super Dickmann's must have a sense of humor.

The box reads: Super Dickmann's- Super Big with Crisp Chocolate- Plump and Chocolaty

Now for the Super Dickmann's Photo Shoot

The Super Dickmann's are filled with marshmallow fluff atop a wafer.

The weird. The unusual. The unknown.

That's what traveling and eating are all about.

You never know what you might find as your teeth tear through a new food.

It might just become your new favorite!