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The Many Disgusting Dishes & Culinary Horrors of Europe

41 Comments

culinary horrors of Europe Map

Map created by Yanko Tsvetkov from Atlas of Prejudice 2: Chasing Horizons

While European food has a very positive international reputation, it’s not all steak frites and pasta. As the map above shows, the continent also has its fair share of disgusting dishes and culinary horrors.

The map is the work of Yanko Tsvetkov and appears in Atlas of Prejudice 2: Chasing Horizons (also be sure to check out his first book Atlas of Prejudice: Mapping Stereotypes, Vol. 1)

For those of you curious about the various foods mentioned, here’s a bit more information:

You can find more maps like this from Yanko’s books:

For more on food and/or other disgusting things have a look at:

Have you ever tried any of the foods above? How were they?

Share your thoughts in the comment section below:

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Comments

  2. I obtained a third degree burn while trying to make two of these (at the same time) 😀 also, most of them are delicious + seriously, if half of these things involve blood, you might reconsider calling them disgusting…

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  3. First: in Italy we also have pig blood used in different ways. Tripe soup as well. We do not ear raw sea urchins but raw sea urchins EGGS. Do you est cooked caviar?

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  4. I like this map, though the title needs some work. You’d find many of these meals are good. Eating out of the ordinary/mainstream is oftentimes good.

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  5. i’ve just seen the map of the 2nd largest nations in europe and this map – and they are both full of mistakes and pure fantasy. is there any point in bothering with this website or is it all like this?

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  6. Criadillas are not bull but pig testicles…(i guess that doesn’t make them more apealling though;)). However it is not a popular or typical dish, just something you can find from time to time. I never tried them, neither have most people I know. That said, ink is really delicious.

    Some of the “disgusting” dishes in other countries are also eaten in Spain. We have blood sausages (“morcilla”) and raw sea urchin. Both are absolutely wonderful.

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  7. Deep fried Pizza sounds wonderful, not gross – however Scotland is famous for Haggis, which is actually truly yucky: sheep stomach wrapped oatmeal/sheep innards, baked with herbs.

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    • Deep fried pizza sounds like something from a Saturday Night Live skit. It also sounds delicious, especially after a night at the pub!

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  10. As others have said, many of these dishes are really good. If you don’t want them, feel free to send them to my address!!
    (I would pass on the Swiss, however)
    As a native born Sardinian, I would also say that maggot cheese is really a delicacy, the name notwithstanding…

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  13. Just to clarify, in Spain, squid’s ink should be translated as “tinta de calamar”. “Arròs Negre”, as used above, refers to a particular rice dish cooked with squid’s ink. There are also other dishes made with squid’s ink.

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  14. As a food writer and cookbook author, I have to say, articles like this really piss me off. Who are you to say what people eat in other parts of the world are disgusting???? Making use of all parts of a slaughtered animal is humane and respectful. Read my Ukrainian Cookbook…..and LEARN about the culinary practices of a country—-educating is key. I would not subscribe to this site for all the money in the world! Good day.

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    • Annette, thank you! I thoroughly agree! The only exception and what belongs on this map/list is “Nestle” from Switzerland. With all its artifical ingredients and preservatives, it’s not only disgusting and bad for your health, it shouldn’t even qualify as a food at all!

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    • Annette, its meant to be whimsical. As a food writer I would have thought you’d know when something needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

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  18. Wow it’s really an american focused map… But the matter is that they don’t know anything about food, sorry guys but horse steaks, pig blood and frog legs are amazing, certainly better than big mac.

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  19. Salted pork fat from Ukraine? Seriously? Have you ever tried it? Ah! Spread it over a slice of pure rye bread (another disgusting product for some people, i guess), add some mashed garlic, and of course, a plate of hot Ukrainian Borsch – and your life will never be the same again, I guarantee you that! )))

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    • In Italy we call it lardo. The best one is the lardo di Colonnata, seasoned 6 months in big box made with marble. Delicius!
      Maggot cheese spicy and creamy. Tasty!
      Raw sea urkins, actually urking fresh eggs: the deep sea in few grams.

      This guy only eat at Mc Donalds!

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  20. And tripe soup? OMG! My condolenses to all drinking people out there, who never tried tripe soup. ’cause it is the best thing for the “morning after” syndrome )))

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  21. Why always Frog legs? The only place i have seen frog legs in france is ..chinese restaurant.
    But we eat head paté, pig feet, blood sausage etc. and SNAILS ! Land snails and sea snails, so good!

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  23. Your knowledge is really poor.
    In italy:
    Pajata: intestines of calf full of the last milk drinked. (Rome)
    Moeche: whole small crabs eaten while they are changing the shell. Soft and juicy!
    Lumache: snails mmmmmmh
    Coda: cows tail cooked in a complex way (Rome)
    Hundreds more….

    Wonderful dishes not for Mc Donalds lovers.

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  24. Well, I guess in Portugal we eat almost all of them, and from my experience some are the best dishes I’ve ever eaten. 🙂

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  26. I think Belgium has more so-called ‘disgusting dishes’ 😉

    We also have a blood sausage, we have our own version of ‘hutsepot’ that has pig’s trotters and pig’s ears in it, we eat horsemeat, like the Italians.

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  27. Interesting list! Few of it’s entries features some almost identical dishes made of animal blood. Actually, it is not as disgusting as you might think (pork/duck blood, fried with onions is awesome).
    IMHO, yellow artificial c**p Americans call “cheese” is much worse.

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  28. I stumbled upon this map after reading about another one by that author. And to be honest, I’m disappointed by the fact that the soup mentioned as the most famous=”disgusting” (I guess the idea was the name of the dish) is ONLY typical for the very minor part of Poland. What is much more often consumed here and can be perceived as disgusting by some, are: blood sausage (kaszanka), boiled cow’s brain with egg (móżdżek), or tripe (“flaczki”, sometimes poultry, sometimes mixed). All of them are obviously delicious for most of us 🙂

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    • Duck blood soup – czarnina – has a disgusting ingredient, but it tastes great 😀
      A long time ago it was served to young men applying for the hand of their beloved. It was a symbolic rejection of his proposal 😉

      @JoAnn77PL I don’t agree! Czarna polewka (czarnina) – duck blood soup it was in “Pan Tadeusz”!

      Reply

  29. Greece: cow lung soup??? Where did you find this? It is not even in the article you are hyperlinking. Maybe you are referring to lamb organ soup (contains liver, lungs, etc) which is a traditional Easter dish…

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  30. Scotland – Deep Fried Pizza. Surely that should be Haggis? (not at all disgusting bte but fits the rather odd narrative).

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