Buzz
We put immense effort into ensuring our food is as hygienic as possible, with entire government organizations dedicated to this purpose. Many everyday kitchen habits are designed to maintain cleanliness in what we eat. It’s ingrained in our instincts. Yet, as humans, we possess the freedom to go against our nature, even when it might seem unwise. Surprisingly, some foods have been crafted from substances that typically repel us.
10. Kopi Luwak
83 percent of adults in the United States are coffee drinkers. We adore this beverage, which comes in countless varieties sourced from exotic regions worldwide. However, one particular source might make even the most devoted coffee enthusiasts hesitate: a cat’s rear end.
Kopi Luwak, the world’s most expensive coffee, is made from coffee beans that have traveled through the digestive tract of a civet cat. Native to Southeast Asia, this feline has a fondness for coffee almost equal to ours. It consumes the finest coffee cherries but doesn’t digest the beans, instead excreting them. The digestive process reduces the bean’s acidity, protein, and caffeine content, resulting in the smooth, fragrant, and mildly bitter Kopi Luwak coffee, highly valued globally.
Fun Fact: Civets mark their territory by spraying a thick, foul-smelling oil. This oil is collected and used as a perfume additive in high-end fragrances. Historically, traders would taste the oil to ensure it wasn’t mixed with cheaper, equally repulsive-smelling human feces. Despite its name, the civet is not closely related to cats but is instead akin to the Meerkat.
9. Panda Dung Green Tea
Pandas are known for their bamboo-heavy diet, but a tea entrepreneur claims they absorb only about 30 percent of the nutrients from bamboo. This means their waste remains packed with the vitamins and minerals from the plant, making it an excellent fertilizer. An Yashi, a lecturer at Sichuan University and wildlife expert, has utilized panda dung to create a distinctive green tea.
His tea is enriched with panda dung, which he claims enhances its properties. An Yashi explains, “Bamboo contains compounds that can help prevent cancer, and when used as fertilizer, it boosts green tea’s anti-cancer benefits.” His panda dung green tea is priced at an astonishing $35,000 per pound.
8. Un, Kono Kuro
This beer’s name plays on the Japanese term for excrement, Unko. Created by Sankt Gallen, a brewery in Kanagawa, for April Fools’ Day in 2013, it sold out almost instantly. The stout incorporates an unconventional ingredient: coffee. What makes it even more unique is that the coffee beans are sourced from elephants at Thailand’s Golden Triangle Elephant Foundation. Similar to Kopi Luwak, the beans are excreted after digestion. However, unlike civet cats, most beans don’t survive the process. Only 1 kilogram of usable beans is obtained from 33 kilograms of raw beans.
A reviewer named Mr. Sato described the beer: “As I finished the last sip, a lingering aftertaste emerged, blending bitterness and sweetness. The aroma stayed vivid in my mind, accompanying me throughout the experience. Even afterward, I felt enveloped by its warm, rich scent.” For $104, you can purchase 35 grams of this rare coffee to elevate your homebrewed creations.
7. Traditional Chicha
Chicha, a traditional corn beer from the Andes, has been brewed for thousands of years. It held significant cultural importance for civilizations like the Incas and Aztecs, who viewed intoxication as a spiritual experience and sharing a drink as a gesture of camaraderie.
While you might have tasted Chicha, its traditional preparation differs from modern methods. Historically, brewers would chew maize thoroughly, using their saliva to moisten it completely. The enzymes in saliva convert the cornstarch into fermentable sugars. After drying, the maize cakes were ready for brewing.
This step occurs before brewing, ensuring the final product is sterile. Some breweries still adhere to this traditional method. A modern brewer, quoted by The New York Times during the saliva-intensive process, joked, “Would it be bad if I thed we bit off maw than we could thew? Heh, heh.”
6. Honey
Bees possess two stomachs, one specifically for storing nectar gathered from flowers. When full, this stomach can weigh as much as the bee itself. After visiting over 1,500 flowers, honeybees return to the hive and transfer the nectar to worker bees by regurgitating it from their second stomach into the mouths of the workers. This process is repeated until the partially digested nectar is ready to be stored in honeycombs. The water is then evaporated, transforming the nectar into the thick, syrupy substance we recognize as honey.
5. Shellac
Shellac is a common glazing agent, though its name might not be widely recognized. Many of us consume it unknowingly, as it’s found in coated candies, chocolates, and even waxed fruits.
So, what exactly is shellac? It’s the refined version of lac, a resin secreted by the Laccifer lacca Kerr insect, primarily found in India, Thailand, and Burma. The resin forms on twigs, which are then cleaned by soaking in water to remove debris like insect parts and treated with sodium carbonate to neutralize acidity. This processed insect secretion is not only used in food but also serves as a varnish or wood primer.
4. Baby Poop Sausages
Bacterial fermentation is crucial in sausage production. The tangy flavor of pepperoni on your pizza? It’s thanks to bacteria. Researchers have now developed a method to ferment sausages using bacteria that could create a probiotic-rich food, similar to yogurt. The twist? The bacteria were sourced from the feces of human infants.
The team cultured bacteria from 43 stool samples and used them to produce six batches of fuet, a type of pork sausage. Professional taste testers found the flavor to be identical to traditional fuet, showing no noticeable difference.
3. Yan Wo
Known as “the caviar of the East” due to its high price and esteemed status in Chinese cuisine, this delicacy is made from bird’s nests. Swiftlets, small swallow-like birds, construct these nests using their saliva. The nests are specifically built for raising their young and are left behind once the chicks are grown.
Rich in protein, Yan Wo is used in soups, tonics, and desserts. A decade ago, there were around 1,000 swiftlet farms; today, that number has skyrocketed to approximately 60,000. The industry surrounding these saliva-based nests has grown to an estimated value of $5 billion.
If the idea isn’t unappetizing enough, the texture of cooked Yan Wo in soup resembles clumps of mucus.
2. Ambergris
This rare substance is a byproduct formed in the digestive tract of sperm whales. Due to its scarcity and versatility, it can command prices of around $29 per gram. While it’s famously used in perfumes, it has also found its way into dishes like eggs, ice cream, and cocktails. Its scent is often described as an intense, oceanic aroma.
A common misconception is that this unique substance is whale vomit. However, this is incorrect. Ambergris is far more likely to be excreted than regurgitated.
1. Kuchikami No Sake
Similar to Chicha, the method of preparing sake has evolved over time. Often referred to as “rice wine,” it shares more similarities with beer. Modern production typically involves fermenting rice with a mold (Aspergillus oryzae), which contains the enzymes needed to break down rice starch into sugar. However, before this mold was identified, human saliva was the key ingredient used to initiate fermentation.
Brewers would chew rice, chestnuts, or acorns to start the fermentation process. This traditional sake, known as Kuchikami No Sake or “Mouth-Chewed Sake,” is still occasionally produced today.
