I know how they feel, cheese disgusts me too, but only with the way it refuses to let my body absorb it. I bet that soy bean dish is delicious, I've never tried a Japanese dish I don't like....yet!

Interesting! I can definitely relate to this post. I grew up eating my Japanese Grandmother's cooking. Now when I cook some of her dishes my husband wants to leave the house. I'm glad I had variety in food when I was a child because now not many dishes scare me.

I'll be honest - I probably wouldn't touch that soybean dish :P But at home I cook international dishes all the time! Just today I brought in some leftover curry for lunch - It is definitely one of my favorite dishes we cook up. I love to use flavors and spices from cultures all over the world - It adds depth, complexity and yum-iness to everything we make!

That soybean dish looks a lot like baked beans to me. But I'd probably try it, despite the fact that I don't like baked beans. (We went out and ate Ethiopian food this week for the first time, and it was definitely a bizarre out of culture experience, but DELICIOUS!)

I love to bake delicious walnuts cookies. http://www.flickr.com/photos/expressyourself-7/3457832429/in/photostream I made them for Holidays.

I cook and love foods from all over the world and tried to like natto..... but I just don't.

Ooooohhh.... Caseysharpe, Ethiopian is a favorite in our house (and not hard to make once you get the right spices in your cabinet!)

You at least have to try it! :)

Please treasure our foods,nobody famishing...

Funny, when I saw the picture of Natto, I didn't know what it was and my mind (and eyes) saw peanuts dripping in caramel. I thought YUM, another good recipe from Etsy! I have since calmed down.

Yes, interesting. i grew up in the South and we had some "disgusting" foods, too. Souse, Chittlins, Melts and Sweetbreads, liver pudding (I like it), pigs feet. etc. The statement, "One mans trash is another man's treasure" can be applied to food. One may be disgusted by the look, smell, or knowledge of the source of a food while another may consider it "good eatin" as we say in the South or consider that food a delicacy.

I have tried several times to switch over to a mainly asian diet, even partaking in their candies and snacks to replace my own when I have a sweet tooth craving. And as much as I appreciate sushi and have come to love the actual non-american version of it, there are still some things that just seem to not tickle my taste buds. mushroom and bamboo steamed buns with far too much bamboo, very bland breads and cookies, and a fish smell to all noodle sauces. I frequent my asian market and slowly explore and learn to love more and more of it but it's definitely been a process of learning to love rather than immediately switching over to a new diet I haven't grown up on. But to people who grew up with Japanese parents, eating that diet on a daily basis, a noodle dish IS their burger and fries and to switch over to what we have would probably be quite a process in the same right. I think that's why its so important to raise children on home cooked, wholesome meals so that's what they become used to and that's what they love. Unlike a friend of mine I went to collage with who clearly grew up with a negligent family and ONLY likes burgers and steaks. seriously. nothing else. he won't even go to subway. so sad.

I thought the same thing and somehow imagined it was being served on a slice of crispy bacon. We're just making up our own recipes.

my kids were exposed to many foods from many cultures from a very young age . one time we were shopping at a grocery store and my then three year old sat down in an asle and stared crying I WANT CAVIAR I WANT CAVIAR it was so funny all i could do was laugh and think that most kids would be throwing a tantrum in the cereal or candy asle. start exploring foods like treasures its fun!

I am an American who loved natto from the first time I tried it! But many Japanese people find it gross. When you try lots of foods the number of "disgusting" dishes gets smaller and smaller, but I will always draw the line at insects.

I grew up in Scotland in the 70's and food was definitely not international at that point. My Mum was a chef so we ate risottos, paellas and many other things that made my classmates wonder what the heck it was. Seriously, risotto was exotic. I think each generation is tasting and experiencing international food in much greater depths than the one before, so obviously the foods they'll be exposed to will be REALLY different from what they're used to. What used to be extreme and exotic is now an everyday meal!

I tried natto and liked it too! Same thing, a Japanese friend said "Try it if you dare." Every culture's got at least one "love it or hate it" food.

I never thought I would like "stinky tofu" but after eating a great Agur blue cheese deli sandwich my boyfriend said, "if you like this, you'll definitely need to try stinky tofu!" I did, and it was good! I donno if I dig the tangent of "other cultures smell different because of what they eat" (how strong do you think people smell, wouldn't that have more to do with their general hygiene?) We should all smell like handmade etsy soaps by now, right? I think it's more complicated and simpler than that. People don't like "different" because they don't have anything to relate to it with. It's a shock to the system. New smells and tastes make our brains go... "this does not compute" You can be particularly revolted by anything if it's not what you're expecting. Like if you get Turnip thinking it's Potatoes or egg rolls thinking it's mini burritos, etc. One thing is true, if one wants to know what is available in the world, all they have to do is look... but often off the beaten path, whether that is on the internet or the real world.

The soy bean dish looks like hot carmel nuts! I've never tried natto. I was dared to try sushi years ago and it is one of my favorites foods!

Nattō is pretty darn good when you give it a chance. I learned that living in a foreign country, that if you give it a try or 2, you might just like it. Nattō is one of those foods that smells like stinky feet. The first time you try it, you're totally disgusted...but then you find yourself craving it.

That looks quite tasty! Must try. I thought it was caramel and peanuts in the picture when I first clicked and was intrigued. So glad I did now I have something new on my to try list!

Love this post and how it forces us to recenter our worlds while thinking about something as simple as food!

You'll never know unless you try it ;)

I love to try new foods! And so does my two year old daughter. I expose her to a food until she will try it. She eats everything from sushi to indian curry to typical American cuisine.

I grew up eating a large variety of foods, have lived and traveled all over the world, and eaten many things that gross out some. When I lived in Southeast Asia, I often found I preferred NOT to know what was in dishes until after I had tried them, it made it easier to appreciate the flavors first without dealing with my preconceived notions. Though some things, like bamboo worms and rats, I did manage to try knowing what they were. That being said, natto is my least favorite culinary experience. It is something I have really strong emotional reaction to, I don't like the texture, taste, nor smell. I still remember the first time I was offered some, and how I LOVED everything at that meal BUT natto. My Japanese friends don't blame me, many of them aren't that fond of it either.

I don't believe even if people ate the same things they would all smell the same. It's down to personal chemistry, which is largely inherited & therefore to a certain degree racial. Any effet of eating highly spiced food would wear off too quickly for it to be any use. On a lighter note, who ever decided tripe was food? It's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen, smelt, touched or tasted yet it's considered a delicacy in my very own country!

Thought provoking!

I will try any food once or twice-I am not afraid to try new and disgusting foods. My favorite foods are disgusting even to my husband-so everyone has their fancy.

Haha, very interesting post! Lord knows humans eat some weird things. I love trying new things so bring it on. Having said that, I do balk at a lot of animal-foods; pig's trotters, chicken hearts, and other weird unmentionables, etc... But north americans are quite used to wasting a whole lot of good nutritious parts of what they eat, so there you go. It's all what you're accustomed to. Heidi

I received my undergrad from a university in Honolulu and had a great time living in a city that was truly a melting pot of cultures. Living in Hawaii, I got to try so many unusual and yummy treats. However, one of my roommates was from Chuuk and she used to steam fish eyeballs. Even the smell was horrible:P

Wow.. I thought it was caramel on the picture at first sight... So go figure if I would eat it :P Though not many different dishes disgust me, since my father is Israelian, and my mother Indonesian/German/English who lived in Italy and now lives in Holland...

Growing up in a multicultural household of european and mexican backgrounds,i was introduced to many different types of foods from tamales to scrapple. Also while dating my chinese husband he shared his traditional cutural foods with me, most of which are very delicious. I'm pretty good about trying vegetable dishes at least once, but i wasn't able to get past the smell of Stinky Tofu or i would have tried it. My husband loves it though, cause he grew up with it.

I will try any food...even if it seems gross...just to see....I tend to think most food that has meat in it is gross..I would not call myself a vegetarian...but I rarely eat meat...and most meat that everyone else seems to think is GOOD...I wouldn't eat on a bet. My husband loves lobster..like allot of people..I think it is the most awful thing! But every once in a while I will try a bite...nope..still don't like it :p There are a number of foods I didn't like years ago..and love now... I think your palette changes over time..

Japanese food is so "mainstream" in America now, at least in major cities and younger adults, that it should hardly be considered foreign food.

I grew up on a few European fermented foods, such as sauerkraut. Fermented foods, such as Yogurt and sauerkraut, often contain probiotics which are good for our digestion. Foods such as decomposed shark skin are repugnant to me simply because they come from formerly living creatures. As I have gotten older, the thought of eating carcases of dead animals is as repugnant as the thought of eating carcases of dead humans.

I used to go the college where most of our English class was full of Japanese students. We had international day, and some of them teamed up to bring Natto in. I am from Europe myself, and we have some dished Americans do not like, so I tried it. The taste is bitter,they eat it with spicy mustard, but the texture wa slimy. had a forkfull and that was end of the story. I can say, I tried it.

At first glance, I thought the first photo was caramel and peanuts too - a candy bar, in fact. :)

This is so true! I was fortunate to be exposed to very unique foods as a child with European parents and then again as a young adult working in an Asian restaurant and what is offered to the employees at meal time.

Oh my God, I eat some truly disgusting-looking things, you guys. You get exposed to all sorts of weirdness living in New York City, and you learn to love it. I don't have a weak stomach, and there isn't much I wouldn't try. I agree with Awkward, I totally thought that picture was of caramel and peanuts. :D Haha.

It looks like peanuts in caramel sauce...yum!

At first glance, I thought the first photo was caramel and peanuts too - a candy bar, in fact. :) --- That's what I thought too! I don't think natto necessarily looks disgusting, till you pick it up and notice it is slimy. It has a taste that is certainly acquired - personally I do like it :-) Similar thing with tofu even if it may be mainstream - it's usually the reserve of vegetarians and vegans in the West, while it could be part of many side-dishes alongside meat in an Eastern-Asian meal. I don't think the Japanese necessarily think of cheese as disgusting though - in fact, according to this site. "Japanese love cheese too". http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-culture/what-kind-cheese-used-japanese-bentos As for Japanese food possibly being mainstream, I think natto remains a specialty food, skyinheaven - it's not as common as sushi, udon or bento.

Interesting article!

I made my first batch of kimchi yesterday. It's sitting in a jar on the kitchen counter. I can't wait for it to ferment so that I can eat it! Kimchi is something a friend introduced me to a year or so ago and I wish it would have been in my diet years ago!

I thought the picture was caramel and nuts and was like "Mmmm." But hey, even if it's fermented soy beans, I'd still try it!

That "ancient defense mechanism" is so interesting - - that's one excuse I hope my kids don't mention the next time we go out to try a new restaurant. :)

Interesting article! So much of what is disgusting about American food is the way it is processed: Hot Dogs- animal "by-products" - what, snouts & stuff? Cold Cuts - starts out as a liquid that squirts on a conveyer belt, then solidifies. Fast Food - rules about the maximum amount of rat feces food can contain...shouldn't it be 0? Commercial chicken (and other animals): kept in unspeakably cruel conditions. facilities smell and look like hell on earth.

Natto! lol It is repulsive to many Japanese as well. More of a localized dish there. Lutefisk, Haggis,chitlins, lots of countries have a dish others find repulsive. =)

A number of years ago we were lucky to be stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. The first week there I got food poisoning from some food at the Navy Lodge and I was hesitant about food for quite a while. I was so disappointed that even the smell of the foods while walking in town made me queasy. But then at EXACTLY the 6 months point, it all smelled wonderful! I was ecstatic to be relishing the food of my host country - I couldn't get enough of it! So I guess the lesson is to give new foods time. That and the Navy rule of "don't ask what it is until after you've eaten it.' I'm grateful for the many moves that have allowed me to learn and love the cuisine of so many countries. Variety is, most definitely the spice of life! Great article!

I've found the best thing about traveling to other countries and cultures IS the food. No better place or circumstance to taste something new! And the bit about different body odors is very true. Many times our soldiers were spotted in jungle combat because an enemy soldier had an acute olfactory sense.

It's so interesting. Who knew that we inherently reject foods from foreign countries due to an evolutionary trait from way back when. Still, taste buds can change and people can adapt to different foods if given enough time.

Ah, nattō. I've heard only bad things, even from Japanese people....

From main page of ETSY of this photo, I thought it looks "Toffee poured over nuts " I though. I cook "knid of natto" bean paste soup 3 times a week, cooking smell will strange to western people I think. :-)

At first that picture looked disgusting to me. Then I clicked on the article and it kind of looks like caramel candy! I love caramel! I can't eat it because I react to sugarcane but someday I intend to make my own with coconut sugar. :) I've known for a while that adults in Asian countries often believe that only babies drink milk. I've always been a big milk drinker (less so now because of the grains pumped into the cows - I can't process grains and I have to be careful with dairy that was grain fed). I always enjoyed the subtle expressions that the waiters and waitresses at Asian restaurants tried to hide from me when I ordered milk. (Although to be honest, I get that look from Americans sometimes too. They always seem to expect me to order alcohol.)

Good story. Well, here in Poland we also have some food that people from other countries see disguisting :)

ohhh very interesting :) thanks for a good read!

omg i love natto! i tried it for the first time a couple weeks ago. can't get enough of the stuff. ^_^

Natto is an acquired taste...that I cannot acquire and not for lack of trying (its supposed to be a healthy food). Interesting tread but I would have loved a few more "disgusting" food examples to occupy my mind's wanderings. I bet there's plenty that my palette finds delicious that others would think disgusting.

That soybean dish looks a lot like baked beans to me. But I'd probably try it, despite the fact that I don't like baked beans ----------------------- Actually, the texture of Nattō is a lot like baked beans. And I don't like the texture of baked beans, so I hate Nattō! I can't even tell you the taste, I hated the texture so much. I also don't like cheese and it's like baked beans with soft, slimey, stringy cheese... so that makes it all the worse :D I am a bit of a fussy eater, but I do try most things before I reject them! I actually find a lot of foods that other people tend to dislike, delicious.

I have never tried natto, but am intrigued and hope to soon. I'm pretty adventurous about food and love different cuisines, but have to say, I cannot get past the smell of dorian fruit to try it. No way, no how. And I really want to taste it, but OMG... the smell...

Living in San Francisco for years ~ the amount of food culture is wonderfully compacted into a 7 mile x 7 mile city. Its good to try anything once ~ well... just about everything.

I am from Western North Carolina in the US. Natto does not bother me at all, and I ate it often with dishes while I was in Japan for a bit. Spam though scares the be-jezus out of me.

I lived in Japan for two years and I wouldn't even go in a restaurant if I thought there was a possibility that natto would be served. Those long, long strings of gooey, putrid, smelly, beige-y brown, stretchy stuff...indescribably awful!!! I have very few food aversions, but if you haven't tried it -- lemme tell you -- there's a reason natto is always singled out in the "most disgusting" category.

I cannot live without cheese. I can live without bugs and fish but i still respect different cultures. Good article

Oh, I thought that was candy at first! Look kinds good to me!

"evolve beyond our cultural boundaries" that quote speaks volumes!

lol, I actually clicked on this because I looked at the pic, read the headline, and then thought what could be so disgusting about peanut brittle? Interesting fact about our "learned disgust".

I have to say I am a picky eater I am only starting to broaden my palette for example I have only been eating pizza the last couple and I have started to like Indian dishes also I would say chicken jalfrezi is probably my Favorite meal at the moment. I also have a wicked sweet tooth but don't see myself trying a deep fried mars bar like they have in Scotland :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-fried_Mars_bar

Good stuff!

Being comfortable eating familiar foods is not xenophobic. Why should anyone eat what they don't want to, regardless of reason?

Once upon a time, there wasn't anything I wouldn't try!!! Now that I'm a vegetarian (who doesn't consume any dairy products) that is certainly limited...but if it's vegan or vegetarian I am 100% ready to try it. However, my use of spices has expanded exponentially and it's certainly made it easier to eat a variety of amazing vegetarian and vegan dishes. But I know what you mean about body odours - my father-in-law can tell when my hubby has had Sriracha the night before! Crazy, eh? :)

I should add, there are plenty of icky foods in the western world too: liver, tongue, haggis, etc.

I don't know that disgust is completely learned. We're omnivores (sorry, vegans--it's true), and furthermore we have a unique ability to adapt to pretty much any climate. That means we're more likely to try to eat unfamiliar things--but that willingness to try new things can kill you if you don't know what you're doing. What we tend to favor are foods we've had since infancy or toddlerhood; what tend to disgust us are foods which are unfamiliar, whether from our wider culture or any other. What do foods our parents fed us have in common? They were parent-approved: in other words, not-poisonous. So there's an evolutionary function going on here. It takes a lot of work and reprogramming one's own mind to accept foods not part of the childhood repertoire. Something to think about if you want to raise your kids to accept a wide variety of foods. Start them early; don't wait til they're five to introduce something new!

Oh and the mention of body odor reminds me of a newspaper article about African immigrants versus multi-generational African-Americans and what each group thought of the other (in, I think, New York City?). Differences in body odor were specifically mentioned as an example. I know I smell different depending on what I'm eating. If I go crazy on wheat, for instance, I tend to have more body odor. No idea why, I just do.

Yeah, I've had natto as a sushi handroll. Not a fan. Glad I got the opportunity to try it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat it again. It is good for you, though.

I dated a Korean man several years ago and it was such a fun cultural experience. I had never had Korean food before, and much of it was quite different to what I was accustomed to, but it was so much fun to delve into another culture. His mom used to make authentic, home style Korean food and she was very surprised that I was so willing (and even enjoyed) the food she made. Even though our relationship ended rather tumultuously I am so glad I had the experience. And I now love Korean food!

I for one LOVE Nattô.

Good stuff, i like them.

The food one grew up with forever forms one's tastebuds. I spent summers in my grandmother's country house in Latvia (tiny country in NorthEastern Europe), and my childhood delicacies was baked first milk from a cow after it has had a calf (this milk is so yellow and thick that when baked resembles a very gentle omelett, and tastes spectacular with a dash of cinnamon and sugar!), sourcraut cabbage soup, that was cooked from a freshly killed pig (where the complex, rich taste came from adding various pig's internal organs and fresh blood to the broth!), or "blood sausages", which were filled in cleaned intestines of the said pig ... I'm sure it sounds disgusting to many westerners :P amazing food, though, and a rarity nowadays ... saddly, I haven't been able to eat these foods since many years. But I can still feel the taste in my mouth when I think about them :)

Natto is wonderful and so, so healthy for you! But it does smell like garbage, at first. It is an accustomed taste. Actually before moving to Japan I was a super picky eater. My first teaching job here involved me eating school lunch with the kids. I ate little white whole fish, fish eggs, fish liver, stringy sea vegetables, and natto. I didn't want to be the fussy Western teacher with the list of things I couldn't eat. And my desire to be polite won out over my stomach in the end. Now those foods that I had to force into my mouth are part of my regular diet. It has helped me understand my adopted homeland in a very intimate way. I am also completely open to eating anything now. It is very liberating, not to mention healthy as well.

You never really know if something tastes gross or not until you try it. That's my motto, anyway ;-)

I thought this was some ooey gooey caramel with nuts! lol You never know what you might like until you sample it. I am from the South and we eat everything here ~ especially if its fried!!

It's interesting for sure. My husband grew up eating fried locust, snake, blood soups and strange duck eggs with the birds cooked inside!! He still eats those actually. I was at my in-laws house once when they asked me if I would like an egg. Well I love hard boiled eggs! Needless to say I was horrified when I opened it and a baby bird was cooked inside feathers and all...Quite a smell and they looked at me like I was nuts for not wanting it. My husband grabbed it from my hands and said don't waste it, this is a delicacy and slurped it down beak feathers and all. ( it was soft inside) It's so true you have to get used to other foods but small unhatched duck eggs I just can't do yet...

My kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic collection of bacteria and yeast) looks disgusting but ferments tea rather than milk to create live and active cultures to help digestion. It makes the tea fizzy, a bit vinegary, sweet, and in my universe, delicious, but looks AWFUL. It grows on you though.

Chili, peanut-butter, tomato souse, uni(sea urchin), McDonald’s - bleaaaaaah..... Fermented camel milk, blood sausage, lamb’s brain, tripe, kimchi, fish eyes, alligator meat and buttermilk - nom, nom, nom.... :o)

I'm drinking kombucha as we speak! My sil is living in Sudan and it is so interesting to hear of her culinary adventures. One day at work the shared take out for lunch was a roasted sheep spine on a bed of yellow rice and everyone ate out of the communal dish. She said it was delicious, but certainly unexpected to her western sensibilities.

@ dharma8designs Hooray for combucha! I have one fermenting right now, I love that stuff. I want to try fresh fruits in the Summer to ferment with the tea. ~Olga

Funny I should see this article now...after having just read this one on yahoo... http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/5-grossest-foods-supermarket it talks about how human hair is an ingredient in store bought bread and the FDA allows up to 19 maggots per can of canned mushrooms...... time to break out the bread machine and till a larger garden :) Yucky..hair in bread...gag. But I am a Missouri gal and I do enjoy a good mountain oyster fry :)

Polish Cucumbers in Brine, made thru natural fermentation which makes them grow sour.....the best thing EVER..! =p

@ FullCircleRetro I crave those sour pickles so badly but cannot find them anywhere. When properly fermented, they go flat and wrinkly, but they are way too good!

When I first saw the picture of the soybean dish I said, "Mmm, caramel covered walnuts!" ....Oh boy.

Nice blog!!! Very interesting! Reminds me of Andrew Zimmerman. The foodie man who travels the world!

Yeah to my fellow kombucha lovers!!

Fermented soy beans? I thought the picture was of peanuts in toffee sauce!

I am so curious to try this. I live in Canada, and I met a few exchange students from Germany. They were completely disturbed over eating a turkey dinner. Kinda makes you think twice about stuffing a dead bird with soggy bread and then popping it in the oven.

I've always found it weird how something can be repulsive smelling, yet we love the taste. I can't say I like the smell of roquefort cheese - but i love it to eat. Haven't ever tried natto, but it doesn't sound appealing. Texture is a big thing for me. Slimy = not good.

I think the most 'disgusting' foods are the ones that will make us sick in the long run - unfortunately (as much as I adore it) cheese is one of these. Processed foods, saturated fats, and most animal derivatives are literally killing us. 'Forks over Knives' is an eye-opening documentary about the enter fits of a plant-based diet. It is remarkable how food can affect our health. If you haven't seen the film yet, I highly recommend it. It will change your life!

'benefits' of a plant-based diet - sorry, it was the iPad's fault ; )

@ Linnea, thank you for the documentary info. I have heard of plant-based diet, but I am too big of a carnivore to give up all meat, yet. I will look up the documentary, it just may be what I need to change the direction if my belief system :o) ~Olga

I love natto, its an aquired taste though.

maybe cheese is disgusting because it's filled with cow pus

So, to the people who think that diet doesn't affect a person's bodily scent. Have you ever smelled someone who lives on coldcuts? They can shower twice a day and still smell like preserved meat. Vegetarians smell different than people who include meat in their diets (again, even with showering regularly). Have people grown so numb to the scents of people around them that they can't realize that there are somethings that can't be washed away or drowned out with perfume? If you eat different food, your body puts off different smells... period. If you ever go to another country and eat nothing but the local cuisine, you will even notice a change in your own body scent (if you pay attention).

I'm a native Hawaiian, so you can imagine some of the things we are used to. But I wanted to comment that in our culture, showing disgust or being repulsed at someones food in our culture as well as other cultures is considered being very rude. It happens all the time, since tourism is our primary economy, so we have learned not to take it so personally..LOL!

I think even European foods can look pretty gross sometimes, I can easily say there is no way I'd eat crumbed brain of pigs trotters which used to be very normal dishes in my parents houses!

I have never seen Natto on any menu, but I did run into the recipe online not too long ago. And for all those people saying they would try it, the article left out that they crack an egg over the soybeans and rice and eat it raw. I would personally still try it. It is too bad I cannot find the ingredients or a resturant that has it.

Re: Laura Lisitza - speaking of caviar, I WANT CAVIAR I WANT CAVIAR... I am Russian and when my Canadian husband 1st time saw mom making bread-butter- and thick layer of caviar sandwich for breakfast he was chocked. Many ppl here in Canada are amazed of what I am craving for (salt bitter chocolate, cow tong boiled and sliced, blue cheese, fish pie, zucchini caviar etc etc etc) I think I have tried almost everything possible of the Russian and European cuisine. I really love Asian cuisine, but NOT the "extreme" one:) "Maslenitsa" (Butterfest) is on the way so I am hoping to get some beluga caviar for my crapes:)

It is amazing to see so many of you have flexible idea about foreign foods.I am glad that some people would like to try OUR Natto. I am Japanese and I grew up with Natto, it is nutrient-rich food though it's actually just soy beans. I love to eat them with hot fresh steamed rice. If you have chance to visit Japan, you will try at least once.

I can honestly say that 99.5% of Dutch people are completely infatuated with licorice. Not the kind you buy in the US, but the salty ones or even the double salty ones. Our licorice is so amazingly delicious, without even thinking, you just pop them in your mouth and before you know it, the bag is empty .Some of us eat it by the pound ! We crave it and I drool at the thought of "DROP" as we call it. I often tried to share them with my American friends. They don't know how fast to run to the trash can or how to (sneakily) try to feed it to the dog ! O yes...and we are totally in love with french fries and mayonnaise, mmmm !

Well ~ you've opened my eyes to food cultures of the world so thank you for this article and those who have commented as well. Hope to stay out of my L7 box ( ie square ) in thinking in regards to food and ??? Living in rural farm community one is very sheltered which is a plus and negative at the same time, nuff of my jibberish.

It is all perspective I was a chef at Epcot center and got to see all nations kitchens there. The identify your friends by smell is indeed a safety mechanism ingrained from earliest times. Also I like to point out the definitions of wholesome. A wholesome food is one that when eaten does not kill you within three days. So if the test subject dies in 4 days its wholesome. Oo An Organic foods please name an inorganic food? Twinkies don't count. lol I am to be an organic farmer so I know it denotes raising without pesticides or other harmful practices. I just love labels. I saw one the other day in market that said made from real food... wow which ones are made from unreal foods...lol

I thought the picture was peanuts dripping in caramel...my sweet tooth is so strong that I could not resist clicking on the picture to find out more! my brain loses all control when it comes to sweets...otherwise I would have paid more attention to the title!

I try foreign foods periodically, and since I eat so few foods, even many American dishes are foreign. Sometimes it's taste and sometimes textures, for example shrimp has a texture of tater tots and even thinking about soft cheese (when the outside is firm and the inside is runny) makes my stomach turn. Some foods are so bitter, like aspirin, such as peppers, eggplants, and beer, and onions taste like the worst stinkiest armpit I have ever smelled. The taste perfectly matches the smell. On the other hand, coffee and skunk smell very similar and I love coffee. I made lime mayonnaise this year (first time for mayo since toddler) and while the texture was so wet and disgusting, I liked the flavor so ended up using very tiny dabs on my sandwiches. That's my perspective on foreign food including mayonnaise :D

It's easy to say you are disgusted with a dish from elsewhere; odd to think that individuals from other cultures find our everyday treats disgusting. I'm eating yogurt right now; thinking about it as treated, flavored, heavily spoiled milk, it doesn't seem so appetizing. It is a state of mind.

It's funny, also, the ideas people have about different cultures' food that aren't true. I'm half Portuguese, and there are people where I live who really believe we eat chourico (a spicy sausage) at EVERY meal. For real. It's a (delicious) fatty pork sausage. The fact that most of us make it past the age of 40 indicates that we don't eat it 3 times a day!

Americans have Rocky Mountain Oysters, Norwegians have Lutefisk and Smalahåve (sheeps head), Swedes have Surstrømming (fermented fish that smells like vomit) and so on. There is a lot of diversity. Growing up, my American cousin and I (Norwegian) used to compete as to who had eaten the grossest food. It was usually a tie. :D

I think learning to love foods from other cultures is more adaptation than evolution. Sorry, it's just a pet peeve. The word "evolve" is a very overused these days. Sometimes, we just change.

i thought the picture looked like caramel and pralines perfectly delectable probably followed by a sugar overload but tasty none the less.

This post reminds me of Jeremy Rifkin's TED talk, "The Empathic Civilization". Rifkin asks: "Can we reach biosphere consciousness and global empathy in time to avert planetary collapse?". Your observation regarding the widespread online exchange of recipes & ideas is one of the many facets that is building empathy and understanding across cultures. Culinary traditions are often the main thing that immigrants bring with them from home, and food sensory memory is so deeply engrained in our identities. Sharing these traditions, or literally & figuratively, "breaking bread" together creates empathy & understanding, taking us beyond our previous definition of "us vs. them" and ever expanding our identification of "us".

wow I thought it was peanuts and dripping carmel too until closer inspection, the chop sticks gave that away. Excellent article -First I should say, I grew up eating iceberg lettuce with French Dressing and meat 3 times a week. Fast forward, I lived in India before eating Indian food was fasionable stateside. I loved it - I learned to eat only an Indian diet except on trips to Delhi and Bombay - Mumbai. I tried everything that was put in front of me and amazed at the wealth and varieties of ways to prepare everything. We had two kitchens one Western and one Indian and begged the cooks for months to take me shopping so I could see the fresh food markets. I was healthier for sure since at that time there was no processed junk food like we have here. And best, we gathered around the large dining room table for meals old and young which cemeted out bonds in many ways.

The soy bean dish looks like baked beans.

My Mom grew up on a farm in Iowa and they used everything- pigs feet, head cheese. When I was growing up, she would fry up chicken gizzards, livers and hearts. I would eat the hearts only, the gizzards were too chewy and liver, well, is liver. Yuck. It really didn't seem strange to me back then, but now when I tell my husband about it he makes faces and I think "yeah, I guess that was a little strange."

It is a very interesting thought (that we may be repulsed by foreign foods because of potentially dangerous invaders) but there are so many cases in which certain foods became prevalent (not popular) simply because of availability. On a recent trip to Iceland I discovered that you can find dishes like horse on the menu because of severe famines within the last two centuries. Another dish, putrefied shark meat, was eaten by Icelanders who found themselves in very dire situations. While you can still find it on certain menus, it's not well loved by the younger generations.

hmmm.. food i dislike.,, okra and livercheese. pig intestines, raw fish, snake, kim chee (fermented cabbage)...delicious if its a brain or an eyeball or a tiny critter... id rather chew first and be told later.. i adore foreign food.. my taste buds are an independant agent i have an open door policy on tasting ill try the natto and the fermeted stinky fish but please...no licorice.....

Interesting!

I grew up in Los Angeles and had exposure to many different cuisine. My father is Mexican and he always cooked traditional Mexican at home and would often experiment with other cuisine and MAKE us try it. I am now ever so thankful because nothing scares me when it comes to food (other than "ates" and "ites"). My husband on the other hand, from the midwest, he tells me that he's not an adventurous eater. I honestly think he's more adventurous because he eats "food' instead of food. Velveeta, sugary cereal, packaged sweet breads, seasonings that come from packets that have a list of 10,000 chemicals... It's a challenge to eat what is best in this situation, but I'll keep micro-dicing mushrooms and spinach into his meals...

i love every cuisine and i would love to try this... but seriously, i thought it was peanut brittle. oops!

Let's not forget about the emotions and memories associated with "repulsive" smells! Growing up, my grandparents would sometimes fry smoked, dried fish in the house (Strange? Yes.) and while I know that the smell is less than appetizing, the smell still has a strong tie to positive memories and emotions. Great article!

I like to try new dishes. I would like to taste it, but probably wouldn't be a regular meal.

It is amazing how your palette changes when you are in a different country eating different foods than you normally would. I for one, hate tomatoes...but I spent time in South America (where it seemed everything had tomatoes in it) and I loved them! Today, I still can't stomach them at my home. Ethnic foods are great fun to try!

I'm suddenly in the mood for cheese. I've got some dubliner in the fridge with my name on it. ♥♥♥

I'm suddenly in the mood for cheese. I've got some dubliner in the fridge with my name on it. ♥

I love TV shows like No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain because it really opens up my eyes as to what other cultures eat! And it makes me feel ok about trying it! :)

LOL!...Reminds me of some of the Anthony Bourdain TV shows that he does. :-)..... (I love Anthony!)..... Anyhow, very interesting article..... TXS for sharing your thoughts w/ us!.... :-).... L

PS.... A.J. Mardsen...you and I were both thinking of Anthony at the same time...what a kick!...Cheers!..."L"

It's amazing to me how diverse the people on this planet are! Personally, I would never try maggot cheese, but I think I would try the nato (?) just for kicks.

Whoa

Mmm... Natto tastes and smells like moldy peanut butter BUT the secret is to eat it when it is ABSOLUTELY fresh then it has a wonderful, delicate nutty tastes. Now if only could learn to eat it with a raw egg like many Japanese do for breakfast-yuck.

From the picture I thought it was baked beans with syrupy molasses... YUM.

Whenever I go on holiday I always try to sample something of the local cuisine but I dont think I could stomach Natto. Some things just arent for everyone!

I love Natto ! Very good for body. specialy you are brestfeeding baby, Baby are getting vitamin K2 . Good for everybody! But my husband hate it , he said smells like a " stinkey feet " ...

wowwww

I LOVE Natto so much ! They smell funny and looks bad but Natto is very enjoyable food ! You can put ginger , sesame , chopped onion.....whatever you like ! and it is so delicious and very healthy !

The first time I had yogurt, I couldn't stand the tangy taste and now I miss it if I have a soy yogurt. Was disgusted by tofu, the first time I cooked with it, and now I eat it all the time. Pretty much willing to try anything as long as it doesn't contain meat. Miso is wonderful and I don't mind stinky tofu, so I might like Nato.

I like natto! I put a little toasted sesame oil or soy sauce in it. The slimy texture is a little odd, but I like okra too! :^D Did NOT care for the andouillette sausage I had in France. I thought it would be like andouille sausage. I immediately knew what I was eating, but since I had ordered it I ate it. I will try most foods at least once. Surprises for me -I liked pickled herring in Denmark, but could not stand the smell of Danish, Danbo cheese. I would make my husband triple wrap it in the fridge.

Articles like this keep me reminded of how limited my culinary experience has been so far. Being raised in a small town in the South had pretty much ensured that I stayed sheltered from anything international, but like has been said already we really did have our own disgusting foods. But I'm not complaining. I will always have my memories of being sent outside to gather the eggs from our chickens and harvesting potatoes during those hot summers. And, at first glance, I thought I saw peanuts dripping in caramel too.

This is a great article. I totally agree. That's why we have a food blog too and enjoy the community of other food bloggers out there, so that I can continue to be a "forever student." We definitely need to educate one another, grow, evolve, and embrace our differences. Food is the perfect barrier breaker. Well written.

I LOVE reading these articles, so enlightening!!

Those soy beanz are amaaaaizing! Love those!

If it smells bad, don't eat it. Smell and taste are so closely related. If it stinks, I guarantee it probably won't taste very good.

Oh not Natto!!! I'm from Australia and my Japanese teacher fed Natto to us when we where 15 years old. I was brave and though he did warn me I tried a small bean. It smelt fowl but one bean didn't taste so bad. Then I stupidly ate a WHOLE SPOON full and nearly died! Even looking at that photo makes me want to hurl. You have no idea how fowl it is until you've eaten a spoon full. The taste stayed with me for days, no amount of chewing gum or other tastes could cover it. If you are a westerner, don't do it!!! SCARRED FOR LIFE!!!! Meanwhile we have something similar (an acquired taste) in Australia called Vegemite which I love, its very salty and tastes delicious spread very thinly on toast with loads of butter. But it's the kind of taste you have to grow up with.

Great article! It's so fascinating that what we eat contributes to our scent which influences how people welcome (or reject) us! I wouldn't have considered how the food we eat can influence people's reactions to us. Very interesting!