"Sumatra" news and stories

You thought today was going to filled with yummy, delicate posts about sweet treats and flowers, didn't you?

Think again.

Trifter.com has oh-so helpfully provided us with eight of the "most disgusting delicacies" - although we prefer to think of them not as disgusting, per se, but as ...daring. Different. Deconstructed.

Some of the more colorful examples? In Morocco, you can indulge in oil made from goat excrement. The goats climb the trees in search of food, and the resulting oil is though to have medicinal purposes. Or you could hop over to Italy and try some Casu Frazigu. Sound exotic? It's made when a fly lays its eggs on cheese, and maggots hatch and crawl throughout the cheese. So, essentially, it's rotten maggot cheese.

But that's just kids' stuff compared to what awaits you in Southeast Asia: balut, a fertilized duck egg, comes complete with a partially formed duck fetus inside - at no extra charge! Just season with salt and pepper, and dig in.

And for dessert, engage your senses with Sumatran coffee beans [ed. note - pictured]. Not adventurous enough for you? Well, they come fresh out of the digestive track of a civet, a small, cat-like creature. The civet eats the beans, and when they are excreted, they are scrubbed clean and brewed.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Despite the fact that Indonesia executes drug traffickers, the country's vice president announced earlier this week that it's OK for chefs to use a pinch of pot to flavor traditional dishes.

Yusuf Kalla has no intention of legalizing marijuana, but feels it's all right to use it as a seasoning. Small amounts of crushed leaves and seeds are added to curries and noodle dishes in certain regions of Indonesia. One region where chefs like to add a little extra spice is Aceh located on the northern tip of Sumatra.

According to an online travel guide one of the most popular dishes in the Acehnese city of Medan is Mie Aceh Titi Bobrok. It's rumored that the magic ingredient in this noodle dish of chili sauce and crab is a tiny bit of ganja. A quick Google search even turned up the above picture of the dish on some gal named Keukeu's blog. I didn't notice the word "marijuana," in her post, but then again I can't read Indonesian worth a damn.

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