"Weird and Wonderful Facts About Food from Different Cultures"
1. **Durian's Infamous Odor:** The durian fruit is renowned for its pungent smell, often described as a mix of rotten onions, turpentine, and raw sewage.
2. **Wasabi Heat:** The wasabi served with sushi is often not real wasabi but a mixture of horseradish, mustard, and green food coloring.
3. **Saffron's Rarity:** Saffron, derived from crocus flowers, is one of the most expensive spices due to the labor-intensive harvesting process.
4. **Blue Java Banana:** Also known as the "ice cream banana," this variety has a creamy texture and tastes like vanilla.
5. **Kopi Luwak Coffee:** Made using beans eaten and excreted by civet cats, this coffee is one of the most expensive in the world.
6. **Miracle Berry Effect:** The miracle berry temporarily alters taste receptors, making sour foods taste sweet.
7. **Tomatoes: Fruit or Vegetable?:** Although scientifically a fruit, tomatoes are often classified as vegetables due to a historical Supreme Court case.
8. **Nutraloaf in Prisons:** Some prisons serve a food called nutraloaf, a nutritionally complete but bland and unappetizing meal used as a form of punishment.
9. **Casu Marzu Cheese:** This Sardinian cheese contains live insect larvae, adding a unique texture and flavor.
10. **Mango Pit's Itchiness:** The skin of mango pits contains urushiol, the same compound found in poison ivy, which can cause skin irritation in some people.
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