Want to cool down this summer with some scrumptious ice cream? You'd think this delicious-sounding list would be safe to read while eating... but maybe not. From foie gras to creamed cod to jellyfish-flavored ice cream, these crazy flavors require an iron stomach to enjoy.
Raw Horse Flesh Ice Cream
If you've often thought that there's nothing better than the taste of raw horse flesh, then raw horse flesh ice cream is the delightful frozen treat for you! Try a scoop at Ice Cream City inside Namja Town, an indoor amusement park in Tokyo. But maybe wait to dig in until after you've gone on all the roller coaster rides—it's hard to imagine that raw horse flesh and stomach-churning drops are a winning combination.
There are two dozen attractions within Namja Town, but it would be easy to spend all of your time pondering the many out-there offerings at Ice Cream City, where Cow Tongue, Salt, Yakisoba, Octopus, and Squid are among the flavors waiting to tickle (or strangle) your taste buds.
Gin Ice Cream
At Murphy's, you can get your kids hooked on the taste of gin early by treating them to ice cream flavored with the hard stuff. This Irish creamery is famous for its wacky flavors. The Murphy's website even lists the "worst flavor we ever made" (smoked salmon), the "oddest customer request that we actually made into ice cream" (green peas and mint), and the "tastiest flavors that we couldn't convince customers to buy" (including spicy clove and licorice).
Mushy Peas and Fish Ice Cream
Scotland has its famous deep-fried Mars bars, and now England can compete in the disgustingly delicious dessert wars with the fish and chips ice cream from Teare Woods Luxury Ice Cream Parlour. It's a scoop of minty mushy peas flavor and a scoop of fish flavor, topped with bits of battered cod and served with a french fry. And this odd creation isn't even an original in England -- in 2010, Frederick's Dairies launched a creamed cod-flavored ice cream served in a vanilla and pepper batter with potato ice cream chips. So... can we order this as a dessert after a meal of fish and chips? Or is that too far?
Jellyfish Ice Cream
Brushing up against a jellyfish in the ocean can bring searing pain, so why wouldn't you look at one and think, "I should put that in my mouth?" Crazy Charlie Francis, founder of Lick Me I'm Delicious ice cream company, apparently had that thought, because he's created ice cream that uses jellyfish protein as the main ingredient. Even cooler: When you lick it, the ice cream glows. Unfortunately, jellyfish don't come cheap -- a single scoop sells for more than $200!
Foie Gras Ice Cream
French ice creamery Philippe Faur combines fatty foie gras and diet-busting ice cream—how is it again that French women don't get fat? (Probably because they don't eat this ice cream.) This duck-liver flavor was invented by Faur, who says the dessert took four months to perfect. We shudder to imagine what the taste testers had to reject in those trial phases!
Whiskey Prune Ice Cream
What can you do when all the liquor stores are closed but you still have a craving for whiskey … and prunes? Pop into a Simmo's in Australia for a scoop of whiskey prune. This "secret Irish recipe" mixes mascarpone ice cream with whiskey-soaked prunes, then swirls in a whiskey ripple to really get that boozy flavor.
Avocado Ice Cream
It's great in sandwiches and burritos, so why not as ice cream? Find out if avocado's creamy deliciousness translates to ice cream at Fenocchio in Nice, France. Hey, at least you can pretend it's healthy because it's made from fruit!
Durian Ice Cream
Durian fruit is famous throughout Southeast Asia for its distinctive, powerful smell -- a scent that's been compared to everything from raw sewage to rotten onions. Try this unique fruit stateside with a fatty American spin on it at New York City's famous Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, where it's been turned into an ice cream flavor.
Roasted Garlic Almond Chip Ice Cream
Roasted garlic, almond, and ice cream—three great things separately, but combined? Decide for yourself if the mash-up works at Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream in Minneapolis.
Mint Leaves with Sea Urchin Meringues Ice Cream
Portland's Salt & Straw serves up this herbaceous ice cream, steeped in fresh Oregon mint leaves and mixed with meringues made from sea urchins and Italian espelette peppers. Your move, vanilla.
Mamushi Snake Ice Cream
What doesn't kill you makes a great ice cream -- isn't that how the old saying goes? That must be the principle behind the mamushi ice cream found in Tokyo. For your reference, mamushi is one of the most venomous snakes in Japan and it's actually listed as one of the ingredients in the ice cream. A blogger who tried the delicacy described the experience like this: "My taste buds were fully aware of three parts—garlic, a bit of almond, but the third standout, well, I've never had viper before in any form (solid and liquid included) so that must've been it."
What's the craziest ice cream flavor you've tried, and how was it? Tell us in the comments.
—By Caroline Morse
Read the original story: 11 Craziest Ice Cream Flavors in the World by Caroline Morse, who is a regular contributor to SmarterTravel.
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