1. Haggis, Durian, and 1000-Year-Old Egg, Oh My!
My experience participating in an International Delicacies Challenge
By: Karissa Trebizo, Staff Writer
If someone asked you to consume the world’s smelliest fruit, fermented cabbage, and a black
egg, would you do it?
On Thursday, January 11 Oregon Tech’s Diversity Center hosted an International Delicacies
Challenge, and I ate everything on the menu.
The challenge kicked off with durian, a large spiked Asian fruit known for its distinctive odor.
The meat was smooth and yellowish in color; however, based off its smell I wasn’t expecting
such a mild, pleasant flavor.
The next dish was a preserved egg, also known as a 1000-year-old egg or century egg. This
Taiwanese delicacy consists of a velvety, blackish yolk and brown, gelatinous whites. It was
served with oyster sauce and sesame oil to compliment its deliciously bold, and rich flavors.
In the third round, participants were given a Norwegian dish known as lutefisk. The air-dried
white fish is preserved in a lye solution and rehydrated in cold water. The fish had a very faint
taste and a gelatinous texture.
Another Norwegian delicacy followed, lamb pinnekjøtt – a cured meat similar to jerky. It was
customary to preserve meat for long sea voyages but has survived as a traditional holiday food
within the country. The white outer portion was very tough and difficult to bite into, but the
lamb between was soft, very salty, and delicious.
The challenge continued with a British canned dessert, spotted dick, served with Devonshire
cream. This spiced suet pastry is speckled with dried currant fruit and had a similar flavor to
traditional bread pudding. Despite the funny name and having come out of a can, this was a
truly palatable dish.
Next up was the national dish of Scotland, haggis, a delicacy made of grains and lamb heart,
liver, and lungs, traditionally cooked inside the stomach. The meat had a savory smell and was
one of the most scrumptious things I ate – I even requested a second helping.
Pulpo, or canned octopus, is a luscious seafood dish out of Spain. The meat was tender and
fragrant and embodied a hint of smokiness. I was unsure about eating octopus from a can, but
it was so tantalizing that I went back for many more of the umami pieces.
After that, we were served boneless smoked eel from Thailand. The fish was coated in a gelatin
substance, which I removed, but the meat itself was tender and a little salty. I enjoyed the
delicate smoky flavor that had been successfully infused into the fish.

2. The next delicacy is something everyone was rather familiar with – South American crunchy
corn. These sweet dried corn kernels were decadently seasoned with light salt and closely
resembled a larger, fluffier corn nut from North America.
Next up was kimchi, a spicy Korean cuisine traditionally made of fermented cabbage; however,
the challenge featured a radish version. This dish is extremely popular in Korea and is found in
many restaurants throughout America, including the Klamath Food truck, Full Plate. The spice
paste used for kimchi is delicious, but the heat was difficult for some of the challengers;
however, many appreciated the dish nonetheless.
The final food offered was a spongy, yet dense cake from the United Arab Emirates. It had a
delectable coconut and cardamom taste but was not overly sweet. The cake was a great final
dish for the challenge since it was an elegant, tangy dessert.
I was one of around 12 participants in the challenge, though not everyone tried all 11
delicacies. The room was full of onlookers learning about each of the dishes and cheering us on.
Unfortunately, all three insect courses did not make it in time for the challenge. The menu
originally included chocolate covered scorpions and salted crickets out of Thailand, and
Cambodian zebra tarantula, barbequed and salted.
To learn more about future events, check out the monthly advertising board in the Diversity
Center lounge, or go to their Facebook page at Oregon Tech Diversity Center.