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October 26, 2007

Strange But True!

Q. On the world's menu are dung-driven coffee, saliva soup, maggot cheese and more. Are these foods “in bad taste” or are they delicacies?

A. They're the latter, as described by Dr. Massimo Marcone in “In Bad Taste? The Adventures and Science Behind Food Delicacies.” Take “Kopi Luwak,” Indonesian for coffee and civet, from the island of Sumatra where the arboreal catlike palm civet consumes the sweet, ripe red coffee cherries with beans inside. After being “deposited,” these are collected, washed and roasted, producing a chocolaty “cat-scat” coffee selling for over $600 per pound, “rarest and most expensive beverage anywhere.”


 
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