Bat Paste

I can't say I've spent many minutes in my life thinking about bats. But when I have, it has usually been in the context of vampires, Halloween, or rabies. Whatever my thoughts of bats might have been it certainly never involved food. So I was a little taken aback when I came across bat paste. Yup, BAT PASTE.

Bat paste is considered quite the delicacy in Thailand. Step one of preparing bat paste is catching a live bat. Once you get hold of said bat, it is time to drop it into a vat of boiling milk. Cooking times tend to vary bat to bat, but the idea is to get the bat soft enough to mash it into a paste along with herbs and spices of choice. And just like that bat paste is created before your eyes.

Bat paste can be considered a bizarre food because many people fear bats. Due to the fact that they sleep in dark spaces, and are often associated with dark folklore, bats are generally considered undesirable. At the very least many people see bats as dirty creatures that carry many diseases. Furthermore, the method of boiling a creature live and then mashing it into paste is probably a little too hardcore for people who just want to eat dinner. I, myself, will stick to chicken. :)