Ten Things to Eat Before They Disappear

Travel Blog • Joanna Kakissis • 05.27.08 | 11:39 AM ET

Because it might not be around much longer, Imraguen mullet bottarga—a kind of Mauretanian caviar—was one of the “endangered foods” from around the world that was featured at a unique feast in Newcastle, England, The World reports. The “Ten Things to Eat Before They Die” menu also included Saxon village berry preserves from Translyvania, Herat raisins from Afghanistan, golden lentils from France and Huehuetenango highland coffee from Guatemala. Globalization and mass marketing have increasingly homogenized the world’s menus, often suffocating the strange, delightful ingredients in traditional foods cultivated or made by a handful of producers.

The Newcastle dinner, said organizer Simon Preston, aimed to help struggling specialty food producers and illuminate the cultural richness of artisan foods.

Culinary explorers know food traditions can help unlock cultures. Seeking out delicacies such as Hungarian woolly-pig sausage, American heirloom apples and Santorini’s to-die-for fava beans can result in not only an unforgettable meal but also a valuable story.

The Imraguen, for instance, are nomadic fisherfolk who follow the schools of red mullet and umbrine along the Banc d’Arguin, a national park on the northern coast of Mauretania. Since they use motorless boats, they are the only people allowed to fish there. They catch the fish using handmade nets and dolphins as guides—a practice virtually unchanged for hundreds of years. The Imraguen women then salt, rinse and press the mullet roe between two boards to make the traditional bottarga, which is now being imported to foodie havens such as Italy.

That’s a story at least as interesting as the meal itself. Bon appétit.

Photo of heirloom apples by zappowbang, via Flickr (Creative Commons).