So, what are they?  Well, eels! hah!  Okay, they are eels boiled in a spiced stock and then left to set and ‘jellify’.

Wait, you did get the fact that these are eaten in the UK, not some far flung corner of the world, right?  Jellied eels are an east London thing and can be easily bought at any number of places – most commonly pie and mash shops (that’s a meat pie with mashed potato), but there are speciality shops still operating too.

Oh, and when you are at the seaside, munched out of a polystyrene cup.

Or in a handy plastic pot.

So why do we (I say we, I wouldn’t touch the things) eat such crud?  Well as is often the case, tradition.  Eels were a cheap and readily available source of food, found in plentiful numbers along the River Thames (which flows through London).  Alas, jellied eels aren’t as popular as they once were, but I am sure they will be around for some time to come.

If you fancy buying some, this place is supposed to be one of the best.

Or if you really want to make your own, here’s a recipe!

Well in Korea it’s a delicacy and they like nothing better than slipping that little sucker (no pun intended) into their mouth and chewing.

And you really do need to chew – reports go that if you don’t chew it up properly, you risk choking as it wriggles in your throat.

So how does one serve live baby octopus, I hear you ask?  Well it seems there are a few options.

1. Simply with sesame oil and perhaps a little samjang (red pepper paste) on the side for dipping.
2. With soru, a Korean alcohol.  You dip the octopuses (or octopi if you prefer) in the alcohol which sedates it (puts it to sleep as one writer states … though I don’t really believe that) before chomping on it.
3. You can have it cut up into pieces (but they still wriggle!), or eat it whole.  The latter option is hardcore, as shown in the videos below.

So, want to see what it’s really like?  Here’s someone eating the chopped up variety:

That’s nothing – check out how difficult it is to eat it whole (with assistance from the waitress!):

And here’s anohter (skip to about 3:30 to avoid too much of the annoying American presenters):