It’s a brave new world in Washington, D.C., home to the most adventurous eaters in the US.
In the nation’s capital, enthusiastic diners seek out stomach-churning eats like the Filipino delicacy balut — a gloopy duck-egg dish with a nearly developed embryo inside; or casu martzu, a stinky bowl of Sardinian sheep milk cheese crawling with live fly maggots; and surströmming, a Swedish fermented herring with a smell so vile it’s been banned on several airlines.
And that’s just for starters.
A new survey from the meal kit delivery service HelloFresh has ranked America’s most adventurous eaters, revealing where fearless taste-bud warriors are most likely to say, “Sure, I’ll try that,” instead of reaching for a cheeseburger.
The survey counted up Google searches as a way to peek into the meals folks are most curious about — and willing to swallow.
In the US capital, which stood out by a huge margin with an average of 14,370 searches for 100,000 people, the boundary-pushing residents went on the hunt for Korean kimchi, and khash — an Armenian dish featuring gelatinous beef feet and tripe soup.
Then there’s Japanese natto, with its sticky, stringy fermented soybeans that stretch like melted cheese — but smell far less inviting.
The island state of Hawaii came in second with 8,447 searches per 100,000 people, who were on the search for savory beef tongue and creamy sea urchins.
Not far behind came Washington State with an average 7,305 searches per 100,000 people. Foodies from the Evergreen State are big fans of the super-spicy Vietnamese broth pho and Korean BBQ, according to the survey.
Closing out the top four is California, where discerning eaters seem more than happy to swap the familiar for every international cuisine imaginable with 7,053 searches per 100,000 people.
Nevada with 6,915 searches per 100,000 people came in fifth, while Colorado with 6,207 and New York with 6,025 searches per 100,000 people took sixth and seventh place.
Big Apple searches included Scottish haggis — a savory pudding of sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs with onions and spices –and any form of octopus and egusi soup, a West African concoction of seafood, snails and cow skin.
Oregon had 5,972, folks willing to take a chance on something new. They came in eighth.
Massachusetts, with a score of 5,678, and Virginia, with 5,539 searches per 100,000 people, rounded out the nation’s Top 10.
At the opposite end of the table sits West Virginia, which ranked as America’s least adventurous state when it comes to trying unusual foods with a mere 1,790 people searching for exotic foods.
It’s joined near the bottom by Mississippi (1,842) South Dakota (2,330), North Dakota (2,402) and Kentucky (2,407), with folks there more inclined to go for comfort food like mac and cheese or fried chicken rather than take a chance on kooky culinary daredevilry.
But food enthusiasts are undaunted by their boring brethren.
“What’s exciting about these findings isn’t just where people are searching, it’s what they’re searching for. Pho, Korean BBQ and fermented dishes aren’t novelty dishes anymore,” Michelle Doll Olson, Head Chef & Senior Culinary Development Manager at HelloFresh US told The Post.
“They represent a genuine shift in how Americans think about cooking.”
Of course, there’s no shame in sticking with the classics.
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