Take Me Out

An unlikely foodie on his oddest culinary moments

December 27, 2006—In his amusing new book Sound Bites, Franz Ferdinand front man and—who knew?—longtime gourmand Alex Kapranos reminisces about the joys and perils of dining while on tour. Curious as to what kind of flavors a rock star might encounter on the road—insert groupie joke here—we asked Kapranos to name the five weirdest things he's tasted.

Deep fried grasshoppers: "You find these on the streets of Bangkok—they actually doesn't taste so bad, but later on, you find little legs and mandibles stuck between your teeth."

Bull's testicles: "This was in Buenos Aires, and believe me, they're a part of the animal you don't want to eat."

Live sea urchins: "I know these are pretty common in sushi places, but the first time I had one was in a formal restaurant in Japan. I spit it out. I tried swallowing it and my body went, ‘Oh, this stuff isn't going anywhere near your stomach.'"

Mummified fish: "I saw these in a South Korean market, and they have the same wizened, gaunt look of Egyptian mummies. People grind them up and use them for flavoring in foods, and they're quite tasty."

Mollusk urine: "In that same market, I got too close to a bucket of whelks and a long proboscis shot out of the water and squirted piss in my face. It just tasted like the ocean, though."