By Chris Cosci

On Survivor, contestants were forced to eat rats. On Fear Factor, contestants are forced to eat a wide variety of so-called "delicacies." The reason? Money. They're all trying to win a large sum of money, and this is how they win. Meanwhile, in some parts of the world, there are people who actually pay money to eat this stuff.

In Cambodia, people travel from all over to feast on "a-ping," a breed of palm-sized tarantulas that live in the jungles of Skuon. In the wild, they are hairy creatures that pack a deadly poison in their sharp fangs. But, throw them in a deep-fryer and add a little salt and garlic, and they're a delicious treat for the whole family! "They taste a bit like crickets, only much better." So says Roeun Sarin of Cambodia. Of course, this comparison really only works for people who actually eat crickets. Personally, I'll just take his word for it.

Some claim that the popularity of these spiders is due to the country's history. In the 1970's, under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge aimed to turn Cambodia into an agrarian society. They terrorized citizens by forcing them out of cities and destroying businesses. Over a million people were killed, and many fled to the jungle to escape the troops. While hiding in the jungle, people had to survive on bugs and, yes, spiders. Although they probably had to leave their deep-fryers and garlic behind, they apparently still found the spiders quite tasty. So basically, the dish is a reminder of the country's violent past. I'm sure many Cambodians enjoy sitting around, munching on a tasty set of legs, and reminiscing about all the death and mass destruction.

Meanwhile, there are people who believe that these spiders have medicinal qualities. One market trader states that they are "particularly good for backache and children with breathing problems." Is there anything that doesn't have some sort of healing property to it? It seems like everybody knows a way to use an obscure food to cure something. "Oh, you're having dandruff problems? I hear that if you rub a raw octopus in your hair, it soaks up all the flakes."

Whether it's for the taste, the history, or the healing properties, the fried spiders are in high demand in Skuon. Of course, it's not just Cambodians who are paying for the odd foods. In Japan, there's a confectionery shop run by a man named Yoshiaki Sato. Thirteen years ago, Sato was in the hospital when he saw a news story about a delivery truck that slid off a road and spilled its contents onto the street. The truck was carrying piles of Pacific saury, a fish found in the waters off Japan.

Sato was so upset that all that fish would be wasted, he came up with an idea. When he returned to work, he made saury ice cream. It shouldn't be much of a surprise that there was actually a market for this stuff. Despite his staff's constant complaints about the unpleasant aroma in the kitchen, Sato continues to produce the fish-flavored dessert, and has expanded his flavors to include whale meat, soft-shelled turtles and sea slugs. As you would expect, competitors have started to create their own strange concoctions. Some companies in Japan have come up with other flavors like chicken wing, shrimp and eel.

But Sato is having the most success. The Chamber of Congress in Funagata has secured government funds to help Sato make and market his ice cream. He has used some of that money to develop a special process that eliminates one major problem - fish bones that stick out of the ice cream. As if just eating the stuff wasn't hard enough.

And just in case you thought that Sato at least has the decency to use non-venomous animals, be aware that he did take a request, and produced ice cream out of a poisonous viper. Sato gave a nice, vivid description of how he skinned the snake and put it in his industrial juicer, but I'll spare you the gory details.

Sato has recently been approached to try fireflies, and he's currently working on that. Sato sees no limits to what he can make, which is good for him, because apparently consumers have no limits to what they'll actually eat.