Nowadays, internet trends rule the world. While some of these trends are strange (or even life-threatening), people love to try new things, even if only to see what the hype is about. Well, it seems that the internet has now cooked up (or perhaps not) a new dietary trend: high meat.
“High meat” is raw meat that is left out to ferment for a long period – months or even years. This causes the meat to grow microorganisms, which change its structure and color. Youtuber Frank Tufano demonstrated the process in a video, talking about how it is important to take care that the microorganisms growing on the meat are “good bacteria” and not opportunistic ones.
But why is it called High Meat?
Reportedly, eating this fermented food product leaves the consumer with a feeling of “euphoria”. In other words, people get high off decomposed meat. In a statement to Vice, Singapore-based dietician Naras Lapsys said:
“If you’re leaving this out for anything from days to months to years, who knows what kinds of [bacteria] are going to grow, and some of those bacterias might have chemical properties that are going to give you a high, or hallucination, or a feeling of euphoria,
So why are people eating it?
According to Tufano, the euphoric feeling that fermented meat creates is not the only reason to consume it. He says that indigenous people regularly consume foods like Surstromming (fermented herring) and Kiviak (little auk birds fermented in seal skin). This fact has convinced him that fermented meats are “necessary for optimal health”. He also points out how people regularly consume other fermented foods like yogurt and cheese, so why should meat get a bad rap?
What about the taste?
Consumers claim that the food has a similar flavor to cheese. However, the taste becomes stronger and more acidic the older it gets. Well, according to some Redditors and this tweet, it’s not that bad!
