Disgusting Food Museum Malmö

Food is so much more than sustenance. Curious foods from exotic cultures have always fascinated us. Unfamiliar foods can be delicious, or they can be more of an acquired taste. While cultural differences often separate us and create boundaries, food can also connect us. Sharing a meal is the best way to turn strangers into friends.

The evolutionary function of disgust is to help us avoid disease and unsafe food. Disgust is one of the six fundamental human emotions. While the emotion is universal, the foods that we find disgusting are not. What is delicious to one person can be revolting to another. Disgusting Food Museum invites visitors to explore the world of food and challenge their notions of what is and what isn’t edible. Could changing our ideas of disgust help us embrace the environmentally sustainable foods of the future?

The exhibit has 80 of the world’s most disgusting foods. Adventurous visitors will appreciate the opportunity to smell and taste some of these notorious foods. Do you dare smell the world’s stinkiest cheese? Or taste sweets made with metal cleansing chemicals?

EXHIBITED DELICACIES INCLUDE:

Surströmming – fermented herring from Sweden.
Cuy – roasted guinea pigs from Peru.
Casu marzu – maggot-infested cheese from Sardinia
Stinky tofu – pungent bean curd from China.
Hákarl – well-aged shark from Iceland.
Durian – infamously stinky fruit from Thailand.

Temporary dangerous food exhibit

Humans have always been inventive when it comes to food, finding creative ways to make poisonous and deadly food edible. We eat seeds that contain cyanide and animals with toxic organs. Most of the dangerous dishes began as a way to survive in tough times, becoming delicacies over time. Around half of the exhibited items in this sub-exhibit are naturally deadly or hazardous to eat, unless prepared in the right way. The naturally dangerous foods pale in comparison with food sold by greedy or negligent companies that cause death, sickness, and suffering.

Media Mentions

Even the foods that appear at the museum in their real forms posed unusual difficulties. To make cuy, a Peruvian dish, West had to watch several YouTube videos on how to skin and boil a guinea pig. “I sent my wife and children away the day I did it,” he recalled. “It just felt wrong, bordering on criminal.” For a South Korean wine that demanded the “fresh turds” of children, Ahrens found himself scooping up his eight-year-old daughter’s excrement and fermenting it with rice wine. The final product is on display at the museum, in a gallon jug, though Ahrens has not mustered the will to try it.

The New Yorker
The Gatekeepers Who Get to Decide What Food Is “Disgusting”
In this episode of the Atlas Obscura podcast, we visit a food museum in Sweden that challenges what exactly makes something delicious … or disgusting.

Atlas Obscura
Podcast episode
It is a hands-on, tongues-out experience. At the Museum of Disgusting Food in Malmö, in Sweden, all the world’s great cuisines are represented. Each exhibit is considered a delicacy somewhere, but strikes many unaccustomed palates as revolting. Visitors are invited to handle a raw bull’s penis and sip liquor with dead mice in it.

The Economist
The idea that anything labeled “food” can be described as “disgusting” is a minefield, running up against cultural tastes and personal preferences, not to mention the shrinking ability of some countries to feed all their people. But clearly, if every human had a cornucopia of the world’s edibles laid out on a table stretching from one end of the earth to the next, not everyone would dig enthusiastically into, say, a lamprey pie, a sliver of maggot-infested pecorino or a chunk of rotten shark meat.

New York Times
Fermenterad isländsk surhaj, ost med larver och surkålsjuice. Utställningen som öppnade i Malmö på onsdagen är ingen gourmetmässa – tvärtom så är det äcklet som står i fokus. – Äckel är subjektivt. Det handlar om vad man har vuxit upp med, säger arrangören Andreas Ahrens.

Expressen
There was a time when museums were reserved for fine art and high-brow nonsense we only pretend to understand. These days, the world is full of wonderfully weird museums accessible to the everyman with everything from broken relationships and all things phallic to ramen and barbed wire. Now, Sweden is set to open one more: the world’s grossest food museum.

The Manual
Welcome to the world’s first exhibition devoted to foods that some would call revolting. The museum’s name and its contents are pretty controversial — one culture’s disgusting is another culture’s delicacy. That goes for escamoles, the tree-ant larvae eaten in Mexico, or shirako, the cod sperm eaten in Japan, or bird’s nest soup, a Chinese dish of nests made from bird saliva. The name is meant to grab visitors’ attention, but that’s the point that West says he’s trying to make: Disgust is a cultural construct.

Washington Post
Intervju med Andreas Ahrens i Expressen TV

Expressen TV
It’s easy to read the museum as a culturally insensitive house of culinary horrors — people (who are not me) in places (that are not here) eat that? And sure, there’s not not a gross-out factor, as evidenced by the name. But West told me the actual mission is the opposite: By really diving into the world of disgust, he’s hoping he can change the way people eat, and maybe save the world.

Vox
Disgust is considered one of the basic human emotions, much like Pixar’s movie Inside Out showed us. It protects us from disease by making us avoid unsafe food— and yet while the emotion itself is universal, the food that we classify as “disgusting” is not. And that’s exactly why Swedish Samuel West and Andrea Ahrens created a museum dedicated to disgusting food from everywhere across the world.

Lonely Planet
The main objective is to make it fun, interesting and interactive," said West, who explains that the exhibition is quite expensive since about half of the dishes are replaced every two days.

20 Minutos
The name of the museum leaves little suspense on what will be there. On the menu, eighty culinary specialties that the world does not envy.

Slate France

Where to find us

Malmö, Sweden

Södra Förstadsgatan 2.

Hours

Until December 22:

Wednesday – Sunday: 11:00 – 17:00

Last recommended entrance 16:00

From December 26:

Monday-Sunday: 11:00-17:00

Last recommended entrance 16:00

Closed dates every year:

January 1, Midsummer’s eve (date varies year to year), December 23-25, and December 31

Prices

Adult: 195 kr
Student/Senior: 160kr
Children 6-15 years old: 65kr (only with guardians)
Children under 6 years old: two children enter for free per parent/guardian.

How to get there

Take a train to Malmö Triangeln, follow Rådmansgatan that then becomes Södra Förstadsgatan. We are located just at the intersection to Drottninggatan.

Do you visit us by car? Park in Parkeringshuset Anna.

Disgusting Food Museum is located 10 minutes walk from Malmö Triangeln and 13 minutes walk from Malmö Central station. There is plentiful parking in the area. We are just across the bridge from Copenhagen, and yes, Danes are also welcome.

Alisa F.

			Really great and informative exhibition!! The staff were fantastic and very friendly. There's a testing section, my friend and I... read moreReally great and informative exhibition!! The staff were fantastic and very friendly. There's a testing section, my friend and I were brave enough to try everything from cheeses to weird fish products and hot sauces. We got stomach cramp after trying Mad Dog, the world's hottest hot sauce with 9 million Scoville!! It wasn't like the staff didn't warn us tho 🔥🤣

PS : the durian is still the worst! read less		 - 9/09/2022 
		
Kharuna R.

			Small museum but very interesting. The museum had lots of displays which were vedy elaborate. You have the possibility to... read moreSmall museum but very interesting. The museum had lots of displays which were vedy elaborate. You have the possibility to try and to smell some of the food. The staff working there are very friendly and helpful. Especially during the tasting phase, it hets quite interesting. 20€ per person for the ticket was a good deal. read less		 - 8/19/2022 
		
Siobhán O.

			The staff were really nice and helpful. I was worried the "disgusting foods" would largely just be food from other... read moreThe staff were really nice and helpful. I was worried the "disgusting foods" would largely just be food from other cultures but that was really not the case at all, much of the food was European and from the US and it was apparent a real effort had been made to not label foods as gross just because they are not European.  I enjoyed having the opportunity to taste the foods, my only complaint would be that they had Vegemite and not marmite but as someone who loves both anyway I do not think either deserves to be there 🙃 justice for yeast extract! read less		 - 8/14/2022

Natalie_Cet

			Empfehlenswert! Sehr interessant und unterhaltsam. Man konnte am Ende 17 verschiedene Grauslichkeiten probieren. Das Personal war sehr freundlich und gesprächig. Hat... read moreSehr interessant und unterhaltsam. Man konnte am Ende 17 verschiedene Grauslichkeiten probieren. Das Personal war sehr freundlich und gesprächig. Hat uns wirklich gut gefallen! read less		 - 12/05/2020 
		
209annav

			Different but so interesting experience Such an interesting, different, weird and exciting experience. Visit with the whole family. Don’t rush. Take time to read and... read moreSuch an interesting, different, weird and exciting experience. Visit with the whole family. Don’t rush. Take time to read and smell all food. Taste what you dare but don’t forget the vomitbag. read less		 - 11/25/2020 
		
sburn28

			Great place to visit; try all the fascinating samples! The museum was really interesting with a lot of good exhibits to read and see. There is a good number... read moreThe museum was really interesting with a lot of good exhibits to read and see. There is a good number of interesting samples to smell as you go, and a great selection of samples to taste at the end! The staff were extremely knowledgeable and friendly, able to talk all about the different items in the display. read less		 - 11/21/2020

Erika T.

			Många läskiga maträtter. Skönt att man kunde välja vad man ville lukta på!		 - 8/03/2022 
		
Klas L.

			A real exciting experience! But not for the sensitive whimps…		 - 7/23/2022 
		
Maik V.

			Tolle Erfahrung aber definitiv nichts für Leute mit sensiblen Nasen und schwachen Mägen.		 - 7/17/2022

Disgusting Food Museum

4.8 Stars - Based on 424 User Reviews

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Contact us

General inquiries: info@disgustingfoodmuseum.com
Group bookings, events:booking@disgustingfoodmuseum.com
Press: press@disgustingfoodmuseum.com
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Phone: +46 (0)40 10 17 71

Recent blog posts

Most disgusting foods

After running the Disgusting Food Museum since 2018, we have developed a strong sense of what is disgusting and delicious. With 20 000 visitors per year to the Malmö museum, that means a lot of interactions with visitors and getting their take on what is disgusting. In the tasting bar our visitors can try out about 20 items for themselves, we have seen reactions ranging from delight to outright vomiting.

Ttongsul – Korean wine with child feces

Ttongsul is a traditional Korean medicine with a 9% alcohol content. The poo of a human child between 4 and 7 years old is refrigerated for 3-4 days, mixed with […]

Century Eggs – Chinese delicacy

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En rad aktörer inom besöksnäringen, med ledning av Malmö turism, samarbetar för att lyfta Malmö som besöksmål. Under helgen 2-4 oktober går Weekend for Love av stapeln med kulturupplevelser som […]

Disgusting Christmas Foods

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Current

Disgusting Food Museum Malmö

Open since 2018

Disgusting Food Museum Berlin

Future

Stay tuned for news!

Want to open your own DFM?

Past

Disgusting Food Museum Bordeaux

Located in Cap Sciences, open June 12, 2021, January 2, 2022.

Disgusting Food Museum Nantes

6-week exhibit during fall of 2019

Disgusting Food Museum Los Angeles

3-month exhibit during the winter of 2018/2019

Team

Andreas Ahrens

Museum Director & Co-founder
Most disgusting food consumed: Baby mouse wine from China. It tastes like a combination of rotten flesh and gasoline.

Dr. Samuel West

Co-founder
Most disgusting food eaten: duck fetus cooked in its egg from The Philippines.

Merchandise

We have released our line of branded clothing for delivery. You can see our full line in our Teespring store or click directly to one of the designs below. The designs are available as T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, etc.