Explorers Club Serves Eyeballs, Maggot Sprinkles

Here's a dinner party fit for Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods — the 108th Explorers Club Annual Dinner was held last Saturday at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan, and the menu was pretty gnarly.

Not only were there pickled eyeballs, but PopSci reports that the dinner included dishes like ostrich coq au vin. Some notable descriptions:

• Whole Roasted Alligator and Gator Chili

• Turtle Cakes with Caper Remoulade

• Python Patties with Nueske's Bacon

• Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches Infused with Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey and Citrus

• Pineapple towers with scorpion, pea pods, strawberry slices, melon balls, and green grapes

• Sautéed and deep-fried earthworms

• Strawberries dipped in white and dark chocolate with housefly larvae and pupae sprinkles (maggots)

And of course, the signature drink of the night was the Explorers Club Martini — "a vodka martini rimmed with bourbon smoked sugar and a skewer of olive, onion, and pickled eyeball topped with a Tasmanian leatherwood honey-soaked mealworm."

All things considered, ignoring the various creepy crawlies, it all sounds kind of good. Plus, eating bugs has been a slow and small trend for a while, and alligator chili sounds just delightful. Hey Explorers Club — send us an invite next time.