The giant bullfrogs of Namibia are considered a delicacy in Africa, but eating them risks temporary kidney failure or a burning sensation in the urethra — and the wrath of environmental groups that have labeled them “near threatened.”

When Edward Bachner was arrested in July for buying enough poison to kill about 100 people, he inadvertently implicated sushi chefs as potential bioterrorists. The 35-year-old Chicagoan ordered 98 milligrams of Tetrodotoxin, a nerve toxin found in the Japanese puffer fish served as fugu, an expensive sashimi dish. Sometimes called the Russian roulette of sushi and once featured on an episode of "The Simpsons", fugu requires delicate preparation for its edible meat to be separated from its toxic internal organs. Before they're licensed to serve fugu, Japanese chefs undergo months of training and a rigorous exam which only 30 percent of applicants pass.
Even when properly prepared, fugu's toxicity is a critical part of its appeal. The flavor is so subtle it's nearly nonexistent, but eating it numbs the lips, and creates an alcohol-like buzz for the diner. Popular in Japan, it's banned in Europe and offered in a small number of restaurants in the United States and Korea.

But while it's the most notorious toxic fish, fugu is neither the most powerful nor the most commonly served. And beyond fish, there are scores of other foods whose deadliness equals their deliciousness, including commonly served fruits and vegetables that come with a sickening (and maybe lethal) kick. While the dangers can usually be avoided through proper preparation, this association with danger is irresistible to adventurous diners.

Fish present the most clear and present danger. There are hundreds of species of toxic fish, and many find their ways to dinner plates.

"People would definitely be surprised at how venomous fish are," says Dr. Leo Smith, assistant fish curator at the Field Museum in Chicago. Smith is a leading researcher of poisonous and venomous fish, and says that while snakes are more often associated with venom, there are far more poisonous species of fish. "Because humans live on land, they don't think of fish as venomous."

In nature, the most venomous fish is the stonefish, a fixture of Asian and tropic cuisine whose potentially fatal sting has been described as the worst pain a human can feel. However, human death from eating stonefish is rare to nonexistent.

"There's an important distinction you have to make between poisonous and venomous," Smith says. Venom is commonly deployed when a fish bites its prey, but certain fish are poisonous due to their diet and environment.

When stonefish venom is cooked, it loses its potency. And when served raw—as is the sashimi dish Okoze—its venomous dorsal fins are simply removed. The body meat that remains is delicious and nontoxic. On the other hand, puffer fish and the silver-striped blaasop do not deploy venom, but they are nonetheless toxic to humans because of bacteria in their diet.

As a result, puffer fish farmers in Japan have been able to breed non-poisonous puffer fish by restricting the fish's diet. The newly safe but still legally suspect puffer fish liver, where Tetrodotoxin is most concentrated, has reportedly become a sought-after underground delicacy in parts of Japan.

Of course, you needn't rely on the ocean to provide dangerous delicacies; a number of poison plants serve as side dishes and garnishes around the world. Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica. This bulbous-looking plant has the look and taste of scrambled eggs when cooked, and is often paired with stonefish and eaten as breakfast. But pray that breakfast comes at the right time—ackee can cause extreme nausea if served when it's not ripe enough, which occurs often enough for the condition to acquire the nickname "Jamaican vomiting sickness." It can be even fatal to children.

Like ackee, cassava is a dietary staple in the tropics. In Brazil, Peru, Cuba and other countries, it's used to make breads, ground into pastes and fried into cakes. Also like ackee, it can have undesirable consequences if not washed and prepared properly; the root vegetable contains enough cyanide to kill. Cassava is found in Africa, too, where it's at home with the Namibian bullfrog, a nasty-looking specimen that grows to the size of a housecat—and contains enough poison to be lethal.

The fans of these foods argue that deliciousness outweighs the danger. And anyway, a simple chicken dinner isn't guaranteed to be safe. According to the Center for Disease Control, an average of 600 Americans die from the chicken-borne bacterial disease Salmonella every year. On the other hand, annual worldwide deaths by fugu amount are just a small fraction of that.

Of course, Salmonella poisoning occurs if the chicken is undercooked or dirty—the chicken itself isn't inherently poisonous. James Briscione, chef and instructor at Manhattan's Institute of Culinary Education, speculates that it takes a certain mindset to order a dish with a lethal reputation. "I think it gets back to when a kid eats worms in the playground. It's an adventurous thing to do and you're going to have a story to tell."

巨大的纳米比亚牛蛙被认为是非洲的名吃，但是在吃这道美味的同时要冒一下临时肾衰竭或者尿道有灼烧感觉的风险——愤怒的环境小组给他们贴上“近处的威胁”的标签。

当爱德华 . 巴赫纳在7月因涉嫌购买足以毒死100人的毒药而被捕时，他在不经意间透漏寿司厨师可能是潜藏的生化恐怖主义者。这位35岁的芝加哥人购买了98克的河豚毒素，这是一种在名叫河豚的日本魨鱼的身上发现的神经毒物。河豚是一种昂贵的用来做生鱼片的鱼类。这种美食有时被称为俄罗斯轮盘赌博寿司，并且以一种名为“辛普森”插曲为特色，河豚要经过精密的准备才能把其可使用部分从它的内部有毒部分分离出来。日本厨师要经过数月的训练并通过严格的考试才能获准有资格烹饪河豚，这种考试的通过率只为30%。

即使经过了合适的准备，但河豚的毒性仍然是关注的决定性部分。它的气味是如此的微妙以至于几乎被忽视存在。但是它能使食用者嘴唇麻木，发出像酒精的嗡嗡声。这种鱼在日本非常畅销，在欧洲被禁止食用，而在美国和韩国，只有少数的餐厅才会提供这道菜。

然而，对于最著名的有毒鱼来说，河豚既不是最毒的也不是最受欢迎的。除了鱼以外，还有很多其他食物，它们的致命性和美味性可以并驾齐驱，包括含有致命性物质的一些常见的水果和蔬菜。通常来说，只要经过合适的准备工作，这些危险是可以避免的；因而，对于喜欢冒险的食客来说，这些具有一定危险性的美味是难以抗拒的。

这些美味的鱼是最清楚和最当前的危险。世界上有好几百种有毒的鱼，很多的人找到可以把它们做成大餐的方法。

芝加哥费尔德博物馆的管理鱼类的副主管李奥 . 史密斯博士说，“人们对于这些的毒性的剧烈一定会极为惊讶的。”史密斯是含有毒素与分泌毒液的鱼的首席研究者，他说人们通常会觉得蛇是有毒的，而各种鱼的毒性可能更强。“因为人类居住在陆地上，他们很难想到鱼含有剧毒。”

通常来说，世界上最毒的鱼是石头鱼，需要用特殊的亚洲装置和热带烹饪方法，而在这过程中如果人被致命的蛰了一下，那将承受人类所能承受的最剧烈的疼痛。然而，几乎还没有人因为食用这种鱼而丧命。

史密斯博士还说，“含有毒素与分泌毒液是有着重要区别的”。分泌毒液的鱼一般是指它通过叮咬被掠食者而使其中毒，但是一些特定的鱼本身含有毒素，是与其饮食和环境有关的。

石头鱼经过烹饪之后就失去毒性了。当人们把石头鱼做成生鱼片而生吃时，它有毒的背部鳍的部分会被清除。而它的身体鱼肉部分是非常美味而且无毒的。从另一方面来说，河豚和银边娃娃鱼是没有毒的，但是因为它们的食物含有细菌，所以人类食用它们还是会中毒。

于是，日本的渔民已经可以通过控制河豚的食物来养殖无毒的河豚了。因为河豚集中含有河豚毒素，这种新型安全的河豚养殖方法仍存在法律质疑，但是在日本的一些地方，它已成为地下颇受欢迎的一道美味。

当然，人们不需要非要依靠海洋来提供这种有危险性的美味：世界上有大量作为配菜和装饰的植物同样是有毒的。西非荔枝果是牙买加的国果。在烹饪时，这种像球形的植物看起来，闻起来都像是炒的鸡蛋；通常它是和石头鱼成双出现在早餐餐桌上的。然而我们要祈祷这种早餐一定要在恰当的时间出现——因为如果西非荔枝果不够熟透，那么它会引起极端的恶心。因为这种状况太经常发生而使西非荔枝果赢得了“牙买加呕吐病”的绰号。这种状况对小孩来说是致命的。

就像西非荔枝果，木薯是热带重要食物。在巴西、秘鲁、古巴和其他的国家，木薯被用来做面包，熬成面糊或者烤成蛋糕。同样想西非荔枝果，木薯也有同样不受欢迎的地方，那就是如果它没有清洗干净或者没有合适烹饪，那么它的根部含有的氰化物足够使人致死。木薯是在非洲被发现的，和纳米比亚的牛蛙是老乡——能长成家猫大小看起来脏兮兮的一种生物，身上含有足够使人致命的剧毒。

这些美味的粉丝们声明说，它的美味性大于它的危险性。并且无论如何，人们也不能保证一顿简单的鸡肉晚餐就是绝对安全的。根据疾病控制中心的调查结果，平均每年大约有600人死于雏鸡的细菌疾病的沙门氏菌。另一方面来说，每年世界范围内死于河豚中毒的只是其中一小部分而已。

当然，沙门氏菌中毒的发生，是因为鸡肉尚未煮熟或者鸡肉本省就含有毒素。曼哈顿烹饪教育学院的厨师兼讲师詹姆斯 . 布雷斯少恩推测说这需要一种特定的心态用一种致命荣誉感来做一道菜。“我认为它让我们回归到小鸡在草地上吃虫子的情景。如果有一件具有冒险性的事情，你将会去做；那么就将会有一个故事，你可以用来讲。”