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You can easily lose your way in the world of food if you don’t watch where you’re going. As you navigate the Isles of Gordon Ramsay and sail around the Jamie Oliver Peninsula, you’re eventually bound to come across the seemingly-endless Desert (not dessert) of Weird Food. And in the middle stands none other than the city of ‘Totally Gourmet’ (Population: 118,000), its streets filled with bizarre sights that show off the strange and sometimes unsettling side of cooking, cuisine, and nosh.

The ‘Totally Gourmet’ page is run by none other than Sébastien Mathys and Jonas Nyffenegger. If their names sound familiar, then it’s probably because you’ve read Bored Panda’s previous post about their other incredibly popular Instagram page, ‘Ugly Design.’ Now, Sébastien and Jonas are shocking the world once again—but with food! Check out some of the weirdest and most mesmerizing food-related pics from ‘Totally Gourmet’ below and upvote the ones that made your eyes pop and your jaws drop, dear Pandas. Planning to skip lunch after this post (we just might)? Let us know in the comment section below.

Sébastien and Jonas told Bored Panda that 'Totally Gourmet' started as a spin-off of 'Ugly Design. They explained that they're both passionate about cooking and thought that the amazing food pictures that they found online deserved a dedicated page. "We like to experiment in the kitchen and try new flavors whenever given the opportunity. If you are a food artist please share your work with us, we would love to see (taste) what you do!" Read on for the full interview.

More info: Instagram (Totally Gourmet) | Instagram (Ugly Design) | Ugly.Design

#1

Bird House

Bird House

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Blinding_Darkness
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At first I thought it was an actual house and then I saw the bird and I was like ohhhh 🤦🏼‍♀️lol it's a good design tho I love it

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When Bored Panda asked Sébastien and Jonas what could be done if readers suddenly lose their appetites when looking at photos from the 'Totally Gourmet' page, the pair weren't surprised at all. "We know what you mean. This occurs to us as well... DM us when this happens. We have tips to help, depending on the picture," they said. So, dear Pandas, if you find yourself put off from eating after this list, send a direct message to the curators of the page and they might just have a solution for you.

Sébastien and Jonas also revealed that they have quite a few food and cooking disaster stories between them in their lives. And they shared the worst one of them.

"Younger Jonas organized a Surströmming party in a public park in Geneva with a few friends and me," Sébastien said. "Surströmming is a Swedish delicacy made of fermented fish. Most of our friends refused to even try and backed away from the smell. Actually, the scent was so strong that everybody in a radius of 50m decided to leave. Even a group of punks. Our tasting was too trash for them." Got any similar stories to share, dear Pandas? Let us know in the comment section!

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We’re drawn to weirdness and ugliness. It’s a very human experience to be captivated by something that’s far from aesthetically pleasing. And that’s exactly the primal human fascination with ugliness that the ‘Totally Gourmet’ team manage to capture in the pics that they post.

There’s a lot of similarity between ‘Totally Gourmet’ and ‘Ugly Design,’ namely, the ugliness and the shock value. Sébastien and Jonas earlier spoke to Bored Panda about their other project, ‘Ugly Design,’ and attributed its success to the fact that their content creates a huge contrast to the “norm-perfect” pictures that can usually be found in people’s Instagram feeds.

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“When seeing an ugly design rather than perfect aesthetics (as defined in the 21st century)—scrollers takes notice,” Sébastien and Jonas told Bored Panda that the key is to avoid predictability and embracing what’s unexpected.

The curators of ‘Ugly Design’ and ‘Totally Gourmet’ explained that they believe ugliness is a topic that’s bottomless and will always have something to offer in terms of content. So you can expect a lot more extraordinary and strange content from Sébastien and Jonas in the near future, that’s for sure!

#12

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

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nicoletomme avatar
Nicole Tomme
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is actually a legit dessert. Glass pie is gelatin based .

klynch4 avatar
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember that this was a huge baking trend in parts of Asia several years ago. They called them "raindrop" cakes and they were made with water and agar-agar powder, and then flavoured with brown sugar syrup and soy bean flour.

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fuggnuggins
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's an Asian fad, and I think they typically use a seaweed extract rather than gelatine, a bit like agar (which uses an algae extract).

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Molly Block
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Took me a moment. I thought it was in a plastic container, but nope. That is clear gelatin!

omimamiki avatar
O.M.Miki
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is this from the same chef who made the transparent lemon meringue pie ? I really want to learn how to make this -its so pretty

joyceblodgett_1 avatar
Joyce Blodgett
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Intriguing, but what in the world is the filling made of besides water and gelatin?

afetzko80 avatar
Anni Fetzko
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Im fairly sure its "Lemon Meringue Pie". A youtuber name Emmymadeinjapan tried making it earlier this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft0LFBdpoYs

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klynch4 avatar
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This looks like an unique "interpretation" of the raindrop cake. The raindrop cake was a trend in some Asia countries several years ago. It is a dessert made from water and a gelatin like powder called agar-agar. The dessert itself has no flavour so people often serve it with a brown sugar sauce or a nutty soy flour.

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Quazmodic
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Gelatin (made from the bones of dead animals) pie! Yum!

fuggnuggins avatar
fuggnuggins
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And the protein gelatin is found more in the cartilage and connective tissues, even skin, than in bones themselves. Bones are mostly minerals.

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#26

Self Isolated Lime

Self Isolated Lime

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#29

Lost And Found

Lost And Found

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#30

Spaghetti, Ocd Version

Spaghetti, Ocd Version

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Hermione Granger
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Please change the title of this. This is not what OCD is. At all. OCD is constant intrusive thoughts and compulsions all day long that you can’t control. OCD is not about being neat, or organized, or a perfectionist. It is constant torture all day. I understand that you did not mean to be offensive but please change the title.

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#33

That's The Destruction We All Need In Our Communities!

That's The Destruction We All Need In Our Communities!

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#38

Munchies

Munchies

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Hans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Weird, yet not ok to not blurr her face. She does not deserve the shaming of the Internet.

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#39

Spirit Animal

Spirit Animal

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Would be funny if his head was actually covered in the snakes but people kept taking and eating them.

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#40

Puppy

Puppy

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Note: this post originally had 143 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.