How to use the whole animal (waste not want not)

[bamadude]

Sign me not up

 

[Amberjem]

Sign me not up

 

[mymilliefleur]

I'm O.k with the occasional insect, but eating them all the time, uhh, I'll pass.

 

[hennible]

I'm not one to eat bugs either, but it's a learned perspective. Obviously if we lived where it's a common food it wouldn't gross us out... Most grubs taste sweet apparently... Just sayin... Maybe a little taste... Nope I couldn't do it....

 

[bamadude]

Ive eaten the worm from mescal. It was pretty gross

 

[Beer can]

Ive eaten the worm from mescal. It was pretty gross

Monte Alban Mezcal? Never noticed the taste of the worm, did you chew or swallow? Lol!

 

[triplepurpose]

When it comes to eating "bugs" it's all in your head. Consider how many people will salivate over steamed lobster, but won't eat a cricket. But....why? If you think about it, they are both six legged, hard-shelled arthropods with gooey innards. It's just because one they are use to and another they aren't. One is not empirically any "grosser" than the other--or if anything, the lobster, which eats rotting detritus and other dead things lying on the seafloor should be considered "grosser" than the cricket, which eats green leaves and flowers. But in fact there's no logic to it either way, really, and it's all fine food. It's understandable that people have cultural prejudices, especially about food, but at the same time it has to be understood that they are only just cultural prejudices and very often don't have anything to do rationality.

Kind of fascinating, really. There was a great article in last weeks "The Week" magazine on edible insects BTW.

I got the opportunity to taste roasted, spiced iron crickets on a recent trip to Cambodia. They were delicious, crisp and nutty, and made a great high-protein snack. Before you jump to conclusions, I'm not interested in eating weird stuff just to brag about it--I actually liked them, and went back for more packages again and again to stick in my day bag (and they were probably one of the more nourishing things I ate at the time, in between meals mostly based around highly polished white rice and processed white rice products and small portions of often low-quality meat). I would love to farm some crickets myself, both to eat, and as a protein source for livestock, but I have yet to find a source of starter stock for one of the gourmet species. I think it would make a great project...

 

[hennible]

Very cool. Hope you find some.

 

[Aphrael]

I've eaten crickets on several occasions. They are actually quite good although left my mouth very dry. I would likely eat them much more often if I could get them somewhere as something other than a very costly novelty item. These were freeze dried ones, not alive or fresh. My daughter has tried the chickens' mealworms and says they taste like peanuts. Again freeze dried ones. I can't bring myself to taste them, although they do kind of smell like peanuts. They look too much like large maggots, and maggots make my skin crawl. No rational reason for it, they just do.

I've heard that ants are supposed to taste a bit like sweetarts. I've never had the opportunity to taste them, but I would like to. Maybe some day I'll get the chance to.
I found this info that I found really interesting.
"There are 1,462 recorded species of edible insects. Crickets are the most popular. Here’s why: 100 grams of cricket contains: 121 calories, 12.9 grams of protein, 5.5 g. of fat, 5.1 g. of carbohydrates, 75.8 mg. calcium, 185.3 mg. of phosphorous, 9.5 mg. of iron, 0.36 mg. of thiamin, 1.09 mg. of riboflavin, and 3.10 mg. of niacin.

 Compare that with ground beef, which, although it contains more protein, about 23.5 g. to be exact, it has 288.2 calories and an enormous amount of fat, 21.2 grams worth."

Found at http://www.insectsarefood.com/recipes.html
No wonder crickets are so good for poultry!

 

[hennible]

Very cool also... I found ants tasted like vinegar... I was a kid so my memory could be off...