Entomophagy - Why should our pets be the only ones to eat bugs?

[Bugs In Cyberspace]

Last time I went to this local joint they served grasshoppers Oaxaca-style:

http://www.lacalacacomelona.com/index.html

Little salty but inside a corn tortilla with a generous amount of salsa and what doesn't taste good?

This thread is makin' me hungry!

Dave used to have a website called Sunrise Land Shrimp. He sent me a bag of goodies once--baked bugs of various kinds. They didn't taste too fantastic being dried out and all. I think a stir fry application would suit me best, with fresh bugs and maybe a nice Thai peanut sauce. Not sure where Dave's at these days.

[Ognyen]

This thread is what got me here on the Arachnoboards. I saw Dave Gracer's name mentioned --a most-excellent resource guy, and co-editor of The Food Insects Newsletter. If you want to get more into entomophagy, check out our Missouri Entomophagy group at Facebook. It's quite active, and way more than just Missouri --thanks to the enthusiastic members. Bugs aren't a major part of my diet, but I've been knowingly eating them, and sharing my findings with the public for nearly 10 years. Daniella Martin has a neat cooking video where she shows you how to make deep-fried scorpion. Check her out at www.girlmeetsbug.com That would count as being quite arachno-related.

[cacoseraph]

thanks to all

i'm pretty busy right now but i should be digesting (see what i did there? =P ) all the links and info i have been given and then starting on compiling my state by state list fairly soon (on the order of single digit weeks, i would hope). it seems like this will actually turn out to be, by far, the most ambitious list i have attempted yet and that i might need to design and implement some kind of programmatic solution to help me with it... that could be a sweet pay off if i can do something sufficiently clever

[cacoseraph]

busy as heck, i work 6 days a week and my critters take up half of the seventh =P


i heard from Gracer again and he is pretty excited about what he has going on and wants to get something going with Tucson people or very probably (once i tell him) AB folks




here is something i saw on my facebook feed
"Local expert gets funding to develop food based on insects"
http://www.gainesville.com/article/2...120509543/1139

[Shrike]

How about a little mainstream entomophagy? Oyamel (an upscale Mexican restaurant in DC) serves Chapulines tacos, "the legendary Oaxacan specialty of sautéed grasshoppers, shallots, tequila and guacamole." I'm definitely a fan.

[zonbonzovi]

Gracer = All Things Bugs. I just made the connection and feel like a nitwit lol.

I've been reading "Smoking Ears and Screaming Teeth" by Trevor Norton: mostly about self-experimentation by early scientists but has a lot of anecdotes of entomophagy. Check out, in particular, Frank Buckland & Chuck Darwin's cousin, Sir Francis Galton.

[Malhavoc's]

Any good recipe compliation websites out there?

[Robotponys]

The only bug I've eaten was crickets, on tacos once, and the other was straight from a box. This was in NYC in a restaurant and I was about 5 or 6. VERY salty, not very good IMO.

[zonbonzovi]

Any good recipe compliation websites out there?

Mostly dessert oriented:

http://insectsarefood.com/recipes.php

http://www.saxonweb.com/church/insects.htm

http://worldento.com/index.php/central/recipes

[The Snark]

In the past few days we have been having massive termite swarms. People have been gathering under the street lights at dusk to collect them. The going rate has been around 1200 baht, about $33 a kilogram. Seems like most of southeast Asia is going around belching termite sauces and sautes. Our cat, which is in fact a subspecies of ghoul, is back to looking like she ate a cantaloupe after a nights grazing in the carport. It enjoys the termites almost as much as roadkill snakes, toads and frogs, well aged to bring out the piquant flavor. (If you value your sinuses and sanity, do NOT smell it's breath)

[zonbonzovi]

from Dave Gracer via FB:

"HELP! I need a list of the largest cricket farms in the USA and their production capacities for a grant - THIS WEEK! It will be critical for me to demonstrate that there is substantial supply of crickets for this grant! THANKS!"

If you've befriended All Things Bug on FB, forward what you know and give the guy a hand. Or, drop a list here and I'll forward it. Packets of future cricket paste for the masses depend on it!

[desertanimal]

I can tell you that the cicadas in Madagascar are quite tasty fried. I haven't tried the cicadas here, but I'm guessing they'd be similar. I willingly eat cicadas regularly when they are in season and I'm in the field, working out a deal to donate the oil for the camp staff's cicada frying if they'll provide the cicadas and I get to eat them, too. You just tear off the wings and legs, and sautee them up. They are far superior to the grasshoppers I've eaten in taste. They taste like pan-seared salmon skin.

To avoid indigestion, chew until you've gotten all you're getting out of them, and then spit out the bolus of chitin.

[Dhaynes]

I've been tempted to go into entomophagy, breeding my own supply. Not really sure how to make actual meals out of them, but some stir/deep fried as snacks?

I'm ninety percent sure eating our bugs is healthier than... Say... Any of the meat at the market.

I'm already breeding Lateralis. Thinking maybe to start Superworms and Waxworms. Maybe even try Harlequinn beetles(And larva.) Any other suggestions?

[Moonfall]

I ate mealworms once. Cooked and dried, they were crispy. I got them at a bug fair.. very interesting.

I wouldn't probably eat them regularly but I wouldn't object if I was really hungry or something. My stomach is super weird with IBS and so I would worry it might act up.

[mdtalley22]

When I lived in Oaxaca, Mexico it is very common to eat grasshoppers and crickets. Many times they boil them, season them, then dry them in the sun. Eaten whole it is a lot like pop corn but chopped up they can be used as a seasoning type food.

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