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The Big Bug Buffet
By Mark Goldberg “Where you want to go for lunch, Harvey?” “I don’t know. I’m tired of burgers.” “How about we go in the back yard and dig in the dirt for something to eat? Maybe some grub worms or cicadas. We’ve got some nice-sized beetles and I saw some fuzzy spiders the other day.” If that conversation doesn’t sound too appetizing, how about being told you probably eat bugs on a regular basis? You can’t deny it. After all, the flour beetles, weevils and other insects that infest every granary are ground up along with the grain and end up as those black specks in your piece of bread. Grub worms are just one of the insects flitting around your fresh fruits and vegetables and are commonly found in processed foods and beverages. In fact, when apples are harvested, the bug-infested fruit is separated from the “good” fruit. But the fruit farmers don’t throw the bad ones away. Uh uh. Where do you think apple cider comes from anyway? But if this article were as simple as a couple specks in your Wonder Bread, you could move right on to this week’s restaurant review. Fortunately, that’s not the case. We’re going to learn that eating bugs is a worldwide tradition. Humans have been doing it since the beginning of time. And don’t shake your head and say, “Not me!” After all, we consume shrimp and lobster, which are part of the arthropod phylum, just like insects. You’ll find mentions of eating locusts, beetles and grasshoppers in the Bible. John the Baptist survived on locusts and honey while in the desert. Aristotle stated, “The larva of the cicada on attaining full size in the ground becomes a nymph; then it tastes best, before the husk is broken. At first the males are better to eat, but after copulation the females, which are then full of white eggs.” Today, in Ghana, winged termites are collected and fried, roasted or made into bread. In South Africa insects are eaten with cornmeal porridge. Grubs are the bug of choice in New Guinea and aboriginal Australia. In Latin America cicadas, fire-roasted tarantulas and ants are prevalent in traditional dishes. One of the most famous culinary insects, the agave worm, is eaten on tortillas. By the way, that’s the same worm that gets swallowed from the bottom of the tequila bottle. There are benefits to bug buffets. Hamburger is roughly 18 percent protein and 18 percent fat. Cooked grasshopper contains up to 60 percent protein with just six percent fat. And like fish, insect fatty acids are unsaturated and thus healthier. Insect farming is also much more efficient than cattle breeding. One hundred pounds of feed produces 10 pounds of beef, while the same amount of feed yields 45 pounds of cricket. Most insects are edible. They are lower in fat, higher in protein and have a better feed-to-meat ratio than beef, lamb, pork or chicken. We won’t be running out of them soon. And there has been no talk of mad moth disease. In fact, there are 1,462 recorded species of edible insects. There are thousands more that simply have not been tasted yet. One hundred grams of crickets contain: 121 calories, 12.9 grams protein, 5.5 grams fat, 5.1 grams carbohydrates, 75.8 milligrams calcium, 185.3 milligrams phosphorous, 9.5 milligrams iron, 0.36 milligrams thiamine, 1.09 milligrams riboflavin, and 3.10 milligrams niacin. Compare that to the fact sheet on the back of a McDonald’s placemat. Now here’s a problem. Where do you get fresh bugs? Don’t go digging in your back yard or dark closets unless you have a natural resistance to pesticides. Pet stores and bait shops usually carry crickets and mealworms, but you are going to have to feed them fresh grain for a few days, since they’ve been fed newspaper and sawdust which might affect their taste. Of course, you could raise your own. Fill a plastic tub with an inch of grain, put in a slice of potato, carrot or other hard vegetable as a source of water, and add mealworms. Or get an aquarium, put a couple inches of potting soil on the bottom and place several egg cartons inside. Add a container of grains and vegetable and scraps for food some moist cotton balls for water. Then dump in 50 to 100 crickets. You’ll start harvesting fresh crickets within a few months. You must be wondering, What do bugs taste like? Moths taste like almonds. Grasshoppers, dried or fried, will remind you of chalky potato chips or cheese puffs. Live grasshoppers kick like hell and can give you worms. So cook them first. Maggots (yeah, maggots) are easy to capture, are often found in clusters, and, properly prepared, taste and look like wild rice. Ants are the best bug feast. Their formic acid dissolves when they are boiled. Black ants eaten raw have a crunchy, semi sweet flavor. Like munching on raw sugar with legs. Bees and wasps can be eaten after boiling and their larvae are delicious! A few words of advice: Always try to cook insects. Never eat bugs you find dead. Don't eat bugs that bite back. If it smells really bad, don't eat it. Now you realize you need to kill, clean and cook most insects before you eat them. At least if you’re a neophyte entomophagist (bug eater). Later on you can enjoy live moths. To start, rinse your bugs off and pat them dry. This is easy to do with mealworms, but difficult with jumpy crickets. For Jiminy and his friends, pour them all into a colander, cover it with some cheesecloth and rinse them, then shake the colander until all water drains. Place the crickets or mealworms in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer until they are dead but not frozen (about 15 minutes). Rinse them once more. You may want to chop off your mealworms’ heads (personal preference) and lose the cricket legs, as they can get caught in your teeth. Scientists call our preferences for specific foods inculcated societal food values. You can try that term out on your friends when you place a live mealworm in your mouth and bite down in front of them. Then serve them some special dishes from the recipes listed in the sidebar. Whether you want to tell them before or after the meal what they’ve eaten is up to you. That depends on how good a friend they are. Chocolate Covered Crickets
Bake the crickets at 250 degrees until crunchy (the time needed varies from oven to oven). Heat the squares of semisweet chocolate in a double boiler until melted. Dip the dry-roasted crickets in the melted chocolate one by one, and then set the chocolate covered crickets out to dry on a piece of wax paper. Deliciously crunchy. Ant Brood Tacos
Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan and fry the larvae or pupae. Add the chopped onions, chilies, and tomato, and season with salt. Sprinkle with ground pepper, cumin and oregano, to taste. Serve in tacos and garnish with cilantro. Stir Fried Cricket Curry Over Rice
Cook rice in a separate pot. Heat oil in a skillet or wok. Add onions and peppers; heat and stir until onions are brown. Next, add the garlic. Heat it, but be careful not to burn the garlic. Next add the vegetables and crickets and stir rapidly. It may be necessary to put in long-cooking vegetables such as carrots and potatoes earlier to insure they are cooked properly. When all of the vegetables and crickets are finished cooking, add the coconut milk and the curry. Stir until everything is well mixed. Serve over rice. Grasshoppers Delight
Melt the white chocolate according to instructions on the package. After it is melted, stir in bugs and snack mix. Put the mixture on wax paper. Then let it sit until solid (or put in the freezer for a quicker treat). Serves 5.
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