As a Creole who knows his biology pretty well, I fully realize that I’m being inconsistent in my eating most wet arthropods (and other invertebrates) and not very many dry ones. I also recognize that North American and European culture in general at far less insect based proteins than Asian, African, and Central/South American cultures do.
I can’t help it.
I’m an otherwise adventurous eater, but the few times it has been an option, I’ve balked. We’re friends with the family that runs a Columbian restaurant we’ve dined at for over a decade, and one time, the eldest son (and chef) brought out a jar of roasted, salted hormigas culonas, a.k.a. Big Ass Ants (literally)*, a treat where he’s from. Dad tried one, said it tasted like an extra crunchy roasted peanut. I said that I’m not a big fan of peanuts (absolutely true), so someone else could have mine, thank you very much.
Apparently, mapona/mopane worms- actually a kind of caterpillar- really do taste like chicken (as immortalized in a hilarious old Food Network commercial). And there are African groceries near me that sell them in frozen 1lb blocks. I’ve seen recipes...and can’t bring myself to try them.
The closest I’ve come to actually WANTING to was 2012. The UK Olympic village had one particular restaurant that was trying to cater to global palates, and they were serving some kind of ant they had to import in huge numbers because they were not traveling well (high mortality rate)...and they were a big hit. Supposedly, they tasted like lemon drops. That intrigued me, and I probably would have tried them...but I was nowhere near England at the time, so I missed out.
* Hormigas culonas in Colombia - Colombian edible ants in Barichara | Eat Your World
I can’t help it.
I’m an otherwise adventurous eater, but the few times it has been an option, I’ve balked. We’re friends with the family that runs a Columbian restaurant we’ve dined at for over a decade, and one time, the eldest son (and chef) brought out a jar of roasted, salted hormigas culonas, a.k.a. Big Ass Ants (literally)*, a treat where he’s from. Dad tried one, said it tasted like an extra crunchy roasted peanut. I said that I’m not a big fan of peanuts (absolutely true), so someone else could have mine, thank you very much.
Apparently, mapona/mopane worms- actually a kind of caterpillar- really do taste like chicken (as immortalized in a hilarious old Food Network commercial). And there are African groceries near me that sell them in frozen 1lb blocks. I’ve seen recipes...and can’t bring myself to try them.
The closest I’ve come to actually WANTING to was 2012. The UK Olympic village had one particular restaurant that was trying to cater to global palates, and they were serving some kind of ant they had to import in huge numbers because they were not traveling well (high mortality rate)...and they were a big hit. Supposedly, they tasted like lemon drops. That intrigued me, and I probably would have tried them...but I was nowhere near England at the time, so I missed out.
* Hormigas culonas in Colombia - Colombian edible ants in Barichara | Eat Your World
