I’m sure this will send a shiver down anyone’s spine, anyone other than those who practise entomophagy (the consumption of insects as food), that is.
Insects and arachnids that most people stay away from in general are considered a great snacking option in quite a few South East Asian countries. These unique forms of protein are slowly and steadily making their way into the supermarkets and of course stomachs of the rest of the world too.
Creatures that we have almost a genetic predisposition to be afraid of look harmless covered with chocolate, flavoured sugar or jelly. There are chocolate covered giant ants, Antlix (lollypops with tiny ants embedded in them), worms covered in sugar, and silk worm pupa slathered in chocolate, just to name a few.
But why should these crawlers be confined to sweets?
There are also low calorie options available for the health conscious like various types of roasted ants, crickets and slightly salted crunchy worms.
If you cannot decide which insect to try, a bag of mixed bugs is available in the barbecue or even classic salted flavour.
This is apparently a good nutritious snack for the those between-meal hunger pangs!
Oven baked tarantulas are obtainable to just defang, heat and then eat.
Along with all these munchies, you can also enjoy scorpion vodka or tequila to sip on.
One might swallow a stray fly in the soup, but the actual bug eating culture is still to catch up in India. Yet in the United States there are a number of Indian cuisine restaurants serving deep-fried crickets and such.
Angelina Jolie recently revealed that her children tend to eat crickets ‘like Doritos’.
It’s not strange because, according to New York Magazine, Jolie herself enjoys snacking on cockroaches. She even shares a tip for anyone else who would like to try them, “There’s this very pointy bit on their stomach you just cannot eat. You have to kind of pop that part off.”
Dutch entomologists Marcel Dicke and Arnold van Huis believe that insects can be the meat of the future. According to their essay in the Wall Street Journal, insects require less feed and less space than livestock, produce less waste, and are available in abundance. They are rich in proteins, B vitamins and minerals like iron and zinc, plus humans can easily catch swine or avian flu but insects are so different from us, such risks are low.
Eating insects could soon be as normal as eating sushi is now. The cringe-worthy habit is not only healthy but also delicious according to those who have tried the giant bug chilly dip or grasshopper tacos.
Would you have the guts to enjoy a spider on a stick? You can’t know unless you try!
