June 18, 2005

• I know they are nutritious, and I try to keep an open mind - but I'm hitting some of my basic food taboos here. It probably doesn't help that sometime as a child, I developed a really strong aversion to worms. The smell of worms on a rainy morning still turns my stomach.
• Locusts particularly tickle my gag reflex. I think I'd need another pair of arms to enjoy them properly. It's the legs, the abundance of nasty bristly legs. Caterpillars I think I could choke down if fried and rolled in enough pepper or gov't surplus "cheese" - they'd be like a Cheeto or a Frito. Grubb-Krisps™! And yet we eat amaebi with gusto, shells and all.
• *watches over carapace nervously, sends warning note to beeswacky*
• I prefer my amoebae with pesto.
• Ugh. Please accept my condolences. Rinse the basil more carefully next time!
• >And yet we eat amaebi with gusto, shells and all. What you mean 'we', kemosabe?
• What is "amaebi"? Does it have another name?
• What is "Google"? :-)
• I am *so* sorry- that was uncalled-for. Apparently I've nominated myself as Interim Bigwig of the Ministry of Snark. Sorry.
• If you've ever caught a bug cart in Bangkok you may have tasted locust ("was it like prawn?" a local asked me) and in Burma, golden spider. Thing is, don't a lot of insects root in shit? My main concern would be how to ensure that the little critters are completely clean, given all the countours, hairs, etc. Gotta be more difficult than cleaning fiddleheads.
• Farmers near Mexico City ... found they could get more money for the edible bugs than for their crops. Anyone have a breakdown of prices? Yes, some figures were pointed out for the mescal worms, but this story kind of reads like everyone in Mexico is going kookoo for cocoa bugs.
• What is "amaebi"? Does it have another name? Might help if it was written "ama ebi." I've never intentionally eaten bugs (except for hot dogs, processed flour, guava nectar and crustaceans), but I've gotta admit I'm intrigued.
• I think I'll have the California rolls...
• No, I'd never heard of them - I was just wondering if a different name for a shellfish I did know, but I was wrong.
• Thing is, don't a lot of insects root in shit? No. Grasshoppers eat plants, so there's no particular reason for them to be rooting around in shit.
• I've eaten fire-roasted crickets. They were served a little cafe in SF (now defunct) that specialized in indigenous foods of Oaxaca. They were very good -- smoky, crispy and a wonderful appetiser. The owner gave us an order for free to encourage trying them. I admit that I was hesitant at first, but I liked them so much that I ordered them on repeat visits.
• All kinds of insects have been a staple of nourishment in indigenous Mexico. Properly raised, they're a cheap source of nutrients. The creepy factor is hard for most to overcome, but they're considered a delicacy and served not only in street markets in small villages but in some high-end restaurant on the big cities. Just a matter of readjusting expectations. And many recipes don't gloat on the shock value of presenting the ingredients naked, but use them as spices and something that adds flavor. Now, something like those japanese dishes where one eats the fish while it's still breathing, now that's off limits for me.
• Not so much crickets (probably similar to the locust I had, which was alright), but beetles do, no?
• As for rooting in shit, I would refrain from pork and most shellfish if you have concerns about that. I've eaten crickets at a Oxacan restaurant here in LA and have to say that they weren't bad. Tasted a bit like dried shrimp. They were pan fried and dusted them with chili powder and lime juice. The whole thing became a bit dicey for me when I thought about what I was eating, similar to how I felt when I first ate sushi. But all it is just cultural taboo that has little to nothing to do with reality. Bugs are a tasty, inexpensive form of high quality protein.
• The mother of one of my best friends, who hails from Venezula, told me of her friend who operates a worm farm. She never thought to question what the worms were being raised for until she went to visit the facility for the first time. She was surprised at the size of the farm, and the large quantites of earth worms they were producing. When she asked, "where are all these worms going?" her friend informed her that their largest client was McDonalds in South America. I have no reason to disbelive her, but still, there's something about the thought of worms being mixed with beef that makes me think, "NO WAY!" She swore it to be true. Any monkeys in S. America who frequent McDonalds?
• ^ venezuela
• In Mexico and most of south america, the main use for pig and cows' noses, tails, skin and ears is turning them into carnitas; fried, stewed, broiled or charcoaled, they become filler for tacos. It's meat, after all. Americans that see this often gag at the idea; of course, when confronted with the fact that those, along with eyes and all other refuse are the basis for hotdogs and hamburgers, well, it changes their attitudes a little.
• Hmmm, I don't know about most of South America. The taco is pretty much limited to Mexico and parts of central America. And strictly speaking, carnitas is made of cuts of pork meat, marinated and long stewed. I've never heard "carnitas" used as an all purpose word for taco filling. For example, Argentina has no such indiginous foodstuff by the name of taco. But they do have hamburgers and hot dogs and sausages where all the "elbows and assholes" end up, just as here.
• Re: worm meat. Once again, snopes to the rescue.
• In Mexico, you eat bugs. In soviet Russia, bugs eat YOU!
• How can worm meat be more repulsive than cow meat? Sheesh- having heard the screams of a calf being branded and castrated, all without anesthetic, I'd much rather consume worms, as animals go. Bleh.
• Nods to dxlifer
• As it says here, barbecued witchetties taste quite like chicken or prawns with peanut sauce.
• I must say, this post's timing is excellent: Tomorrow I'm going to our local Insectarium to eat some of those critters. On the menu: Atta-wrap • Atta ants in a tortilla Cool crickets • Roasted crickets served on a cucumber canapé Bamboochetta • Bruschetta with olive tapenade and bamboo worms From our grill • Barbecued walkingsticks and locusts Entomobar • Darkling beetle snack bar Cricket surprise • Jellied crickets I'm salivating already...
• Sqiud - the carnitas I had in Mexico were big chunks of pork cooked in a big copper pot over a wood fire with all the pork fat included - and cooked for a long time so that they were somewhere between fried and roasted, brown and flavorful on the outside and moist on the inside.. You bought kilo chunks and ate sliced or shredded the meat yourself, or found restaurants where tortas de carnitas and other dishes were available. The only time I've seen ears, etc., is here is the US, though I'd suspect that they were sold in some parts of Mexico, just not where I bought the lovely stuff. The best I ever had were in (I think) eastern Jalisco - there's a town there which is famous for carnitas, but I don't remember the name. The seasoning included some citrus, and I'm not sure what else, but it was to die for.
• Chapulines!
• Re: worm meat. Once again, snopes to the rescue. I hear you squid, and have myself checked out the snopes on this subject before, yet they make no mention of McDonalds outside of the U.S. - to which my "source" was referring. I tend to believe this would in fact fall in this false category - - but the person who told me this has been an individual of great trust for many years... it just makes me wonder!
• mare, bonbug appétit!
• Right path, that is the traditional way of prepairing carnitas. My point was that ears, elbows and assholes (what's left over after you sell the "good parts") are not made into carnitas. It is a very specific dish. And tacos are not from South America, but are regional to parts of the south west US, Mexico and parts of central America have similar dishes (the pupusa is one). I will say this, that Latin American culture is far, far less squeemish about ofal and what not. I learned to love blood sausages, sweetbreads, kidneys, tripe, intestines, etc... from my travels to Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and central America. As a matter of fact, my favorite taco filling is tripas (intestines chopped up and pan fried). Goddamn tasty!
• El Chapulin Colorado!
• I will say this, that Latin American culture is far, far less squeemish about ofal and what not. I learned to love blood sausages, sweetbreads, kidneys, tripe, intestines, etc... from my travels to ... ... the UK! *carves another greasy slab from the tofu haggis*
• Too true fish tick. Much of the cusine of Argentina was derived from British. The famous empanada can trace its existance directly to the Cornish pasty. Same as their blood sausage and many other such lovely dead animal bits.
• They were not too bad. Crunchy. But since my source of protein is mainly tofu (and some fish and squid ;-) I'll stick with that for now.