Bug stew.

For a number of years I've been building a decent "survival pack" under my belt so I won't have to eat bugs.:D

Speaking seriously, I know insect dishes are eaten in parts of Mexico and Central America, among other places. I think that once we get past our societal reluctance to eat bugs, they could be a valuable survival food source.

DancesWithKnives
 
I've eaten grasshoppers and scorpion.
Grasshoppers (Inago) are a common rural delicacy in summer here. I went through the rice fields with my wife's grandmother one summer collecting them. She cooked them with sugar and soy sauce. It's quite nice, I just hate the legs as they get stuck in your teeth.
Scorpions aren't a usual food here, but there's a traditional style bar/eatery (Izakaya) near me that serves some weird food. The grilled scorpion was pretty good. The grilled sparrow not so much.
I don't particularly want to eat bugs for survival, but after having eaten them in a "controlled" environment, I feel like I could do it in a real "eat em or die" situation.
I also went and collected wild bee honey this year with her father. I'd never done that before. We processed it over the winter and now I have dozens of jars of the best tasting honey I have ever had.
Marrying a farmer's daughter was the best decision I've ever made:D
 
I've eaten a number of bugs, grubs, etc. while going through various military survival schools. I prefer steak and potatoes.
 
I've eaten fried wichity grubs ( That's what they call them in Australia )
They were delicious with salt and garlic. :thumbup: I keep an open mind , and will try almost anything. Insects and such are a great protein source , and I want to expand the menu and try others.
 
Don't try stink bug, they taste awful I had one in a power drill last week that got cut up in the motor and little pieces got in my mouth as it shot out everywhere and I had to brush my teeth seven times to get rid of that taste. :barf:

Grasshoppers and Crickets are tasty though, tear the legs off first, they'll get caught in your throat. Most insects can be eaten raw however, crickets are good fried or chocolate covered. :D I don't know what it is about insects that put people off their stomachs, they're pretty much all nutrience and most don't have much of a taste unless you eat something coming out of fecal matter or a stink bug or something similar.
 
Been awhile, but those little red ants taste like lemon-heads. The formic acid or whatever that provides the sting in their bite, also provides some zest to the palette. Compliments clover tea, both usually right at your feet.

Not looking to include bugs in my daily menu, but they are a very sustainable, easily harvest food-source that will generally provide a good caloric cost/benefit ratio. Also good high nutritional content, pound for pound.

Thanks for the link and discussion. 'Different', but fascinating!
 
NaturalWorld said:
Been awhile, but those little red ants taste like lemon-heads. The formic acid or whatever that provides the sting in their bite, also provides some zest to the palette.
Click to expand...

I remember those...had crickets, grasshoppers, a few assorted grubs, scorpion, other assorted ants...none of them tasted like chicken. The grasshoppers toasted were about the best.
 
Ramm9 said:
I remember those...had crickets, grasshoppers, a few assorted grubs, scorpion, other assorted ants...none of them tasted like chicken. The grasshoppers toasted were about the best.
Click to expand...

Sounds like ya have a much stronger stomach than me :D:thumbup:
Certainly seem like there's more substance to them
 
I have heard that in some of the Asian countries, they will put a sheet up, that funnels into a bucket, filled with water. Behind this bucket, they will place a light.

The flying bugs flock to the light, hit the sheet, drop into the bucket, and once wet, are stuck there...

Then, the folks will collect the bugs up, cook 'em and eat 'em.

Sounds disgusting. But, it does illustrate a basic resourcefulness on the part of those folks. Especially since they do almost no work for the food.

Food... ...for thought.


Marion
 
I have eaten a few bugs in my time. Some years ago I read something that I thought was interesting. Bugs should be held for a period of time in order to allow their digestive system to clear before eating them. This is done in order to prevent sickness due to whats in their GI tract.
 
I've never eaten bugs. I've never had to. If I was starving and there was nothing else to eat I'm sure I would.
Shrimp look just like underwater bugs when you think about it and I like shrimp. My brother has eaten sautaed grub and he says they taste like shrimp:)
 
Never quite gotten around to trying them myself (one of those things that's pretty easy to procrastinate about). I have however come across a table in one of the books I have laying around, detailing the nutritional value of common insects. It would appear that grasshoppers and crickets (in that order) are, by far, the way to go from a food value standpoint.
 
I eat ants. When they get into some of my food here at home. I just eat the food with them on. I'll be damned if I will throw out good food becuase of ants. The peppery taste doesn't go so well with Cheerios though.
 
Protein is protein. So if I had to, of course I would eat bugs. I would of course try to make them as palatable as possible, but I wouldn't have any qualms about downing them if the need was there.

Besides, I managed to survive MANY meals cooked by my mother-in-law, so what danger can a little bug represent?
 
On the "high" Sierra loop trail in Yosemite, they have stations you can stop in to recharge if needed, and camp if you want.

We were out for 10 days, and we couldn't pack enough food for all meals and snacks, so we did as they suggested and stopped in for a hot meat every other day.

We ate this tomato/chicken broth concoction that was hot, salty, and had a lot of rice and grains in it. It was pretty damn good. I ate a quart of it every time they had enough.

So imagine my surprise when I eyed the "rice" carefully. It had a little brown head, and tiny feet! Closer inspection revealed that the "overcooked" rice was some kind of meal worm that had gotten into their supplies earlier in the season. There was so many meal worm hollow skins where the had burst and full teeny bug carcasses that they looked like rice and some kind of grain husk.

We are at the very end of the season before they closed the trail, so it was opined by the staff that the bugs had frozen in their nightly hard freezes. They were horrified; my hiking partner refused to eat anymore and tried to keep from getting sick as we had been eating that at different camps off and on for a few days.

Me? I ate my normal amount and took some back to my tent. It was good. Just think "overcooked, soft rice" and the meal worms work well.

Robert
 
Anyone has an actual recipe for a bug stew?

Only recipes online are made with stuff you bring. I'd like to find a recipe with only thing you can find in the wild.
 
jw2n said:
I have eaten a few bugs in my time. Some years ago I read something that I thought was interesting. Bugs should be held for a period of time in order to allow their digestive system to clear before eating them. This is done in order to prevent sickness due to whats in their GI tract.
Click to expand...

My late mother once got on an escargot kick. The manuals said to do exactly that with the snails you raise. Don't feed them for a few days before harvesting so as to clean them out.

DancesWithKnives
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top