So you are sitting down for a meal, or maybe just thinking about
what to make for dinner. What sounds good to eat? Maybe you want a
stir-fried dish of bees? If you have a sweet tooth, you might want
to try some chocolate covered crispy ants.
Even though these may not be your typical foods, they are
nutritional. They have protein and fats that we need to live. In
fact, there are some countries where a good dish of insects is just
the perfect meal. From tasty ants to grasshoppers and delicious
grub worms, many cultures eat insects as part of their diet.
Larvae for sale - one has a bite
out of it (c) Steven G.
Johnson
Let's Eat Insects!
When travelling to study beetle biodiversity, I have tasted the
delights of a few cultures - leaf cutter ants in the markets of
Chiapas, Mexico (sold like popcorn in greasy paper bags), Mopani
worms (always enjoyed with a cold coke) sold in the super markets
of South Africa and ants found right in the middle of the Great
Plains (taste just like lemonade)!
Insects are an important food source throughout the world, and
they are an ecologically sound food source as well. South African
children collect grasshoppers of on the way home from school and
are getting a high protein and high calorie snack. Two grasshoppers
pack more protein than a quarter pound of hamburger! Insects
are delicious and nutritious.
Mealworms for human consumption
(c) Pengo
So you think insects are yucky?
American mouth-watering delicacies include a butter-soaked
Atlantic lobster, spicy crayfish etoufee, and sweet Dungeness crab.
Their kin, the insects, are no different! Three inch long water
bugs, favourites in Asia, are prepared and eaten the same way
Americans prepare and eat lobster. The sea-dwelling relatives of
the insects feed on dead stuff at the bottom of the ocean. Compare
this to caterpillars that feed on clean, green leaves; grasshoppers
that feed on native prairie grasses; bee larvae that are fed pure
flower nectar; and nutty-tasting larvae that feed on whole
grains.
Curious about how to cook and eat insects? Check out Mary's
recipes on Ask a
Biologist, including this one for chocolate
covered crispies. What's the crispy ingredient?!
Original article by Mary Liz Jameson and CJ Kazilek on
Ask
a Biologist