Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
In the future: Hey baby, let me snack on your lice.
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Eating insects and changing American culture
- Thread starter Escape Goat
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So what would I be eating?
ClosingADoor
Member
You first. I'm good now, thank you.
Seriously, it might be needed in the future, but I can't see myself making that change.
Seriously, it might be needed in the future, but I can't see myself making that change.
jimbobsmells
Member
Some insects are delicious. Non Pai was a favourite of mine in Thailand. Especially flavoured with cinnamon. I agree people need to get over the phobia.
Now this is the right idea. I'm a HUGE HUGE fan of shrimp. But with shrimp, you don't see their antennas or legs. They're all pulled. If bugs can be processed like with shrimp, I'm all for it.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
There is a (post-apocalyptic?) movie where they sold bars that is made up of insects for nutrients. What movie am I thinking of?
Edit:
Haha! That's the one. Snowpiercer!!
Edit:
Yeah. Lets get on that.
Haha! That's the one. Snowpiercer!!
Horseticuffs
Full werewolf off the buckle
Listen, there is NO way this is going to become common until we reach a point where we can't afford as a species to NOT eat them. It will be thrust upon us and we will have no choice.
Once, on a podcast, I heard that like 80% of the biomass on our planet is just different types of ants. That is the vast majority of all living weight on Earth is ants. Just ants. We could solve starvation a billion times over, if you think about it.
Once, on a podcast, I heard that like 80% of the biomass on our planet is just different types of ants. That is the vast majority of all living weight on Earth is ants. Just ants. We could solve starvation a billion times over, if you think about it.
I want to think of them as being not so different from krill, shrimp, prawn, crawfish, etc. But none of those things I just mentioned are typically poisonous, have mandibles and stingers, etc. I think in my subconscious, it doesn't seem too different from trying to eating needles filled with arsenic or something. (In reality, they're probably not poisonous...much...and the chitinous bits are probably pretty brittle)
At the end of the day, I guess it comes down to what you were raised eating. I have no issue with the idea of eating things like tripe, gator, snake, frogs legs, rabbit, rocky mountain oysters, snails, raw sushi, etc.
At the end of the day, I guess it comes down to what you were raised eating. I have no issue with the idea of eating things like tripe, gator, snake, frogs legs, rabbit, rocky mountain oysters, snails, raw sushi, etc.
Baron Doggystyle von Woof
Member
I'm actually thinking on trying insects soon. If I like it I might eat it once a week instead of a meat product.
crimzonflame
Member
80% of the world's culture? Is this true?
ManDudeChild
Member
I'd give you flak over forgetting the name of a movie just over six months old ... but it was relatively forgettable.
Eh, could be decent.
I ate insects. And it's actually no big deal. If you look at it, it's not 'more gross' then seafoods like crabs, prawns or anything like that.
I haven't eaten a lot of it. Just a tapenade which had bugs in it (had an extra touch of nut flavor compared to normal tapenade), and a dish from an african food truc on a music festival (it was with worms, but barely visible). It helps if you start out with something where the bugs aren't identifiable.
I'm at the moment eagerly awaiting the moment when my local supermarket starts to sell insect burgers. They are Ok'd here for consumption and are available here and there, but the market is still very small
I haven't eaten a lot of it. Just a tapenade which had bugs in it (had an extra touch of nut flavor compared to normal tapenade), and a dish from an african food truc on a music festival (it was with worms, but barely visible). It helps if you start out with something where the bugs aren't identifiable.
I'm at the moment eagerly awaiting the moment when my local supermarket starts to sell insect burgers. They are Ok'd here for consumption and are available here and there, but the market is still very small
The way to get insects into our food culture is to appeal to the avant garde high class foodies.
Low class to high class, then jack up the price/demand has been a successful strategy with other foods like lobsters and prawns... which are literally the bugs of the sea.
Also, turning insects into protein meal and using that as ingredients for other more processed meals (that can nonetheless be presented well - a lot of cutting edge cuisine is highly processed in novel ways after all).
If they can get the taste of it right, I'd imagine that they could get things like insect burgers and insect chips to sell well.
Low class to high class, then jack up the price/demand has been a successful strategy with other foods like lobsters and prawns... which are literally the bugs of the sea.
Also, turning insects into protein meal and using that as ingredients for other more processed meals (that can nonetheless be presented well - a lot of cutting edge cuisine is highly processed in novel ways after all).
If they can get the taste of it right, I'd imagine that they could get things like insect burgers and insect chips to sell well.
DeaconKnowledge
Member
This is why I don't eat them.
I've tried some fried insects before, it's actually quite tasty and I can certainly see them being much easier to farm than mammals. Sounds like a good protein solution for future space colonies as well. Hell unleash some cockroaches on a halfway terraformed Mars and you will probably be swimming in high nutrient protein soon.
alfredofroylan
Member
Insects are quite common in Mexico, except in the north because most of them are toxic there. So far my experiences are:
Gusanos de maguey
Crunchy, a lil bit salty and so good with guacamole. The guys taste so good, some people eat them alive but then you have a gooey, moving mess in your mouth. If you're looking for bugs in your diet, this's the bug you're looking for.
Chapulines
AKA grasshoppers, with or without chilli powder. Honestly they lack of flavor and their wings feel like paper when they go through you throat, but on the other side they are chaper and a nice snack if you add lemon and chilli powder.
Jumiles
A distant relative of roaches, taste like medicine and feels like medicine. Overall not a nice treat but in theory they're super healthy, the reason why this particular insect taste like that is because they have an insane amount of iodine inside its body.
Escamoles
Basically ant eggs/larvae, and my those things are super expensive. Sometimes is even more expensive than caviar, taste is a lil bit acid but overall pretty good, however don't execpt a big plate of these things most restaurants just serve small portions.
Gusanos de maguey
Crunchy, a lil bit salty and so good with guacamole. The guys taste so good, some people eat them alive but then you have a gooey, moving mess in your mouth. If you're looking for bugs in your diet, this's the bug you're looking for.
Chapulines
AKA grasshoppers, with or without chilli powder. Honestly they lack of flavor and their wings feel like paper when they go through you throat, but on the other side they are chaper and a nice snack if you add lemon and chilli powder.
Jumiles
A distant relative of roaches, taste like medicine and feels like medicine. Overall not a nice treat but in theory they're super healthy, the reason why this particular insect taste like that is because they have an insane amount of iodine inside its body.
Escamoles
Basically ant eggs/larvae, and my those things are super expensive. Sometimes is even more expensive than caviar, taste is a lil bit acid but overall pretty good, however don't execpt a big plate of these things most restaurants just serve small portions.
GeordieMark
Member
It only seems weird because I'm not used to it. Ultimately, eating a bug is no different to eating a pig, a cow, or fish. If I can find a way to overcome the psychological horror of eating bugs, I'd probably end up enjoying them.
Unknown One
Member
Well I am up for that. Except Roaches I hate those. Crustaceans and bugs are related anyways. I should try out grasshoppers.
Auto-Reply
Member
Bulk up on bugs... there's an idea for fit-gaf!
Poodlestrike
Banned
Pass, thanks. I'd prefer vat-grown cuts of regular protein
Alligatorjandro
Banned
No
Where is this 80 percent at? I have friends from Iran, Vancouver, South Africa, Trinidad, Italy, and Germany. All of them are weirded out by eating insects. Outside of a tequila worm, and some chocolate covered bug that I tried, I just don't see myself eating bugs. I have a hard time eating lobster because of how crazy it looks.
Nikodemos
Member
Shield bugs? People eat shield bugs in Mexico?Jumiles
A distant relative of roaches, taste like medicine and feels like medicine. Overall not a nice treat but in theory they're super healthy, the reason why this particular insect taste like that is because they have an insane amount of iodine inside its body.
Insects are quite common in Mexico, except in the north because most of them are toxic there. So far my experiences are:
Gusanos de maguey
That looks quite delicious.
alfredofroylan
Member
Yes, mostly Oaxaca, Guerrero, Morelos and Chiapas. Pretty common during rain season and look they even made a pretty good salsa too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyxCBkWbbKQ
I would demolish a bowl of that.
Nikodemos
Member
Hmm... There are craploads of them around here, particularly in autumn. Unfortunately, this damn city and everything in it is so horrendously polluted I might as well make salsa from alkaline batteries and half-burnt motor oil.
We could do things the american way and process them so that we dont see the bugs. I tried some chocolate chip cookies made with 'cricket flour' (from these dues http://bittyfoods.com/) and they tasted like normal cookies.
alfredofroylan
Member
That's a rule for bugs, the taste depends on what they eat. That's the reason of why the bugs from northern Mexico are toxic, most plants there are toxic too.
sasimirobot
Junior Member
fried bamboo larva are awesome!
similar in texture and taste to french fries, the insides evaporate when fried, topped with Thai spices these are the perfect beer food.
Veritigo_X
Member
The only time I wanted to eat an insect was when I was reading A Dance with Dragons and reading about the honey spicy locusts in Meereen. The idea of something being sweet, spicy and crunchy at the same time sounded really good while I was reading. I satisfied that by eating a bag of BBQ chips.
Recently I'm really interested in trying it! Some friends that were on vacation in Thailand told me some of the insects tasted like chicken and were delicious. The first time might be strange for most but I'm sure we'll get used to it quickly, especially if it's fried well with nice seasoning/spices^^
Krauser Kat
Member
creating meat from beef is one of the most wasteful practices humans are doing to destroy the planet. Any solutions to resolve this should be looked at seriously.
theepicoftyler
Member
I think the easy way to go about this is to do something like cricket flour. I've never used it, but I saw a guy pitching it on Shark Tank and it sounded like a good idea to me.
Looks very inoffensive, and is efficient protein.
Looks very inoffensive, and is efficient protein.
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