Maryland Beachcomber Food cover Edible Insects July 22, 1994 By Kent Steinriede It's all a matter of culture. The Chinese find eating with silverware crude, compared to their chopsticks. Many Africans won't eat lobster because it lives on the bottom of the sea and eats garbage. Along the same lines, insects are not considered delicacies in North America. But such is not the case in most parts of the world. Insects are eaten regularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In Zaire, the mopanie worm is known as the "snack that crawls" and is a popular dish, fried, dried or stewed in tomato sauce, according to Darna Dufour, of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Closer to home, insects have long been consumed in Latin America. The Aztecs loved plump agave worms served with fiery guacamole. Even today in southern Mexico, you can find stir-fried grasshoppers or empanadas stuffed with larvae. In liquor stores on both sides of the border, the agave worm can be found at the bottom of bottles of mescal. Native Americans ate 60 different kinds of insects. "They were part of the food rounds," says entomologist Gene DeFoliart, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin. In earlier times in Europe, the Greeks were crazy about cicadas, while the French and Italians also considered insects delicacies. The Western aversion to eating insects slights a cheap source of protein, fat and vitamins, entomologists say. Amazonian ants, termites and caterpillars have a higher protein value than dried fish, and nutritional value that rivals pork sausage and goose liver, according to a study by Dufour. That's if you can stomach it. The only reason it may be difficult to pop a locust in your mouth is because we were raised that way. Iowa State University entomologist Donald Lewis, who is a vegetarian, says our culture's distaste for insects, dogs and cats exposes hypocrisy in the Western animal-eating diet. But some entomologists sure can stomach bugs. At bug doctor functions, the host has been known to set out an elaborate spread (mealworm). The New York Entomological Society two years ago served as hors d'oeuvres such delights as mini fontina bruschetta with mealworm ganoush and waxworm fritters with plum sauce. Dessert included chocolate cricket tarte. DeFoliart, who publishes the Food Insect Newsletter, with more than 3,000 subscribers, has eaten mealworms, bee pupae, termites and caterpillars. The only problem he's ever had eating insects was with a giant waterbug from Thailand, because it was difficult to clean. "I think you need a Thai chef who knows how to handle those," DeFoliart says. Hugh Thompson, retired entomology professor at Kansas State University, has prepared crickets, mealworns and breaded, deep-fried corn borers. "They taste like shrimp," Thompson says of the borers. As part of his course "Insects of Home, Lawn and Garden," Thompson used to bring in a serving of insects for the class to try each semester. The purpose of the snack was to show that insects, such as small quantities found in processed foods, are not dangerous, and even beneficial, to humans. Usually, about half the class would eat them. Whether they ate the bugs did not affect the students' grade in the course, Thompson says. Many adventurous gastronomes who have travelled to Africa, Asia or Latin America have insect stories to tell. Kevin Souza, a research coordinator at the University of California at San Francisco, often ate insects while he lived in the Central African country of Malawi as a biology teacher. "As a food lover, I delved into the custom of eating insects," Souza says, in an electronic mail interview. "Many Africans view the Western love of shrimp in the same way Westerners view the eating of insects. When you think of it, they don't look very different," Souza says. In Malawi, Souza even prepared giant termites at home. "We could catch those at our house," he says. As large termites came out of the ground at the beginning of the rainy season, Souza would turn on a porch light to attract the termites, which burn their wings on the bulb and fall into a bucket of water under the light. After frying the termites in a dry skillet with garlic A they produce quite a bit of oil, Souza says A these "crunchy delights" taste like "smokey bacon." "They have the texture of popcorn," Souza says. As a student at the University of Hohenheim/Stuttgart, Fred Schwohl travelled to Asia several times and has eaten a few bugs in his day. Larvae of big beetles, which lay their eggs in sago palms, are eaten in some parts of Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra, says Schwohl, in an electronic mail interview from Germany. Markets in Asia also carry chocolate-covered ants in cans, as well as bees trapped in honey. Schwohl has eaten ants, bees and beetle larvae. The larvae were especially good, he says. Insect eating has gotten some publicity with the opening of the Insect Club restaurant in Washington, D.C. and a Parisian restaurant featuring cooked and raw insects. Iowa State has also helped. Each fall the Department of Entomology hosts an insect horror film festival and serves insect munchies, such as maggot krispies and corn borer bars. A couple of Iowa State undergraduate students have even appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, says Lewis. On television, it looked like Leno ate some of the snacks, but who really knows, says Lewis, who saw the program. As soon as Leno popped the treats in his mouth, the scene cut immediately to a commercial. Maryland Beachcomber Finding Bugs July 22, 1994 By Kent Steinriede Just as your backyard can become a garden for vegetables and herbs, it can also be a happy-hunting ground for insect chefs. "What we really need are some field guides," says Gene DeFoliart, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin. Yes, yo can go out in the backyard and munch most of the tiny critters you find. Just a couple of guidelines. "Stay away from bright colored insects," DeFoliart says. In the world at-large, these marks let other animals, and people, know the insect is not going to taste good and might be poisonous. Don't eat insects or larvae with hair. They can cause stomach irritation. After catching insects, hold them in a ventilated container for at least four hours to allow them to purge themselves of whatever they've eaten, which might not taste too good. If you don't want to use your own bugs, pet stores often have live crickets, and bait shops sometimes have mealworms. In the area, Salisbury Aquarium and Pet Center, in the Twilley Shopping Center (tel. 543-0120), is only pet store with live crickets. Crickets are available at $1 for 12. There are also a few mail order insect companies. Grub Company Inc. P.O. Box 15001 Hamilton, OH (800) 222-3563 (513) 874-5881 Sells crickets, maggots, mealworms and waxworms. Maggots: $5 for 500; mealworms: $5 for 1,000; "mighty" mealworms: $8 for 500; waxworms: $9 for 500; crickets: 500 for $12. Rainbow Mealworms 126 E. Spruce St. Compton, CA 90224 (800) 777-9676 (310) 635-1494 Sells mealworms and crickets. Crickets: $8 for 500, plus shipping and handling; Mealworms: $9.30 for 2,000, plus shipping and handling. Publications If you're still interested in edible insects, subscribe to the Food Insect Newsletter, published three times each year. Yearly subscription is $5. To subscribe write to: University of Wisconsin Department of Entomology 1630 Linden Dr. Madison, WI 53706 Maryland Beachcomber Recipes July 22, 1994 By Kent Steinriede Here are recipes of some of the snacks served at the Iowa State University insect horror film festival. Sauteed Larva (Adapted from a recipe in "Entertaining with Insects" by Ronald L. Taylor and Barbara Carter, Woodbridge Press, 1976) 1/4 cup butter 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1 cup larvae Rinse larvae and dry with a cloth. In a frying pan, melt butter and saute garlic for 5 minutes. Add larvae and stir. Continue to saute for 10 to 15 minutes. Corn Borer Bread (Adapted from a recipe in "Entertaining with Insects" by Ronald L. Taylor and Barbara Carter, Woodbridge Press, 1976) Add corn borers to your favorite corn bread recipe. Substitute 1/2 cup ground dry-roasted corn borer larvae for 1/2 cup corn meal. Other larvae will work, as long as they are not hairy. To dry roast the larvae, put them in a colander whole, rinse and pat dry. Dry roast on a cookie sheet in oven at 200o F. Chocolate Chirpies (Adapted from a recipe in "Entertaining with Insects" by Ronald L. Taylor and Barbara Carter, Woodbridge Press, 1976) 2 cups sugar 2/3 cup cream 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon butter 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup dry-roasted crickets or grasshoppers, chopped Put whole crickets in a colander, rinse and pat dry. Dry roast on a cookie sheet in oven at 200o F. Chop the crickets. Mix sugar, cream, chocolate and salt in a saucepan. Over medium heat, stir constantly until chocolate melts and sugar dissolves. Continue cooking until mixture reaches 234o F on a candy thermometer. Remove chocolate mixture from heat and add butter. Without stirring, let mixture cool to 120o F. Add vanilla and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture is thick, for 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in insects. Spread mixture evenly in a buttered loaf pan. Let cool until firm. Cut in 2-inch squares. --30--