Thanks to the likes of
Bizarre Foods and
Survivorman, not to mention a bit of good-natured curiosity, I've been wanting to try eating insects. Forget all the health benefits, protein counts and world population facts, I'm wanting to do this just to try it. In particular, June Bugs and crickets (and I suppose grasshoppers). Common enough in this area, numerous, and from what I've read, beneficial and tasty.
Not that I am lazy or anything, but I haven't actually gotten around to... collecting... said insects. I don't know. I suppose part of it is the western mindset, about how it's bugs fer gawd's sake, I don't need to eat bugs, and so on. Even if I
had to eat them (survival purposes), there'd be other things I could eat first. Maybe it's the thought of trying something for the first time, who knows. But I did find a work-around: if I bought it, I'd have to try it, right?
Couple months back I told the wife that when I had some disposable income, I'd get some. Looked online, and found a couple distributors, but most sold crickets (or specialized in crickets). I wanted a variety. I found a place that sells a lot of different bugs and bug products, from dehydrated to canned to ground / powder, and so on:
Thailand Unique. I ordered a few different items, all of which are dehydrated because I figure it'd be easier to eat those than something from a can... start off small, baby steps. Cooked and dried, contained within a vacuum sealed pouch, it'll be like eating chips or something, unlike canned, where it's preserved inside liquid, making things soft and gooey. Baby steps.
Placed my order on the 13th of June, and the package just left New York yesterday morning. Don't know when exactly I'll get these, but I hope it's soon. Well, sooner than later.
Anyway, some of you may have seen me make mention of this on Facebook; I'm just writing this here to include the extra information. And pictures! Here's what I ordered, but please note that the insect pictures posted aren't representative of what the dehydrated product looks like. The pictures are just of that species when alive.
Nom nom nom.
Locust - locusta migratoria
Large Crickets - gryllus Bimaculatus
Small Crickets with eggs - Acheta domestica
Sago worms - Rhynchophorus ferrugineus
Silk worms - Bombyx Mori
Mole Crickets
Giant Water Bugs
Male Rhino Beetles
June Bugs (small and large) **no picture needed, we all know what these are**
Shield Bugs
Bamboo worm pupae
