UPDATE. “The little gummies are packed with protein, but not from soy or gelatine. They are instead made from an edible, jumping insect – locusts, which are a type of grasshopper.” —BBC NEWS Story, Sept. 23, 2021
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I recall protesting a worm in my apple, to which my mother retorted I ought to consider it added protein. When I was in Laos, the Agricultural Division of the United Nations had approved a pilot program for three bug farms there. The farms were to cultivate big water bugs and grasshoppers to supplement the local diet as the children in Laos reportedly had the most protein-deficient diet in Southeast Asia. The newspapers were calling for recipe ideas and I recall seeing the suggestion to add bugs to a mango salad.
I had tried fried tarantula there. They farm those and remove the teeth before cooking them. (It was in Laos I learned the tarantula has venom in its teeth.) The fried and toothless tarantula had about a two-inch long body plus the legs. I thought it had a barbecue taste. It was crunchy except for the bit by the tail where it was mushy like the stomach of a clam. While the fried tarantula seemed exotic, the bowl heaped with fried grasshoppers just looked like grasshoppers. I’m more familiar with grasshoppers; I couldn’t get myself to try one. But maybe on a pizza….
Fried Grasshoppers
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DIS wrote: “Very cool, thanks for sharing! I’m amazed that you were able to eat the tarantula but not the grasshoppers; even as a…Farms founder I’d have to force myself to eat a large arachnid :)” (March 6, 2014)