Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Bugs for dinner?

I met an interesting person recently. Her name is Charlotte and she is researching hornet larva in a village called Kushihara, not far from where I live. In Kushihara, hornet larva (known in Japanese as hachinoko or hebo) is a popular food. Well, when I say popular, it's not like everyone is eating it all the time. It's actually quite expensive and it seems to be more popular amongst the older generation. From what I gather people mostly use it as a food seasoning, adding it to their rice balls and that kind of thing. So anyway she is spending a year or so in Kushihara researching hornet larva, but she is also interested in all kinds of bugs, mostly those that can be eaten (by humans). Which brings me to the title of this post. The other day she gave me some boiled and flavored grasshoppers to eat. Well she actually gave them to me and my wife, but I was the only one willing to give them a try. That is a photo of them here. I can't say they tasted really delicious but to be honest they weren't all that bad, just a little prickly. I'm sure if you were camping and wanted a bit of protein a few bugs would do you fine. I wonder what she'll be bringing round next...

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