As the NewYorker writes, Insects—part delicacy, part gag—are chic again.This week I am posting about insect snacks you can buy, to eating dried insects by themselves, to some hints on cooking the cicadas about to hatch. But also what they taste like and how they are used, directly as the snack, or hidden in the flour. These days all sorts of people are figuring out ways to get USA to consume these animals without initiating the gag reflex my spouse gets from just the very idea. Remember, most of the world eats insects, it is just a few countries that do not have this protein tradition; although interestingly historical Southern cuisine and Native American cuisines do.
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Larvets + Crickettes
Eating snacks, whether human or animals, is something we all do. Eating insects as snacks is not as universal, although I figure more people eat them than not on a global scale. A family member told my spouse that he had found insects in a local store in Utah; when I heard a large “ugh” I chimed up and asked that he send me some, which I received around a day or two later.
Upon opening, I found it was bacon-n-cheese cricket and cheddar cheese larvae samples from that store he had found. Luckily, my food taster Michelle was with us, and so she and I gave them each a try. There is no way my spouse would eat them with us — would not even touch the packaging.
- According to Evolution: The beetle larvae snacks also come in BBQ, cheddar cheese, and Mexican spice; while the crickets come in bacon-n-cheese, salt-n-vinegar, and sour cream + onions.
Then after us, I tried to share the insects with my two dogs as well. All four of us liked the larvets as they had a powdered, cheesy flavor and were textured like a very light and small cheese puff.
Michelle and I did not like the crickettes as much, mainly because the cricket legs stuck in our teeth, but also the taste was not very good. Another point is that despite the description, they really did not taste like bacon in any way, although they did have some of the powdered cheese. The dogs did not like the crickettes at all, and even Maggie, who eats anything and everything, would not touch them.
But what was the most interesting was the nutrition panel on both. I really expected more nutrients.
- Larvets: (per box) 10.1 calories, .11g saturated fat, .02g trans fat, 3.23mg sodium, .19g carbs and 1g protein.
- Crickettes: (per box) 10.1 calories, .11g saturated fat, .02g trans fat, 3.23mg sodium, .1g carbs, .014g sugar, and .67g protein.
Chomping on Dried Insects
Michelle mentioned she had dried scorpions (head and tails on) and some dried black ants that I should taste. So after a quick trip home and return, I tasted her addition to the insect feast.
She told me she tried to entice her mother to give them a taste and it was “no way,” sort of like my spouse. The dogs had walked away at this point, probably worried I would be pushing other things on them, so I tasted alone. The scorpions still had their head and stingers attached so I removed the stinger just in case. Frankly, they just tasted like salty popcorn that was popped in a bit of rancid veggie oil. I believe the rancidity was due to age and oxidation, there was no date on the container.
But I found the ants sort of non-discript, but very crunchy and a bit smelly, with a slight taste close to what it smelled like; I just do not know how to describe what they tasted like. The crunch was like puffed quinoa seeds I think. However, if these ants were added to some chili oil and flakes, it would add a nice crunch to the sauce.
In both cases not really tasty and I’d not go out of my way to eat them.
Don Buggito Products
Then Michelle went all in and ordered four packages from Don Bugito. She said you would not even know they had bugs in some of these packages. My spouse still said no to my offer to taste with me. So I tasted them alone.
Chili Lime Crickets
The dried crickets come with pumpkin seeds. Popping ~ 1T full into my mouth I could taste the seeds at first, but then the stronger flavor of chili, but most especially lime. It was crunchy and tasty, calling out for a beer or a salty shot of tequila. Visually you see the crickets and seeds.
A serving is 1 ounce, or the whole package, and has 47c, 2k, 4p, 1f and 7mg sodium. Ingredients are crickets, pumpkin seeds, lime juice, tomato paste, dried chili pepper, and salt. Also contains some small portion of Calcium, Vit A and C, and iron.
Granola Bites Powered with Cricket Flour
This tasted just like maple sugary granola that is crunchy and sweet. There is no way someone could know there are crickets in this snack. Since ground up into a flour, the insects are not visible.
One serving is 1.5 ounces, and has 198c, 17k, 5p, 3f, and5mg sodium. Ingredients are oats, sesame seeds, coconut, cricket flour, pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, maple syrup, honey and butter.
Coconut Brittle Bugitos
Again, this is a crunchy snack with clusters of coconut, and the mealworms are clearly visible. The Clusters taste like sugared coconut, with a hint of heat from the cinnamon oil. Originally it came off like caramel popcorn, but had some hint of a spicy kick.
Serving is .75 ounce, which is half a bag, and has 90c, 13k, 2p, 1f, and 0 sodium. Ingredients are mealworms, cane sugar, coconut, amaranth, and cinnamon oil.
Dark Chocolate Crickets with Amaranth Seeds
These are little round balls of dark chocolate flavor, and the amaranth seeds are visible. Visually there was nothing buggy about the snack at all and I am not sure you would know they were in the ingredients if you did not read the label. The bittersweet chocolate is a strong flavor that covers any subtleness this snack may have.
1 serving is the bag, with 73c, 7k, 3p, 2f, and 1mg sodium. Ingredients are cricket, amaranth seeds, (fair trade) semisweet chocolate, and sea salt. I see nothing that indicates insects in the food itself.
Emerging Cicadas
Twenty percent of the world does not eat insects as part of their diet (1). This will change, as environmental issues and population growth ups the concern of protein for the masses. But for now, there are two important things in the news. First, is the small but growing proposals for using insects as protein in people and animal feed. Second is that a gazillion Cicadas are emerging from a 17-year hibernation. Bugs are in the news.
Edible at What Stage
The WashingtonPost writes: Their teneral and nymph stages are ideal for eating, says Martha Weiss, professor of biology at Georgetown University and co-director of its environmental studies program. Teneral as a term means just after they emerge and shed their exoskeleton, emerging from it whitish and soft. Once they have their adult, black color do not eat.
Do They Taste Good
The WashingtonPost also wrote that several people have described what cicadas taste like:
- Just after they shed their skin and are white, one person says raw, they taste like limp asparagus.
- Cooked they are nutty with a shrimpy texture.
- Fried + salted, they become a crispy, salty snack.
- But mostly they are described as mild, taking on the flavor of what you are cooking.
Cooking Cicadas
Recently, PBS and BonAppetit provides ideas from a company that utilizes bugs, and recipes based on three Chefs from Virginia, USA. The BonAppetit author writes about the Southern USA lore about cicada-eating traditions. He writes that there is an older phrase about cicada: the shrimp of the dirt.
- Joseph Yoon (founder of Brooklyn Bugs) has an idea on how to best use these insects as flour, protein bits in stir fried rice, and other dishes.
- Chef Will Wienckowski cooks great Baja-style cicada tacos, where the bugs are lightly breaded in cornstarch and then fried. Or his cicada and monkfish sausage.
- Chef John Seymore’s cicadas and Southern-style grits were a natural pairing. After all, if cicadas are the “shrimp of the dirt”, and grits + shrimp are part of Southern cuisine…?
Insects Eating
KQED recently wrote about insect eating in general:
- A fledgling movement is encouraging us to cultivate, harvest, cook and eat insects, partly as a way to save the world. Edible-insect advocates have set up food carts in San Francisco, conferences in Rome and food fairs in Bozeman, Mont., to promote the idea that insects can help solve food and protein shortages and reduce the huge, expensive efforts to grow beef and pork. Insects, they point out, are much easier to grow than large animals.
- And there are plenty of them. Of the 1.1 million species of insects scientists have identified and named, 1,700 are edible. They are cold-blooded creatures, which makes them much more efficient in converting energy to protein — no wasted heat.
But I cannot really convince anyone to give them a try through writing, really you need to try these yourself. More and more inroads are being made with incorporating insect protein into our, our pets’, and farm animals’ diets.
My Story
This is a follow up to my October 2020 post: From Plagues to Protein. I reviewed insect eating around the world and what new companies are trying to do with insects to help our food chain and future requirements for more protein and nutrition to feed humanity. I gave the reasoning why insect protein is going to become a more important part of our future food, but did not taste any specifically for the story.
This time I have tasted the insects myself, despite my spouse’s look of horror and disgust. Both my taster, Michelle, and I ate, critiqued, and in some cases enoyed the bugs. My dogs did favor the meal worms over the crickets, but have sent a clear message that they did not want to participate in any more experiments.
My Main Dilemma
One concern I have is regarding my neighbor. We had her over with her dog for a doggie playdate, and she went to make sure her dog did not eat up any of our dog’s food that may be laying around. I thought nothing of her doing that until later that evening when I went to get the dog’s bowl. I noticed some of the dried crickets and worms were on the floor near his eating spot. I am now debating if I should call my neighbor and let her know our house is neither infested nor dirty, I am just experimenting with eating bugs. What would you do?
—Patty
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