Insects are an important food source in many parts of the world, and are also gaining popularity and acceptance in countries that have not traditionally eaten them. Why eat insects? Insects are nutritious and numerous. They contain a large number of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. How insects are eaten and their nutritional value depends on their diet, species, stage of development, and how they are prepared. Thus, an insect that tastes similar to chicken in one case may taste like fish or fruit in other circumstances. If you've eaten insects before and didn't like it, consider giving them another try. If you've never eaten insects, here's a good list of where to start your food experiments.
There are about 2,000 species of edible insects, but grasshoppers and crickets are among the most popular for human consumption. They can be eaten fried, boiled or stewed. In some countries, these insects are farmed to be ground into edible protein powder. Grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts belong to the order Orthoptera ( Orthoptera).
Almost all types of crickets and grasshoppers are edible, but the same cannot be said for caterpillars. Caterpillars are the larvae of butterflies. Like their adult forms, some caterpillars are toxic. Larvae of the South African peacock eye species Gonimbrasia belina is one of the edible species of caterpillars. They have a particularly high iron content of 31-77 mg per 100 g (compared to 6 mg per 100 g for beef). These caterpillars are an important food source in Africa, and are becoming increasingly popular elsewhere.
Other edible caterpillar species include Aegiale hesperiaris(commonly found in Agavero liqueur), as well as bamboo worm ( Omphisa fuscidentalis) and silk worm ( Bombyx mori).
Palm weevil larva ( Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) is tasty insects, especially when fried in its own fat. These larvae are very popular in Central America, Malaysia and Indonesia. Cooked grubs are said to be similar to sweetened bacon, while raw grubs are prized for their creamy texture. Palm weevils are tropical insects native to Southeast Asia. Although they are abundant on palm trees, indoor cultivation of the larvae is practiced in Thailand.
IN Western countries Mealworms have long been fed to birds and other pets, and they have also gained acceptance as a source of human food. Mealworms are easy to raise in temperate climates, unlike many edible insects that prefer the tropics. When reared as a food source, the larvae feed on oats, grains or wheat bran with apple, potato or carrot for moisture. Their the nutritional value similar to beef. For human consumption, mealworms are fried, boiled, or ground into powder. They taste more like shrimp than beef, which makes sense since mealworms are the larval form of the mealworm ( Tenebrio molitor). Like shrimp, beetles belong to the. Many other beetle larvae from the order Coleoptera ( Coleoptera) are also edible.
Several species of ants are a highly prized delicacy. They say that lemon ants ( Myrmelachista schumanni) from the Amazon jungle has a characteristic lemon aroma. Leafcutter ants are usually fried and are said to taste similar to bacon or pistachio nuts. Honey ants are eaten raw and taste sweet. In Western society, the most edible ants are considered to be from the genus Camponotus ( Camponotus).
Adult ants, their larvae and eggs can serve as a source of food for humans. Ant eggs are considered a special form of insect caviar and have a high price. Insects are eaten raw (even alive), fried, boiled, crushed and as an additive to drinks.
Wasps and bees are also edible for humans, and are in the same order as ants.
Other edible insects include dragonflies, cicadas, bee larvae, cockroaches, butterfly pupae and maggots. Earthworms also a popular food item, but they are not insects, but belong to annelids - a type of animal. Edible worms contain large amounts of iron and protein.
Although scorpions and spiders are not insects, people usually do not separate them. Like insects, these are arthropods and are related to insects such as crabs and shrimp. Spiders and scorpions are the terrestrial equivalent of seafood. Lice are also edible (though eating them in front of other people may seem a little weird).
Other arthropods that often become people's dinner include woodlice, water beetles (said to taste like fruit), bed bugs, June beetles and even dung beetles!
Most people living in Europe, Russia or North America, the idea of eating an insect may seem completely unpleasant, but residents of Asia, Africa and South America many types of insects are considered a real delicacy.
Edible insects are not much different in nutritional value from crustaceans and mollusks, which people do not disdain. Both of them belong to the phylum arthropods. People who are allergic to crayfish, lobsters, crabs and similar animals will also be allergic to insects if they choose to eat them.
In general, there are several reasons why insects can be used as food.
First, insects are high in protein and unsaturated fat, making them a good substitute for poultry or fish.
Secondly, physically collecting insects is much easier than caring for livestock.
Thirdly, throughout the world the need for protein is increasing in developing countries, but there is nowhere to get it. Citizens of poor countries cannot always afford to buy meat, but they can collect insects for themselves.
Fourthly, collecting insects could provide jobs to the unemployed in developing countries, which is also a big plus.
Let's see what types of insects are most often eaten.
1. Beetles
As a rule, only beetle larvae are eaten, and not the beetles themselves. For example, in Cameroon, women collecting palm weevil larvae, put their ear to the trunk of a palm tree and listen. Their hearing is so good that they can hear the movements of the larvae inside the palm tree!
In addition to the palm weevil, larvae of water and dung beetles, as well as bark beetles, are eaten.
In the Netherlands, along with fish and reptiles, some types of food worms are also eaten, namely the larvae of the tar-brown mealworm and the large mealworm.
2. Caterpillars
Although some cultures readily eat butterflies and moths, most others prefer only their larvae, or caterpillars. For example, in Mexico, moth caterpillars that live on the agave plant are highly prized by farmers. They are deep-fried or stewed. They are very tasty with hot sauce or as a topping. They are also added to alcoholic drinks, as the caterpillars are believed to improve their taste.
The most popular in the world edible caterpillar - mopane. She lives in the forests of Mopane. Mopane is a huge strip of land that stretches across South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Angola and several other countries. More than 9.5 billion caterpillars are collected each year, resulting in $85 million in sales annually.
3. Wasps, bees, ants
Ants are very useful insects. They not only help control crop pests, but also have great nutritional value.
The larvae and pupae of the tailor ant are very popular in China, where they are also called ant eggs. In Thailand they are sold as cans! In addition, the black tailor ant, found in subtropical China, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, is used as an ingredient in healthy cooking. It is also used in the production of tonics. All these products can be purchased in Chinese markets.
In Japan, hornet larvae are a delicacy and a valuable commodity, which are brought there specially from Vietnam and Australia.
In Thailand, for example, they eat wasps, as well as bee larvae and pupae. Here bees are valued very highly and are quite expensive in the markets.
4. Grasshoppers, locusts and crickets
Oddly enough, grasshoppers are also edible. The vast majority of the 80 species of grasshoppers found around the world can be eaten. IN African countries They are sold along the roads, both fresh and cooked. Lives in Mexico chapulines - edible cricket, which is loved to be eaten in all countries Latin America. It is usually peeled and fried in a frying pan with lemon, garlic and salt.
Locusts are eaten in Africa and the Middle East. Locusts, as you know, are gregarious insects. It is very easy to catch a swarm of locusts. Since it constantly migrates, it can only be caught at certain times of the year. The edible types of locusts are brown, red and dessert. Since locusts are pests, they are often poisoned with organophosphate pesticides. Pesticide-poisoned locusts were once collected in Kuwait. Naturally, this kind of food can no longer be eaten.
Grasshoppers and locusts must be collected early in the morning because they are cold-blooded and cannot move when the mornings are cold.
They tried to breed crickets on farms, but nothing came of this idea, because they have their own life cycles. Therefore, only two types are used for commercial purposes. Cambodians claim that the taste of crickets caught in wildlife, better than those grown on farms. In China, crickets are not only eaten, but also kept as pets, and they also organize cricket fights during which bets are placed.
5. Cicadas
6. Bedbugs
They mainly use water bugs rather than garden bugs as food. In Mexico, for example, several species of water bugs are used to produce a product called Mexican caviar. These bugs are partly caught and partly produced by farmers.
If you have not tried insects yet, but are planning to visit the above countries and regions, you can try insects there as well. After all, only edible types of insects are eaten, and they are cooked with the addition of oil, spices and herbs. Delicious, in a word!
Insect dishes are considered a real delicacy in Asian cuisine. If you are tired of traditional food, try the most popular culinary dishes from insects: deep-fried bugs, cheese with fly larvae, boiled wasps, fried ants, grasshoppers with avocado and other culinary masterpieces from insects.
Man is born an omnivore, but few are willing to take this to heart and eat, for example, bedbugs or crickets. Meanwhile, insects are eaten everywhere to the globe: they contain more protein than chicken meat, full of iron, magnesium and others important elements Finally, it's simply delicious.
In total, there are 1,462 species of edible insects in the world, and it is unlikely that you can try all of them in a lifetime. True, thanks to the Internet, in order to eat this or that insect, you no longer have to go to Thailand, Uganda or New Guinea: there are more and more companies that sell insects online. A partial list of such companies is provided on the Insects Are Food website.
Fried bamboo worms
Where: Thailand, China, Latin America
For Thais, a plate of fried bamboo worms is as traditional a way to start a meal as a salad or soup is for Europeans. Their taste and texture are a little reminiscent of popcorn, although they do not have any special pronounced taste, but they are very nutritious.
In fact, these are not worms at all, but larvae of grass moths from the grass moth family (Crambidae), living in bamboo. Traditionally they are harvested by cutting bamboo stalks, but more recently they have been grown commercially on farms and packaged in bags like chips. Bizarre Food products can, for example, be bought in England. In addition to Thailand, bamboo worms are eaten with pleasure in China and in the Amazon River basin.
Shish kebab from longhorned beetle larvae
Where: Eastern Indonesia
Longhorned beetles, large and shiny beetles with long antennae, are distributed throughout the world, and there are many of them in Russia. In our country they are also called woodcutter beetles, in the English-speaking world - capricorn beetles.
Longhorned beetle larvae, found in the roots of sago palms, are a very popular village food in Eastern Indonesia. For the sake of fatty and juicy larvae, Indonesians sometimes cut down small palm groves, and then, carefully stringing them onto twigs, roast the larvae over the fire. They have tender flesh, but a very dense skin that takes a long time to chew. The maggots taste like greasy bacon.
The larvae have another use: villagers use them as ear brushes - a live larva is inserted into the ear, held by the tail with your fingers, and it quickly eats away the ear wax.
Cheese with cheese fly larvae
Where: Sardinia
This cheese is proof that insects are eaten not only in Africa and Asia. Casu marzu is an important Sardinian specialty: cheese made from unpasteurized goat's milk with live larvae of the cheese fly Piophila casei. For most cheese lovers, casu marzu is not just mature cheese or blue cheese, but completely rotten cheese with worms. Strictly speaking, this is how it is: this is ordinary pecorino, from which it is cut upper layer so that the cheese fly can easily lay its eggs in it. The larvae that then appear begin to eat the cheese from the inside - the acid contained in their digestive system, decomposes fats in cheese and gives it a specific softness. Some of the liquid even flows out - it is called lágrima, which means “tear”.
In Sardinia, casu marzu is considered an aphrodisiac and is traditionally eaten along with worms. Moreover, casu marzu is considered safe to eat only while the larvae are alive. This is not easy to do: disturbed larvae, reaching a centimeter in length, can jump out of the cheese to a height of 15 cm - many cases have been described when they got into the eye of someone who tried the cheese. Therefore, lovers of casu marzu often eat this cheese with glasses or, spreading it on bread, cover the sandwich with their hand. However, removing larvae from cheese is not considered a crime. The easiest way is to put a piece of cheese or a sandwich in a paper bag and close it tightly: the suffocating larvae begin to jump out. When the shooting in the bag stops, the cheese can be eaten.
Of course, casu marzu does not meet any hygienic standards of the European Union and was banned for a long time (it could only be bought on the black market at a price twice the price of regular pecorino). But in 2010, the casu marzu was recognized as a cultural property of Sardinia and allowed again.
Dried mopane caterpillars with onions
Where: South Africa
Dried caterpillars of Gonimbrasia belina, a South African species of mopane moth, are an important source of protein for South Africans. Collecting these caterpillars in Africa is quite a serious business: in supermarkets and markets you can find both dried and hand-smoked caterpillars and pickled caterpillars rolled into tins.
To cook a caterpillar, you first need to squeeze out its green intestines (usually the caterpillars are simply squeezed in your hand, less often they are cut lengthwise, like a pea pod), and then boiled in salted water and dried. Sun-dried or smoked caterpillars are very nutritious, weigh almost nothing and have a long shelf life, but do not have much flavor (they are most often compared to dried tofu or even dry wood). Therefore, they are usually fried until crunchy along with onions, added to stews, stewed in various sauces, or served with corn porridge sadza.
However, very often mopane are eaten raw, whole or, as in Botswana, after tearing off the head. They taste like tea leaves. Caterpillars are collected by hand, usually done by women and children. And if they belong to anyone in the forest, then collecting caterpillars on neighboring trees is considered bad manners. In Zimbabwe, women even mark trees with their caterpillars or move young caterpillars closer to home, setting up unique plantations.
Boiled wasps
Where: Japan
The older generation of Japanese still respects wasps and bees, prepared with the most different ways. One such dish is hatinoko, which is bee larvae cooked with soy sauce and sugar: a translucent, sweetish caramel-like mass that goes well with rice. Wasps are also prepared in the same way - a dish with them is called jibatinoko. For older Japanese people, this dish reminds them of the post-war years and the rationing system, when wasps and bees were especially actively eaten in Japan. It is in steady demand in Tokyo restaurants, even if only as a nostalgic attraction.
In general, hatinoko and jibatinoko are considered a rather rare specialty of Nagano Prefecture. Fried black wasps are a little more common and are sometimes served with beer in Japanese taverns. Another specialty, rice crackers with earthen wasps, is made in the village of Omachi. These are small cookies with adult wasps stuck to them - each one contains from 5 to 15 wasps.
Japanese dishes made from wild wasps and bees are not cheap: it is impossible to put this business on stream; the preparation itself is quite labor-intensive. Wasp and bee hunters tie long colored threads to adult wasps and thus track their nests. However, you can also find canned bees in Japanese stores - this is usually how beekeeping farms sell their surplus.
Silkworm fried with ginger
Where: China, Korea, Japan, Thailand
The city of Suzhou and its surroundings are famous not only for high-quality silk, but also for quite rare dishes made from silkworm pupae. As you know, silkworm caterpillars wrap themselves in a thin but strong silk thread. In the cocoon they grow wings, antennae and legs. Before this happens, Suzhou residents boil them, remove the cocoon, and then quickly fry them in a wok - most often with ginger, garlic and onions. However, tender larvae, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, go well with almost any vegetables and spices. When cooked correctly, they taste like crab or shrimp meat.
Silkworm larvae are no less popular in Korea. Trays of beondegi, boiled grubs with spices or steamed grubs, are found throughout the country. And stores sell canned silkworms, which must be boiled before use. They are also loved in Japan, especially in Nagato, and Japanese astrophysicist Masamichi Yamashita even suggests including silkworms in the diet of future Mars colonists.
Fried ants
Where: Mexico, Colombia, Australia, South Africa
Ants are the most popular edible insects on Earth after grasshoppers. In Colombia, fried ants are even sold in movie theaters instead of popcorn. The ones most loved in Colombia are female ants with eggs. They are caught on rainy days, when water floods the anthills and the females climb out. In the simplest rustic version, they are prepared by wrapping them in leaves and holding them over the fire for a while. This is a crunchy, sweetish snack with a distinct nutty flavor.
But the most delicious ants, the so-called “honey” ants, are found in Australia. They feed on sweet nectar, transporting it in swollen abdomen (in Russian-language literature they are called “ant barrels”). These transparent bubbles are considered a sweet delicacy among the Australian Aborigines. In addition, two genera of honey ants are found in South Africa and semi-deserts of North America.
Deep fried water bugs
Where: Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines
Large water bugs - insects from the family Belostomatidae - live throughout the world, most of them in America, Canada and Southeast Asia. But if for Americans it's easy large insects, whose bites sometimes do not go away for two weeks, then in Asia they eat water bugs with pleasure.
The Asian variety, Lethocerus indicus, is the largest in the family at 12cm in length, so the Thais simply deep-fry them and serve them with plum sauce. The meat of water bugs tastes like shrimp. At the same time, in Thailand they are eaten whole; in the Philippines, the legs and wings are torn off (and served in this form). strong drinks as a snack), and in Vietnam they make a very fragrant extract from them, which is added to soups and sauces. One drop is enough for a bowl of soup.
Grasshoppers with avocado
Where: Mexico
As you know, John the Baptist even ate grasshoppers: the locusts, which he ate with wild honey, are locusts, a close relative of the grasshopper. The Mexicans, for whom grasshoppers are practically National food. Grasshoppers are eaten everywhere in Mexico: boiled, raw, sun-dried, fried, soaked in lime juice. The most popular dish is grasshopper guacamole: the insects are quickly fried, causing them to instantly change color from green to reddish, mixed with avocado and spread on a corn tortilla.
Like any small fried insect, fried grasshopper does not have a prominent flavor and usually tastes like the oil and spices in which it was fried. The grasshoppers sold by street vendors in Southeast Asia are simply overcooked chitinous shells. In general, grasshoppers are eaten wherever insects are eaten. Grasshoppers boiled in salt water and dried in the sun are eaten in the Middle East, in China they are skewered like kebabs, and in Uganda and nearby regions they are added to soups. It is curious that in Uganda, until recently, women were not allowed to eat grasshoppers - it was believed that then they would give birth to children with deformed heads, like grasshoppers.
Dragonflies in coconut milk
Where: Bali
Dragonflies can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h, so edible dragonflies are real fast food. They are caught and eaten in Bali: it is not easy to catch a dragonfly, for this they use sticks smeared with sticky tree sap. The main difficulty is to touch the dragonfly with this stick in a smooth and at the same time fast movement.
Caught large dragonflies, whose wings are first torn off, are either quickly grilled or boiled in coconut milk with ginger and garlic. Dragonflies are also made into a kind of candy by frying them in coconut oil and sprinkling them with sugar.
Bugs with chicken pate
Where: Mexico
Grass bugs - in particular, from the family of true stink bugs (Pentatomidae) - are also eaten throughout the world. Like most bugs, stink bugs are stinky. To get rid of the unpleasant smell, in South Africa they are first soaked for a long time in warm water, and then they simply dry it and chew it.
On the contrary, the Mexican variety of stink bugs is valued for its strong, medicinal smell - probably due to its high iodine content. American TV presenter Andrew Zimmern, who ate stink bugs in an episode of his television series Bizarre Foods, compares their taste to tutti-frutti chewing gum. In Mexico, bedbugs are used to make sauces, add them to tacos, or fry them and mix them with chicken pate.
For their strong smell, stink bugs are also valued in Vietnam, where they are used to prepare the spicy dish bọ xít, and in Laos, where bugs are ground into cheo paste with spices and herbs.
Tarantulas baked on coals
Where: Cambodia
Black-fried tarantulas, which look like varnished, charred firebrands, are a common street food in Cambodia. A successful tarantula catcher can catch up to two hundred individuals per day. They sell very quickly. Cambodian tarantulas are fried in a wok with salt and garlic - their meat tastes like a cross between chicken and fish.
Large tarantulas, reaching 28 cm in diameter, are eaten in Venezuela simply by roasting them on coals. A slightly more elegant method of preparing tarantulas is used in Japan: they first tear off the spider's abdomen, then singe the hairs and quickly fry them in tempura.
However, it is believed that the most delicious spiders are not tarantulas, but spiders from the Nephilidae family, which are eaten in New Guinea and Laos. These spiders taste like peanut butter when fried.
It turns out that there are about 1,462 species of edible insects on our planet. Yes, you probably won’t try such variety in your entire life. I also learned that insects contain more protein than chicken meat, as well as a lot of iron, magnesium and other equally useful elements. However, this nutritious living creature still doesn’t cause my appetite.)
But still, if you are going to travel to distant countries and want to try local exotic dishes, I present to your attention the top twelve most delicious dishes made from edible insects.
In Thailand, a plate of bamboo worms fried in oil is considered a completely traditional lunch. In fact, these are not worms at all, but larvae of grass moths that live in bamboo. Traditionally they were collected by cutting bamboo stalks, but today they are farmed and eventually packaged in bags, just like chips.
A very popular village food in Eastern Indonesia are the larvae of longhorned beetles, which live in the roots of sago palms (by the way, these large and shiny beetles are quite common in Russia). Indonesians string beetles onto twigs and roast them over a fire. Local residents also use them as ear brushes - they insert a live larva into the ear, holding it by the tail with your fingers, and it very quickly eats the ear wax.
Sardinia is famous for its rotten cheese with worms - Casu marzu. It is made from goat milk with real cheese fly larvae. First, the top layer is cut off from the cheese so that the fly has the opportunity to lay its eggs in it. The emerging larvae gradually eat the cheese from the inside, and the acid released from them decomposes the fats in the cheese, thereby giving it a specific softness. The most interesting thing is that casu marzu can be eaten only when the larvae are still alive. And one more funny moment - larvae a centimeter in length can jump out of the cheese mass to a height of up to fifteen centimeters. There have been cases when a larva jumped right into the taster's eye, so the cheese is eaten with glasses or spread on bread, covering it with your hand.
For South Africans, the most important source of protein is the dried caterpillars of the South African peacock moth moth, which lives on the mopane tree. They do a lot of things in Africa from these caterpillars: they are dried, smoked, pickled and rolled into tins. Mopane caterpillars are prepared very simply: first, the green intestines are squeezed out, then they are boiled in salted water and finally dried. They are usually stewed in a variety of sauces, added to stews, fried until crunchy with onions, or served with corn porridge.
In Japan, the older generation still respects wasps and bees, from which they prepare a wide variety of dishes. One such dish is hatinoko - boiled bee larvae in soy sauce with sugar. The result is a caramel-like, translucent mass, which is served with rice. The Japanese are reminded of the post-war years by jibatinoko, a dish made from wasps (during this period, bees and wasps in Japan were especially actively eaten). Today these dishes can only be tasted in Nogano.
A little more common is fried wasps, which are served with beer in taverns in Japan.
The city of Suzhou (China) is famous for its delicacy of silkworm pupae. Caterpillars wrap themselves in a strong, thin silk thread, thereby forming a cocoon. Before they develop wings and legs in their cocoon, Suzhou residents boil the caterpillars and remove the cocoon, then quickly fry them in a wok with ginger, onion and garlic. When cooked correctly, silkworm meat tastes similar to shrimp or crab meat. This dish is also popular in Japan and Korea.
Ants are considered the most popular edible insects on Earth after grasshoppers. And in some countries, for example, in Colombia, you can simply buy them at the cinema instead of popcorn. The most delicious for Colombians are female ants with eggs. This “delicacy” is caught during the rain, when females climb to the surface from an anthill flooded with water.
The simplest rustic preparation is ants wrapped in leaves and lightly held over the fire. However, the so-called “honey” ants, common in Australia, are considered the most delicious. These insects collect sweet nectar and transport it in swollen abdomen. It is this transparent bottle that is considered the best sweet delicacy among the Australian aborigines.
Large water bugs can be found in different parts of our planet. These insects, belonging to the family Belostomatidae, reach a length of up to 15 centimeters. And if Americans consider them to be ordinary bugs, whose bites do not go away for several weeks, then Asians eat them with pleasure. For example, Thais deep-fry bedbugs and sell them together with cream sauce. However, they eat them whole compared to the Filipinos, who still tear off the wings and legs. Such a different eating culture.)
Grasshoppers are almost the national dish of Mexicans. In Mexico, they are boiled, fried, dried, soaked in lime juice, or eaten raw. But the most popular dish is guacamole with grasshoppers. The insects are fried very quickly, after which they change their green color to red, then mixed with avocado and spread on a corn tortilla.
In general, grasshoppers are eaten in all countries where insects are eaten. In the Middle East they like to first boil grasshoppers and then dry them in the sun; in China they prefer to make kebabs from them; in Uganda they are used as an additive in soups. By the way, until recently in Uganda, women were not allowed to eat grasshoppers, as it was believed that they could give birth to children with a deformed head like a grasshopper.
They love to eat dragonflies in Bali. Catching a dragonfly is actually not that easy. To do this, local residents use special sticks coated with fairly sticky tree sap. But the most difficult moment is to touch the dragonfly with a smooth and at the same time quick movement. Large specimens caught have their wings torn off and then quickly boiled in coconut milk with garlic and ginger or grilled. They are also used to make something similar to candy - fried in coconut oil and sprinkled with sugar on top.
Grass bugs are prized in Mexico for their distinctive, strong medicinal odor. Mexicans prepare sauces from them, mix them with chicken pate after frying them, or add them to tacos. In South Africa, the unpleasant odor of stink bugs is treated less favorably, and in order to get rid of it, the bugs are first soaked for a long time, then dried and chewed.
A fairly common street food in Cambodia is fried tarantulas, which look more like charred varnished firebrands. They are fried in a wok with garlic and salt. In Venezuela, large individuals of tarantulas (28 cm in diameter) are simply baked on coals. But the most delicious are spiders from the Nephilidae family, which are eaten in Laos and New Guinea. If you fry them well, they taste like peanut butter.
Where: Thailand, China, Latin America
For Thais, a plate of fried bamboo worms is as traditional a way to start a meal as a salad or soup is for Europeans. Their taste and texture are a little reminiscent of popcorn, although they do not have any special pronounced taste, but they are very nutritious.
In fact, these are not worms at all, but larvae of grass moths from the grass moth family (Crambidae), living in bamboo. Traditionally they are harvested by cutting bamboo stalks, but more recently they have been grown commercially on farms and packaged in bags like chips. Bizarre Food products can, for example, be bought in England. In addition to Thailand, bamboo worms are eaten with pleasure in China and in the Amazon River basin.
Shish kebab from longhorned beetle larvae
Where: Eastern Indonesia
Longhorned beetles, large and shiny beetles with long antennae, are distributed throughout the world, and there are many of them in Russia. In our country they are also called woodcutter beetles, in the English-speaking world - capricorn beetles.
Longhorned beetle larvae, found in the roots of sago palms, are a very popular village food in Eastern Indonesia. For the sake of fatty and juicy larvae, Indonesians sometimes cut down small palm groves, and then, carefully stringing them onto twigs, roast the larvae over the fire. They have tender flesh, but a very dense skin that takes a long time to chew. The maggots taste like greasy bacon.
The larvae have another use: villagers use them as ear brushes - they stick a live larva into the ear, holding it by the tail with your fingers, and it quickly eats away the ear wax.
Cheese with cheese fly larvae
Where: Sardinia
This cheese is proof that insects are eaten not only in Africa and Asia. Casu marzu is an important Sardinian specialty: cheese made from unpasteurized goat's milk with live larvae of the cheese fly Piophila casei. For most cheese lovers, casu marzu is not just mature cheese or blue cheese, but completely rotten cheese with worms. Strictly speaking, this is how it is: this is ordinary pecorino, from which the top layer is cut off so that the cheese fly can easily lay its eggs in it. The larvae that then appear begin to eat the cheese from the inside - the acid contained in their digestive system decomposes the fats in the cheese and gives it a specific softness. Some of the liquid even flows out - it is called lagrima, which means “tear”.
In Sardinia, casu marzu is considered an aphrodisiac and is traditionally eaten along with worms. Moreover, casu marzu is considered safe to eat only while the larvae are alive. This is not easy to do: disturbed larvae, reaching a centimeter in length, can jump out of the cheese to a height of 15 cm - many cases have been described when they got into the eye of someone who tried the cheese. Therefore, lovers of casu marzu often eat this cheese with glasses or, spreading it on bread, cover the sandwich with their hand. However, removing larvae from cheese is not considered a crime. The easiest way is to put a piece of cheese or a sandwich in a paper bag and close it tightly: the suffocating larvae begin to jump out. When the shooting in the bag stops, the cheese can be eaten.
Of course, casu marzu does not meet any hygienic standards of the European Union and was banned for a long time (it could only be bought on the black market at a price twice the price of regular pecorino). But in 2010, the casu marzu was recognized as a cultural property of Sardinia and allowed again. 
Dried mopane caterpillars with onions
Where: South Africa
Dried caterpillars of Gonimbrasia belina, a South African species of mopane moth, are an important source of protein for South Africans. Collecting these caterpillars in Africa is quite a serious business: in supermarkets and markets you can find both dried and hand-smoked caterpillars and pickled caterpillars rolled into tins.
To cook a caterpillar, you first need to squeeze out its green intestines (usually the caterpillars are simply squeezed in your hand, less often they are cut lengthwise, like a pea pod), and then boiled in salted water and dried. Sun-dried or smoked caterpillars are very nutritious, weigh almost nothing and have a long shelf life, but do not have much flavor (they are most often compared to dried tofu or even dry wood). Therefore, they are usually fried until crunchy along with onions, added to stews, stewed in various sauces, or served with sadza corn porridge.
However, very often mopane are eaten raw, whole or, as in Botswana, after tearing off the head. They taste like tea leaves. Caterpillars are collected by hand, usually done by women and children. And if they belong to anyone in the forest, then collecting caterpillars on neighboring trees is considered bad manners. In Zimbabwe, women even mark trees with their caterpillars or move young caterpillars closer to home, setting up unique plantations. 
Boiled wasps
Where: Japan
The older generation of Japanese still respects wasps and bees, prepared in a variety of ways. One such dish is hatinoko, which is bee larvae boiled with soy sauce and sugar: a translucent, sweetish caramel-like mass that goes well with rice. Wasps are also prepared in the same way - a dish with them is called jibatinoko. For older Japanese people, this dish reminds them of the post-war years and the rationing system, when wasps and bees were especially actively eaten in Japan. It is in steady demand in Tokyo restaurants, even if only as a nostalgic attraction.
In general, hatinoko and jibatinoko are considered a rather rare specialty of Nagano Prefecture. Fried black wasps are a little more common and are sometimes served with beer in Japanese taverns. Another specialty - rice crackers with earthen wasps - is made in the village of Omachi. These are small cookies with adult wasps stuck to them - each one contains from 5 to 15 wasps.
Japanese dishes made from wild wasps and bees are not cheap: it is impossible to put this business on stream; the preparation itself is quite labor-intensive. Wasp and bee hunters tie long colored threads to adult wasps and thus track their nests. However, you can also find canned bees in Japanese stores - this is usually how beekeeping farms sell their surplus. 
Silkworm fried with ginger
Where: China, Korea, Japan, Thailand
The city of Suzhou and its surroundings are famous not only for high-quality silk, but also for quite rare dishes made from silkworm pupae. As you know, silkworm caterpillars wrap themselves in a thin but strong silk thread. In the cocoon they grow wings, antennae and legs. Before this happens, Suzhou residents boil them, remove the cocoon, and then quickly fry them in a wok - most often with ginger, garlic and onion. However, tender larvae, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, go well with almost any vegetables and spices. When cooked correctly, they taste like crab or shrimp meat.
Silkworm larvae are no less popular in Korea. Trays of beondegi, boiled grubs with spices or steamed grubs, are found throughout the country. And stores sell canned silkworms, which must be boiled before use. They are also loved in Japan, especially in Nagato, and Japanese astrophysicist Masamichi Yamashita even suggests including silkworms in the diet of future Mars colonists. 
Fried ants
Where: Mexico, Colombia, Australia, South Africa
Ants are the most popular edible insects on Earth after grasshoppers. In Colombia, fried ants are even sold in movie theaters instead of popcorn. The ones most loved in Colombia are female ants with eggs. They are caught on rainy days, when water floods the anthills and the females climb out. In the simplest rustic version, they are prepared by wrapping them in leaves and holding them over the fire for a while. This is a crunchy, sweetish snack with a distinct nutty flavor.
But the most delicious ants, the so-called “honey” ants, are found in Australia. They feed on sweet nectar, transporting it in swollen abdomen (in Russian-language literature they are called “ant barrels”). These transparent bubbles are considered a sweet delicacy among the Australian Aborigines. In addition, two genera of honey ants are found in South Africa and the semi-deserts of North America. 
Deep fried water bugs
Where: Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines
Large water bugs - insects from the Belostomatidae family - live all over the world, most of them in America, Canada and Southeast Asia. But while for Americans these are just large insects whose bites sometimes last for two weeks, in Asia they happily eat water bugs.
The Asian variety, Lethocerus indicus, is the largest in the family at 12cm in length, so the Thais simply deep-fry them and serve them with plum sauce. The meat of water bugs tastes like shrimp. At the same time, in Thailand they are eaten whole, in the Philippines the legs and wings are torn off (and in this form they are served with strong drinks as a snack), and in Vietnam they are made into a very fragrant extract, which is added to soups and sauces. One drop is enough for a bowl of soup. 
Grasshoppers with avocado
Where: Mexico
As you know, John the Baptist even ate grasshoppers: the locusts, which he ate with wild honey, are locusts, a close relative of the grasshopper. It could be understood by Mexicans, for whom grasshoppers are practically a national food. Grasshoppers are eaten everywhere in Mexico: boiled, raw, sun-dried, fried, soaked in lime juice. The most popular dish is grasshopper guacamole: the insects are quickly fried, causing them to instantly change color from green to reddish, mixed with avocado and spread on a corn tortilla.
Like any small fried insect, fried grasshopper does not have a prominent flavor and usually tastes like the oil and spices in which it was fried. The grasshoppers sold by street vendors in Southeast Asia are simply overcooked chitinous shells. In general, grasshoppers are eaten wherever insects are eaten. Grasshoppers boiled in salt water and dried in the sun are eaten in the Middle East, in China they are skewered like kebabs, and in Uganda and nearby regions they are added to soups. It is curious that in Uganda, until recently, women were not allowed to eat grasshoppers - it was believed that then they would give birth to children with deformed heads, like those of grasshoppers. 
Dragonflies in coconut milk
Where: Bali 
Dragonflies in coconut milk
Where: Bali
Dragonflies can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h, so edible dragonflies are real fast food. They are caught and eaten in Bali: it is not easy to catch a dragonfly, for this they use sticks smeared with sticky tree sap. The main difficulty is to touch the dragonfly with this stick in a smooth and at the same time fast movement.
Caught large dragonflies, whose wings are first torn off, are either quickly grilled or boiled in coconut milk with ginger and garlic. Dragonflies are also made into a kind of candy by frying them in coconut oil and sprinkling them with sugar. 
Tarantulas baked on coals
Where: Cambodia
Black-fried tarantulas, looking like varnished, charred firebrands, are a common street food in Cambodia. A successful tarantula catcher can catch up to two hundred individuals per day. They sell very quickly. Cambodian tarantulas are fried in a wok with salt and garlic - their meat tastes like a cross between chicken and fish.
Large tarantulas, reaching 28 cm in diameter, are eaten in Venezuela simply by roasting them on coals. A slightly more elegant method of preparing tarantulas is used in Japan: they first tear off the spider's abdomen, then singe the hairs and quickly fry them in tempura.
However, it is believed that the most delicious spiders are not tarantulas, but spiders from the Nephilidae family, which are eaten in New Guinea and Laos. These spiders taste like peanut butter when fried. 
