The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook Scorpions are dipped in milk, white cornmeal, deep-fried in unsalted butter and drizzled with lemon juice and parsley in a dish of scorpion scaloppine from "The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook."
Bug parts never
By Michele Ramos
hurt anyone
Special to the Star-BulletinWE'VE all had Chex Party Mix in all its forms -- peanut butter party mix, nori party mix, original party mix, etc. But what about Chirpy Chex Party Mix which calls for "a fistful of dry-roasted crickets" which require stirring "until they are cooked through."
The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook By David George Gordon (Ten Speed Press), 136 pages, $12.95
That's right, if you've got crickets or other tiny creatures hopping around, you've got the makings of another tasty party mix or other interesting bug dish. David George Gordon, author of "The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook," has compiled 33 recipes to tickle your tummy or make it crawl.
Entomophagy, or bug-eating, is not strange at all when one considers that it has been practiced for centuries throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Central America. Bugs are an efficient, readily available source of protein. Bugs are also rich in vitamins and minerals. Munch on crickets for calcium, termites for iron.
The book gives detailed instructions for such recipes as superworm tempura with plum dipping sauce to slide down your throat. Or, how about a three-bee salad that calls for a half cup each of frozen adult bees, frozen bee larvae and bee pupae.
Too many cockroaches around the house? There are recipes in the book that call for roaches but the book notes that "pest roaches may carry bacteria and viruses." Gordon purchases his roaches from the Carolina Biological Supply Co. in Burlington, N.C. He writes that roaches "reared under laboratory conditions are no more germy than the human attendants who care for them."
The company offers three types of roaches -- German, regular and giant, ranging from $12.80 to $28.20 for 12. All costs are without shipping charges and to get these or other bugs shipped to Hawaii, cooks must apply for a USDA permit which will be provided by the company.
After receiving your container of frozen roaches, the roaches must be prepared for cooking. This is done by "breaking off the chitinous legs, antennae, and both sets of wings." What is left is a "bite-sized morsel ... that can be left at room temperature to thaw."
Even venomous creatures such as scorpions and centipedes can be made into edible meals. In preparing scorpion scaloppine, the scorpion's tail "that contains the paired venom glands and the hollow, curved barb, must be removed with a sharp knife." Only then is the scorpion safe and ready to be used for any meal.
The book has a few colored pictures of some of the dishes. It also gives the nutritional value of several insects, the seasonal availability and a list of suppliers for these unusual ingredients.
