[ExI] Cheap Source of Protein was Re: Pink Slime

[Kelly Anderson]

2012/3/14 spike <spike66 at att.net>:
> On Behalf Of Dave Sill
> Subject: Re: [ExI] Cheap Source of Protein was Re: Pink Slime
>
> Has anyone here actually eaten a bug?  I have, but it wasn’t voluntarily,
> and I didn’t get to taste it.  I didn’t even realize my mouth was open as I
> was riding my motorcycle.  It did hurt when it drilled me in the back of the
> throat.  There was nothing to do but gulp and drink.

I have eaten ants on a voluntary basis from time to time. Live. I have
found that some ants are not very good. The ones that bunch up in
large masses on the sidewalks are particularly nasty and bitter. The
good ones have a very nice zing to them from the formic acid. This
sour taste (somewhat reminiscent of a lime, but IMHO a little better
tasting than that) is really the dominant flavor drive in ants.
Generally, the slightly larger ants are better, and if you aren't too
adventurous, you can always start with chocolate covered ants.

http://insectcandy.bizland.com/store/page1.html

> For all we know, insects are as tasty as crunchy little shrimp.

Many of them are. I've heard that praying mantises aren't bad, saw
some African kids eating them... and in China insects are on the menu
here and there. Great taste treat. They eat snakes too... and fish
eyes... lots of weird stuff.

Parenthetically, there is a hypothesis that early primate evolution
was driven by the niche of eating insects in the low canopy. So
insects are highly likely to be pretty darn healthy for us.

I suspect that if they were processed, that none of us would find them
in the least bit disgusting. People who eschew sea weed eat processed
kelp far more often than they would suspect. I wonder if you would
even have to note that there were insects in the food... so long as it
met other nutritional requirements and was processed early enough and
thoroughly enough. Perhaps you could even use insect derived proteins
for your artificial meats...

I have a rule when I go into a restaurant... if it's on the menu and
I've never had it before... I will order it first thing. The wilder
sounding the better. The only thing I have passed on given the
opportunity is snails... for some reason, that just makes me go EEWWW.
I think it's the thought of slime, though they probably wash that off.
If I encounter it again though, I'll order it. Rules are rules.

-Kelly