[Cainehill]

Originally posted by Arryn:

quote:

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Originally posted by Norfleet:
Those bugs look good enough to eat, though.

Now I'm *sure* that Demosthenes was correct in thinking that you're insane. Only certifiable nut-cases, or spec-ops guys (not that there's a difference), eat bugs. Ick. Yuck. Bleh.

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Eh - in Korea, you could buy little paper cones full of fried bug larva (not with batter - more like sauteed). Other portions of the world, chocolate covered ants and grasshoppers; other part, deep fried worms. Down near Papua New Guinea, there's tribes for whom grubs are not just a delicacy, but a vital part of the diet, as the sole source of protein (possibly fat as well) in the diet (which otherwise is 90% palm tree based).

The Philippines, they have a dish called "Balut", which is a fertile duck egg, almost hatched, which is then buried underground to ferment.

Myself, I've tried all of these (except for the fried larva and the Balut) when offered them by friends and friendly acquaintances. The larva and the Balut, I never had a local friend offer, so I harbored a suspicion that clever chaps figured out that they could get american servicemen (deliberate gender here) to eat rotten food, and pay to do so. Not even peer pressure got me to try these things, not even falling down drunk at 20 and 25 years of age.

Also - basically, all people in the USA who don't have _very_ odd diets eat bugs. Essentially every bag of flour, every loaf of bread, has X parts per million that is ground up insects, and rat droppings.