July 15, 2017

"The grasshoppers add a nice crunch and subtle spice to the sundae, which is boozy and delicious."

"It’s actually the perfect vehicle to try bugs for the first time, as the sugar rush and comforting nature of ice cream soften the blow."

Annoying thing about the linked article: Using the words "crickets" and "grasshoppers" interchangeably.

IN THE COMMENTS: tcrosse wrote:
Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named “Cockroach” and “Cicada” and ingredients like grasshoppers, crickets and a locust baguette. I quickly asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else and she anxiously nodded yes and we ate Mexican.

38 comments:

dreams said...

"Using the words "crickets" and "grasshoppers" interchangeably."

Yeah, that's ignorant.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Nope.nope.nope.nope.

There are plenty of other things to eat before consuming crunchy insects. I don't care if you gold plate them, to soften the blow, I'm not going to eat bugs.

Now. Perhaps after the Zombie Apocalypse, and we have eaten all the squirrels, deer, dogs, cats and fish. When there is nothing else and it is starve or eat a grasshopper (which is completely different than a cricket) I might reconsider. Although at that point, some of the less cooperative members of society might start looking tasty. I mean if you are going to execute someone for crimes....waste not want not. Right?

Mary Beth said...

That was annoying. I had to click through to Merci Mercado, the company selling them, to find out which it was. Grasshoppers.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Travel tip: You can get plenty of fresh bugs this time of year by riding through rural Iowa in an open vehicle within your mouth open.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

NY? lick the floor. You're bound to snatch a cockroach.

Fernandinande said...

I hope this picture is fake.

Clyde said...

Eating insects is the last resort for people who desperately need protein and either cannot obtain or afford meat. I pray to whatever gods may be that I never get that hungry.

William said...

Cockroaches have some of the crunchiness of grasshoppers, but they also have a creamy aftertaste that complements the taste of the ice cream. Ants are ok, but they're more decorative, like sprinkles, than a true flavor enhancer. Flies are just disgusting. I would never eat flies.

Rusty said...

Um. No.
I embrace western civilization so that I'm not reduced to eating bugs. Western civilization means cheeseburgers and a nice chocolate malt with just a hint of caramel. No bugs.
Bugs are not a feature.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, you and Meade first

Bob Boyd said...

In a "Chinese" sundae the grasshoppers are still hopping.

Bob Boyd said...

Fernandinande said...
"I hope this picture is fake"

The grub is normal size. The hands are Trump's.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tcrosse said...

Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named “Cockroach” and “Cicada” and ingredients like grasshoppers, crickets and a locust baguette. I quickly asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else and she anxiously nodded yes and we ate Mexican.

Darrell said...

Hold the fleas.

J. Farmer said...

I tried crickets and grasshoppers while living in Thailand, where they are frequently fried in a wok and sold by food cart vendors as a snack equivalent to a bag of potato chips. Once you get past the psychology of eating "a bug," you realize they are pretty much tasteless balls of crunch. There has been an active movement for several years in the US to introduce protein from insects. It's being pushed by sustainability advocates and fitness/nutritional advocates and typically involves grinding crickets into flour and then using the flour to make standard fitness fare (e.g. nutritional bars). The psychological aversion most westerners have to eating "bugs" is strong indeed. But then again, I am sure sea urchin gonads (uni) and fish roe (caviar) could not always have been considered prized delicacies of fine dining.

Ralph L said...

I've often wondered how they made frogs crunchy.

Bob Boyd said...

Wasn't Urchin Gonads the name of that Azerbaijani tamborine prodigy who showed up the meeting with Don Jr?
Or was it Gonad Urchinsky? Anyway, the one who claimed to have a video of Hillary dancing that would guarantee Trump's election.

TestTube said...

It's nice to see that bugs as food is appearing on the media radar.

I particularly enjoy eating the lice and bits of dead skin that I pick off of my mate and other tribal members.

The comforting, nurturing social experience of mutual grooming compliments and intensifies the pleasures of these little snacks.

Charlie said...

They're all the rage in Oaxaca, Mexico, where you can find mounds of them for sale in the markets. Chapulines are roasted grasshoppers seasoned with garlic and lime, eaten by themselves as snacks or as a garnish on tacos. They have a nutty flavor. Very tasty, once you get over the ick factor.

D 2 said...

My boss and I debate over whether insects or frankenmeat will be more predominant by 2030. His side of the wager is bugs.
So far, stories/evidence suggests i will lose my quarter.
C'mon America! "Eat Meat without Feet" is a better ad campaign than "Crickets: the other white...red....some coloured meat"

Darrell said...

Eating bugs is failure.
Up your game.

Mark said...

There are plenty of other things to eat before consuming crunchy insects.

Well, squish them and you see they aren't so crunchy all the way through. Take a look at all that goo inside and tell me you would ever want to lick that up.

brylun said...

In Bangkok, on Khao San Road, there's a food cart selling fried insects.

Bob Boyd said...

"SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Reuters) -- Mormon crickets, the plague of the western United States, are on the march again, ravaging farms and turning roads "blood red."

Farmer Duane Anderson said the bugs are at times so thick that he could kill 10 crickets with a single step...
Officials in Utah, Idaho and Nevada say this year's infestation may be the worst in recent history.

The grasshopper-like insects have become a traffic hazard, rendering some hilly roads impassable as they become caked with crushed bug carcasses."

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/06/14/mormon.crickets.reut/

SoLastMillennium said...

Seen "grasshopper" and "boozy" and my mind goes one place.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=grass%20hopper%20drink&qs=n&form=QBIR&sp=-1&pq=grass%20hopper%20drink&sc=8-18&sk=&cvid=A3B847DEA600414BBB1C57C60371380E

JML said...

Yesterday morning I was up at 4:00 AM to get a quick drink of water. I put an inch or two of water into my cup and took a swig. I felt something and immediately spit it into the sink figuring it was a roach. I turn on the light: Nope. Not a roach. It was a little scorpion. It had no indication that it would taste like chicken.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bad Lieutenant said...

immediately spit it into the sink figuring it was a roach. I turn on the light: Nope. Not a roach. It was a little scorpion.


Excuse me please, but where the f*** do you live?

Rusty said...

J. Farmer said...
"I tried crickets and grasshoppers while living in Thailand, where they are frequently fried in a wok and sold by food cart vendors as a snack equivalent to a bag of potato chips."

My point is made.

JML said...

Bad LT: Placitas, NM. North of Albuquerque. Just East of Bernalillo. South of Santa Fe. I'm sure you have heard of it...

Bad Lieutenant said...

JML: Who hasn't?

Wait...haha, you can't fool me. Trick question. Placitas eh - WHICH ONE?!?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placitas,_New_Mexico

Placitas may refer to:

Placitas, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, a census-designated place
Placitas, Sandoval County, New Mexico, a census-designated place
Placitas, Sierra County, New Mexico, the northern or eastern terminus of the NM 142 State Road in New Mexico
Placitas, an abandoned village between the territories of New Mexico and Arizona that was the [s]ite of the Battle of Placito


Anyway, I guess you come from the Placita NM that produces the wimpy little scorpions. Or are the small ones sweeter? ;)

Bad Lieutenant said...

No offense but that's something out of a spaghetti western.

Be said...

I remember, growing up in Buffalo in the 1970s-early 80s, a craze for chocolate covered grasshoppers. Actual grasshoppers. Couldn't bear the thought of eating one of those.

I know that they're just land versions of shrimp and whathaveyou, but, just can't do it.

***

One of my former coworkers is Congolese; she sometimes has a hard time dealing with North American "comfort food." My joking response to her (she gets a lot of guff from the African American cohort about her being African African, and we riff a lot, in French, on that), is usually "Oui, mais t'as grandi en mangeant les bestioles." (But You Grew Up Eating Bugs!).

One of our morning shifts together, she surprised me with a Funny Comment:

"I was wondering about the 'eating bugs' comment. I had to look that up in the dictionary (her first language is Lingala; the DRC / Congo are still under the French system, so she was educated in that language; not Native Fluent, but Highly Proficient. I love riffing with her!). What is a 'bug,' what is a 'bestiole?'

Back in school when I was a kid, we used to eat, what are those things that turn into butterflies? ... aah, Chenilles. Caterpillars. They are Delicious stewed with patates douces, aromatics, served over manioc. I guess I do like to Eat Bugs, then, Bev. That's not Savage, is it (followed by one of the most Sunshine through the clouds, full body laugh one could ever imagine)?"

JML said...

Bad LT. Yeah, they won't kill you. I have heard they are maybe like a wasp sting. I think these are worse:

https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2008/08/29/centipede-in-her-panties/

History of Placitas.
http://dev.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.php?fileID=390

There are still some old hippies around, but the homes since the 1980s are more upscale, full of ROFs, which I hope to be soon, artists married to someone who makes enough money for them to be artists and some upper crust folks who work in Santa Fe or ABQ.

Mary Beth said...

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/06/14/mormon.crickets.reut/

7/15/17, 10:53 AM


I looked at the article and was confused because they weren't blaming Trump. Then I noticed it was from 2003.

MikeR said...

+tcrosse

Anonymous said...

Very appropriate that the article is in Grub Street.