Experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations agreed with the opinion of scientists that people should be persuaded to eat insects instead of meat. First, crickets and grasshoppers have as much protein as a piece of steak meat. Secondly, their cultivation is much cheaper and requires less space.
Experts note that about 1,400 species of insects are edible for humans. They are eaten in 36 African, 29 Asian and 23 countries in North and South America. Moreover, in some states, insects are considered a delicacy, in others - insects are part of daily diet.
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1. In many cultures around the world, insects, a protein-rich food, are an important part of the daily diet. And now in Europe there are restaurants that serve dishes from insects.
2. But in China, you can see fried locust everywhere, which is sold on wooden sticks.
3. Many people in different parts of the world consider locusts to be a real disaster. But not the Mexicans. In Mexico, especially in its southern regions, in addition to all kinds of tortillas, you will also find fried locusts wrapped in unleavened cakes.
4. And if in Mexico you can buy fried insects simply from a street vendor's stall, then in other Western countries such dishes are more like a delicacy served in expensive restaurants. For example, the New York restaurant of the Explorers Club hosts an annual reception during which insect dishes are served.
5. The Chinese talk about their gastronomic tastes with humor: “We eat everything that flies, except for an airplane, everything that has four legs, except for a table and chairs.” Of course, China in the use of insects is ahead of the rest. Many restaurants specialize exclusively in dishes made from insects.
6. For many people, just the thought of eating this mountain of larvae can cause a strong disgust.
7. But the Chinese are less squeamish. They are ready to absorb even fried scorpions on skewers. After all, taste is everything...
8. This is a real exotic for tourists, but for locals it is an absolute routine: everything that crawls will be used for food.
Hi all!
Man is born omnivorous, but few are ready to take it to heart and eat, for example, bugs, crickets, snakes, or some kind of disgusting plant. Meanwhile insects are eaten all over the globe: they have more protein than chicken meat, full of iron, magnesium and others important elements Finally, it's just delicious. Approximately 1700 species of insects are edible. And they are regularly eaten in 130 countries of the world! Basically, these are the countries of Asia and Africa. But the fashion for “fried insects” also reaches European countries.
But we will not talk about the culinary delights of other countries, but imagine a situation when you (God forbid) lost all your supplies and equipment, well, or almost everything. Remained: a knife, matches, etc. And you are not in the jungle, but in your native Russia, presumably in middle lane, in summer time of the year.
Insects
So, what insects do we primarily encounter in the forest? You can eat mosquitoes and midges, but I think that the efforts spent on catching them will not pay off. Let's look for something more high-calorie.
Carpenter beetle larvae.
There are many dry trees in the forest, under their bark the beetles lay their eggs, from which, in turn, the larvae appear. They feed on wood and it is not difficult to get them from under the bark. If you have the opportunity to strip the bark from living spruces, then enough beetles themselves will flock to the smell of fresh bark, which are easy to collect. And eat.
Ants.
They live almost everywhere. Ant eggs are especially nutritious. The ants themselves are edible. Not for nothing that even bears feed on them. In early spring collecting ants is not difficult, they come out to "warm up" large clusters, just have time to collect! And at other times, with a wet stick, you can collect ants without much difficulty. But in the fall they will have to be dug out of the ground.
Wild bees.
Not bad if you manage to find a hollow with wild bees. You can profit not only by the bees themselves, but also by their larvae, and possibly honey. But if you do not have fire, you should not try to get them. Bee and wasp stings are painful, while hornet stings can be fatal. From a dry tinder fungus that grows on trees in the form of a scallop, you need to make a smokebox. Make a gag out of the grass, enough to close the hollow with the bees. And try, after laying the smokebox in the hollow, to close it with a gag. After a while, the insects will die, it remains only to get them. The nest of wasps is quite noticeable and resembles a paper ball. If you bring fire to such a nest, it will burn very quickly, as it consists of cellulose, at the same time fry the inhabitants of the nest and their larvae. When preying on bees, wasps or hornets, remember that these insects primarily react to movement, do not wave your arms or run (or run very fast and far). And one more thing: when bitten, enzymes are released that serve as a guide for other relatives where to bite! Be careful!
Bumblebees, by themselves, are not aggressive. If you do not wave your arms strongly, then honeycombs with honey can be taken out of the nest with bare hands. Bumblebees live, as a rule, in abandoned mouse holes. But sometimes they build nests in the grass. Bumblebee honey has an indescribable aroma! Found a bumblebee nest - lucky you!
Grasshoppers.
Grasshoppers are a readily available source of protein and fat.
They are easier to catch in cool weather, which will make them somewhat lethargic.
Flies, horseflies, gadflies and other "aviation".
EAT INSECTS THAT EAT YOU!
Like most insects, flies are an excellent source of fat and protein. In a survival situation, do not skip any food source. All this together will help you get through the next day.
Do not forget that insects are not eaten raw! It's best to roast them. As an option, dry, crush and add to other foods.
Amphibians
Frogs, newts and salamanders.
These small amphibians live around freshwater bodies in both warm and cold climates. temperate climate. Catch frogs at night, when they are easy to spot by their croaking, and kill them with a stick. Eat them whole with their skins off. Newts and salamanders can be found under rotten logs or under rocks in the same places where frogs usually abound.
Shellfish.
These include invertebrates that live in water and grass: snails, toothless, slugs.
Recipe:
For cooking bivalve mollusks in field conditions First you need to catch them. Although, with their speed of about 10 cm per day, the word “catch” sounds ridiculous ... You should not take very small and very large shells. There is nothing to eat in small ones, and large ones are old and excessively hard. Optimal size- 7-10 cm. Before cooking, the outer part of the shells must be thoroughly washed from silt, sand and bottom mud.
A good, cookable sink is defined as follows: if the valves are tightly compressed, then everything is in order. The mollusk is alive and holds the valves tightly.
Next, make a small fire. To cook shellfish, you need a lot of coals and heat, but not an open flame. When the fire is mostly burned out, we put the clams on top of the coals. After 3-5 minutes, turn the shells over with a stick on the other side. A well-done clam makes it easy to open the shells. This is a sign of readiness.
You can, of course, rake up the coals and put the clams inside, and then fill it with hot coals from above. But this method has a drawback. Some shells spontaneously open when roasted. And this means that fragments of coal will get inside.
The so-called leg is eaten from the shell - a muscular process with which the mollusk is repelled from the bottom and moved. This is a small formation of light beige or Pink colour. Everything else must be thrown away.
I myself have tasted these creatures. The main thing is not to digest and not overcook, otherwise you will chew on a “piece of tire”.
Crustaceans.
Of these "comrades" we can meet only one - crayfish. There are several ways to get these inhabitants of the river bottom. Very often they catch crayfish with their hands, marking a certain place in the reservoir where, by all indications, crayfish can live, they go into the water and carefully move along the bottom, inspect all the pitfalls, snags, look under the trunks of trees lying in the water. as soon as they notice the crawling cancer, they immediately, without delay, grab it with their hand, otherwise the cancer can quickly hide in some kind of shelter (remember that crayfish become surprisingly quick in case of danger threatening them). Catching crayfish with your hands is an old, “old-fashioned” way, and, of course, the most primitive of all the others. in addition, this method can not always be applied - only in those reservoirs where crayfish are caught at a depth of half a meter to one and a half meters. In deeper places, you have to use crayfish, etc.
Crayfish go hunting after dark, so the most suitable period for catching them is from 10 pm to 3 am. in some reservoirs, crayfish come out to fish in the early morning, in the wee hours. so that at such a time the hunt for river "hermits" can be very lucrative.
From myself I recommend to always have a women's nylon stocking in your pocket. Takes up minimum space. We put in a stocking something rotten or the same toothless (her meat), a little scorched at the stake. We throw in deep place, where we can’t catch with our hands, and go about our business for 30 minutes, decide for yourself how much. Cancer tries to get food and clings to the stocking with claws, it is difficult to unhook. Pulled out like 9 pieces at one time. You can take several stockings.
Reptiles.
Don't neglect snakes and lizards as a possible source of food. All of them are edible. Remove the scaly skin from them and then boil or roast them. Hold them over a fire before skinning them to make skinning them easier.
You may not believe it, but insects are edible. What do they taste like and why are some species regularly eaten in many parts of the world? We learn about it from the materials of the next publication.
Cicada
This type of insect is eaten not only in Asian countries, but also in many parts of the United States. Cicadas practically do not crawl out to the surface, live deep underground and feed on the juice of the roots. They can live up to 17 years, periodically crawling to the surface to reproduce. At this time, many people eagerly await their prey, because it is necessary to have time to catch the insect before the shell hardens. Cicadas can be boiled, fried, consumed with a side dish. They are valued for their low calorie content and high protein content (up to 40%).
In nature, there is also an annual (annual) cicada, which is much easier to catch. Despite its name, it functions from 2 to 7 years. The taste of the insect resembles asparagus or potatoes. 
Dragonfly
In Indonesia, people practice eating dragonflies, mainly as a curative measure. They are fried or boiled. They catch dragonflies at the moment when they hunt mosquitoes, and for this they are armed with sticks from palm trees dipped in sticky juice. Dragonflies taste like the soft shell of a crab. 
Ant eggs
The following dish is popular in Mexico. Giant black ant eggs are harvested from agave roots. They are boiled or fried in oil and added to tacos or some other popular national dishes. However, the larvae have a mild, nutty flavor. There is also a cottage cheese aftertaste. 
mopani worms
These insects are eaten in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In general, caterpillars are traditionally consumed all over the world. However, these blue-green spiny caterpillars are prized for their high protein content. Mopani worms are dried in the sun or smoked. Served with sauce or stew. This African exotic has a mild buttery taste. 
Grasshopper
Mexicans have already distinguished themselves on our list. We continue to voice their gastronomic preferences. Grasshoppers are fried, flavored with chili and lime. Entrepreneurial people sell the finished dish in the market squares. Passers-by are happy to eat fried grasshoppers in handfuls, like chips. They have a salty and spicy taste. 
silkworm pupae
People in Vietnam, China, and Korea eat silkworm pupae, which are considered an edible by-product of the silk industry. If in Korea this insect is usually boiled, then in China and Vietnam, residents prefer fried silkworm pupae. The taste of the dish is salty, similar to dried shrimp with a chewy consistency. 
water beetle
These insects are eaten in Thailand. These massive critters are very popular as a snack and can be bought at any kiosk. Thais prefer them fried with hot sauce or steamed. Roll them up in banks. Tastes like slightly salted fish. 
Scorpion
This formidable insect is eaten by the inhabitants of China, Thailand and Vietnam. They are caught on the street and deep-fried. The taste of a scorpion resembles the soft shell of a crab or shrimp in a shell. 
Weevil larva
Another "treasure" is eaten in Nigeria, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. AT countryside weevil larvae are considered a staple, they are valued for their high content of protein, calcium, potassium. They are collected directly from the tree, strung on a skewer and roasted over hot coals. Sometimes fried in flour and wrapped in a sago leaf. Raw to taste, the larvae resemble coconut, and when ready, bacon. 
Ants
Ants are eaten in Australia, Colombia and Thailand. Australian Aborigines wait until the insects grow to the size of a grape and eat them raw as sweets. Colombians eat their fat-assed ants like popcorn or peanuts. In Thailand, they prefer to fry red ants along with eggs and add them to salads. 
Tarantula
These arachnids are fried in oil until crispy in Cambodia and Venezuela. Salt, sugar, and sometimes garlic are added and sold as street food. They eat whole tarantulas. And if the legs of the creatures are crispy, then the fat bellies are rather sticky. In the jungles of Venezuela, you can find a tarantula the size of a plate. This type of tarantula is considered a delicacy and is roasted over an open fire. It tastes like crab meat. 
Termite
In West Africa, Australia, and parts of Latin America, termites are eaten by residents. They are eaten raw, grilled or fried in oil. Termites taste like carrots.
wasp larva
Residents of Japan love to eat wasp larvae. They are carefully removed from the nest, cooked in soy sauce with added sugar. Eaten as a snack. Taste: sweetish, crispy 
Huhu beetle larvae
These insects are adored by the natives of New Zealand. The huge fat larva is regarded as a delicacy and eaten as a snack. People gather them under rotting tree trunks. Valued for their high protein content, they taste like peanut butter. 
Brown marble bug
In Mexico and South Africa locals eat stink bugs. So that the smell is not felt, the insects are soaked in warm water. In Africa, they are first decapitated and then boiled and dried in the sun. Used as a snack. To taste, the insect resembles a mixture of cinnamon and iodine.
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 salad or soup is for Europeans. Their taste and texture are a bit like popcorn, although they do not have any special pronounced taste, but they are very nutritious.
In fact, these are not worms at all, but the larvae of a grass moth from the grass moth family (Crambidae) living in bamboo. Traditionally harvested by cutting bamboo stalks, they have recently been commercially farmed 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 the Amazon.
Barbecue from beetle larvae
Where: Eastern Indonesia
Barbels, large and shiny beetles with long antennae, are distributed throughout the world, and there are many of them in Russia. We also call them lumberjack beetles, in the English-speaking world - capricorn beetles (capricorn beetle).
Longhorn beetle larvae found in the roots of sago palms are a very popular village food in Eastern Indonesia. For the sake of fat and juicy larvae, Indonesians sometimes nullify small palm groves, and then, neatly strung on rods, roast the larvae over the fire. They have tender flesh, but a very dense skin that needs to be chewed for a long time. The larvae taste like greasy bacon.
The larvae have one more use: the villagers use them as an ear brush - a live larva is put into the ear, holding 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 speciality: cheese made from unpasteurized goat's milk with live larvae of the Piophila casei cheese fly. For most cheese lovers, casu marzu is not just a mature cheese or blue cheese, but a completely rotten cheese with worms. Strictly speaking, this is the way it is: it is an ordinary pecorino, from which the top layer is cut off so that the cheese fly unhindered lays its eggs in it. The larvae that appear then 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. Part of the liquid even flows out - it is called lágrima, which means "tear" in translation.
In Sardinia, casu marzu is considered an aphrodisiac and is traditionally eaten with worms. Moreover, casu marzu is considered safe to eat only as long as 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 fell into the eye of someone who tasted the cheese. Therefore, casu marzu lovers often eat this cheese with glasses or, spreading it on bread, cover the sandwich with their hand. However, removing the larvae from the 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, no hygiene standards The casu marzu does not comply with 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 a regular pecorino). But in 2010, casu marzu was recognized as a cultural property of Sardinia and allowed again.
Dried mopane caterpillars with onions
Where: South Africa
Dried caterpillars of the moth Gonimbrasia belina, a South African peacock-eye species that lives in mopane trees, is 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, as well as pickled caterpillars rolled up in tins.
To cook a caterpillar, you must first squeeze out its green intestines (usually the caterpillars are simply squeezed in the 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 keep for a long time, but do not have a special taste (most often they are compared to dried tofu or even dry wood). Therefore, they are usually fried to a crisp with onions, added to stews, stewed in various sauces, or served with sadza corn porridge.
However, very often mopanes are also eaten raw, whole or, as in Botswana, having previously torn off their heads. They taste like tea leaves. Caterpillars are collected by hand, usually women and children do this. And if in the forest they belong to anyone, then collecting caterpillars on neighboring trees is considered bad form. In Zimbabwe, women even mark trees with their caterpillars or carry young caterpillars closer to home, setting up plantations of sorts.
boiled wasps
Where: Japan
The older generation of Japanese people still respects wasps and bees, prepared by the most different ways. One of these dishes, hachinoko, is bee larvae boiled with soy sauce and sugar: a translucent, sweetish caramel-like mass that goes well with rice. Wasps are prepared in the same way - a dish with them is called jibatinoko. For older Japanese, this dish reminds of the post-war years and the rationing system, when wasps and bees were eaten especially actively in Japan. It is in steady demand in Tokyo restaurants, even if only as a nostalgic attraction.
In general, hachinoko and jibatinoko are considered quite a rare specialty of Nagano Prefecture. Roasted black wasps are a little more common: they 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 in there - each has 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 laborious. Wasp and bee hunters tie long colored threads to adults and thus track their nests. However, canned bees can also be found in Japanese stores - usually beekeeping farms sell surpluses in this way.
Silkworm fried with ginger
Where: China, Korea, Japan, Thailand
The city of Suzhou and its environs 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 with a thin but strong silk thread. In a cocoon, they grow wings, antennae and legs. Before that happens, Suzhou people 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 inside, are successfully combined with almost any vegetables and spices. Properly cooked, they taste like crab or shrimp meat.
No less popular are silkworm larvae in Korea. Trays with beondegas, boiled larvae with spices or steamed larvae, are found throughout the country. And in stores, canned silkworms are sold, 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. Most of all in Colombia, female ants with eggs are loved. They are caught on rainy days, when the water floods the anthills and the females get out. In the simplest rustic version, they are cooked by wrapping them in leaves and holding them a little over the fire. It is a crunchy, sweet snack with a distinct nutty flavor.
But the most delicious ants, the so-called "honey", are found in Australia. They feed on sweet nectar, carrying it in swollen stomachs of the abdomen (in Russian-language literature they are called "ant barrels"). These clear 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 all in America, Canada and Southeast Asia. But if for Americans these are just large insects, the bites of which sometimes last for two weeks, then in Asia they eat water bugs with pleasure.
The Asian variety, Lethocerus indicus, is the largest of the family at 12 cm long, 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 they tear off the legs and wings (and in this form are served with strong drinks as a snack), and in Vietnam they make a very odorous 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 also ate grasshoppers: the locusts, which he ate with wild honey, are locusts, a close relative of the grasshopper. It could be understood by the Mexicans, for whom grasshoppers are practically National food. Grasshoppers are eaten everywhere in Mexico: boiled, raw, sun-dried, fried, soaked in lime juice. Grasshopper guacamole is the most popular dish: 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, the fried grasshopper does not have a prominent flavor, and usually its taste is that of the oil and spices in which it was fried. Grasshoppers sold by street vendors in Southeast Asia are simply overcooked chitin shells. In general, grasshoppers are eaten wherever insects are eaten. Boiled in salt water and dried in the sun, grasshoppers are eaten in the Middle East, in China they are strung on skewers 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 give birth to children with deformed, like grasshoppers, heads.
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 with a smooth and at the same time fast movement.
Caught large dragonflies, whose wings are first cut off, are either quickly grilled or boiled in coconut milk with ginger and garlic. Dragonflies are also made into something like lollipops, fried in coconut oil and sprinkled with sugar.
Bedbugs with chicken pate
Where: Mexico
Grass bugs - in particular, from the family of true shield insects (Pentatomidae) - are also eaten in the world. Like most bed bugs, bugs are stinky. In order to get rid of bad smell, in South Africa, they are first soaked in warm water for a long time, and then simply dried and gnawed.
In contrast, the Mexican stink bug is prized for its strong, medicinal scent, probably due to its high iodine content. American TV presenter Andrew Zimmern, who ate shield bugs on an episode of his television series Bizarre Foods, compares their taste to tutti frutti gum. In Mexico, bedbugs are made into sauces, added to tacos, or fried and mixed with chicken pate.
The strong smell of stink bugs is also valued in Vietnam, where they are used to cook spicy dish bọ xít, and in Laos, where bedbugs are ground into a cheo paste with spices and herbs.
Charcoal grilled tarantulas
Where: Cambodia
Black-fried tarantulas, which look like varnished charred firebrands, are a common street food in Cambodia. A successful tarantula hunter can catch up to 200 tarantulas a day. They are sold very quickly. Cambodian tarantulas are fried in a wok with salt and garlic - their meat tastes like a cross between chicken and fish.
Large tarantula-tarantulas, reaching 28 cm in diameter, are eaten in Venezuela, simply by roasting them on coals. A slightly more elegant way of preparing tarantulas is used in Japan: first, the abdomen of the spider is torn off, then the hairs are singeed and quickly fried 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.
To be honest, the culture of eating insects among the Slavs is not particularly developed. No, seriously, why is there any crawling and flying muck, if it's much easier and easier to find or go to? Whether it's the natives of Australia and South Asia ... Here, for them, eating insects is a process as normal and natural as for us, for example, porridge for breakfast. However, for a person who, for example, is lost in the taiga, any source of protein can be a salvation. So it is better to study the basic rules regarding the consumption of arthropods in advance. So what are these insects?
Edible insects - the basic rules for eating
Ants
Collecting ants is easy. The easiest way that even chimpanzees have been able to master is to use a long twig. You just take a long branch and
following the example of our distant relatives, you stuff it into an anthill. Then he pulls it out - everything, how many insects you caught there. More hard way- destroy part of the anthill and organize a beautiful shaded place nearby, where frightened insects will drag their eggs and larvae, which you then cynically collect and eat. You can also break off part of the anthill and throw it into the water, and then collect all those who come up. This method works perfectly with termites, but the poor ants are much worse on the water, so they do not emerge at full strength.
earthworms
Formally, classifying them as insects is absolutely wrong. Annelids are a more primitive stage of evolution. But as for me, eating a worm is exactly the same as eating a fat and juicy bark beetle larva. So let's not get into formalism.
Finding earthworms is very simple: dig loose earth - you will definitely find a couple. If you're lucky, you can even find a fairly large specimen. And considering that at night they themselves crawl out to the surface of the earth ...
But what, exactly, should be done with it? The problem lies in the way the worm feeds, which passes earth through its food tract, which must be disposed of. You have several options. The first is to arrange a few days of hunger strike for the worms: the earth will come out by itself. The second is to put them in flour. Worms don’t care what they swallow, so very soon they will be safely stuffed with “dough”. Someone very aptly compared this state with "sausage in the dough", only the other way around. Well, the third way is to put them in salt water. When the worms become transparent, you can wash and cook further. You can, in the end, just manually squeeze out the worm. Of course, some soil will remain, but heat treatment will eliminate any risk. After the preparation is completed, you can unleash your culinary fantasy, because the worm is 80 percent protein. Bake it whole, mince it, deep-fry it, boil it - it will all be very nutritious, and some say delicious. In the most extreme case, it can be eaten raw.
Larvae
This category includes intermediate forms of a wide variety of beetles, wasps, bees and other insects. Virtually identical to caterpillars. But the latter bravely crawl around the world around them, because most often they are absolutely inedible or poisonous. And the larvae are forced to hide their plump little bodies under the protection of rotten wood or fallen leaves. And they do the right thing by hiding it. As much as they are unpleasant to look at, they are just as useful as a food product. The purest protein in an easily digestible form! The same applies to the larvae of bees and wasps.
Yes, getting them is quite difficult - there is a risk of being bitten quite badly, but this source of protein will be a useful addition to honey. So the main problem is to find this very source. A rotten tree, an old stump, a bee's nest are the main objects of interest.
And then the most difficult thing is to convince your body that this whitish, eyeless and generally nasty something is great food. You can recall, for example, that the Japanese - a very highly developed nation - are extremely fond of eating boiled wasp larvae. Or that Australian aborigines quite calmly eat giant larvae alive - and nothing, they live for themselves. If you are convinced, great. Take prey and fry it. It can be in oil, it can be in flour, it can be just like that. Special extremals can even eat it raw.
tarantulas
The tarantula is a unique creature. Not only can it give you some trouble, but it can also save you from starvation. The fact is that fried tarantula is a common dish in Cambodia. Well, as usual ... During the reign of the Khmer Rouge, food was bad - so they began to eat spiders. And then they got used to it, got used to it. So do not forget the lessons of the Cambodians: if you see a tarantula, take it not as a danger, but as a prey. Just do not forget to remove the poisonous glands - heat treatment, of course, destroys the poison, but, as practice shows, not completely.
As you can see, insects are indeed a great source of food. It's pretty easy to collect them. the nutritional value they have a huge one. Only one drawback - well, our people are not used to eating this creeping and flying muck. Just not used to it. So much so that it can even earn from nerves. But this problem can also be overcome. The main thing to remember is that extreme situations require extreme solutions. And eating worms and larvae is not the worst thing that can happen to you.
