"There was a soft juicy bit in the middle around the crunchy shell." YUCK!
Posted on 05/21/2005 7:44:57 PM PDT by aculeus
Sarah Azubi, 17, had hers deep fried. "They were crunchy like chips and tasted a bit like nuts," she said approvingly of the new delicacy on the menu at a Dresden restaurant. "There was a soft juicy bit in the middle around the crunchy shell."
Another diner, Nancy Weinhold, 25, was less convinced by the plump maggots, imported to Germany from Mexico, which the Espitas restaurant began serving last month. "I will try most things once but was really tempted to give this a miss," she said. "They looked disgusting - two-inch long, fat, squishy grubs that looked as if they should have been eating the lettuce, not lying on it waiting to be eaten. I closed my eyes for the first bite, but they were really not that bad."
Few diners seem to share her reservations. Since the head chef, Uwe Engert, started dishing up yellow kingworms (Zophobas morio) in everything from salads to cocktails as a "nutritious and extremely tasty" alternative, the Espitas has been full every night.
Mr Engert himself is a convert, describing the beetle larvae as a "protein bomb for those who are not too squeamish", ideal for human consumption because the exoskeleton is easily digestible.
The restaurant owner, Alexander Wolf, stumbled across the delicacy during a trip to Mexico. Given the popularity of Mr Engert's larvae salads at €13 (£8.90), fried larvae with cactus and corn (€19), and larvae in ice cream or chocolate sauce (€7), he now intends to branch out into grasshopper and ant dishes.
"I was visiting an area close to Mexico City where these larvae seem to be the staple diet," said Mr Wolf, 27, who prides himself on the authentic Latin American ambience in his three restaurants. "The locals cook them in everything from soups to burritos. The larvae used to be a pest as they hatched into a beetle which can destroy crops. People started eating them simply to get rid of them."
He is now considering starting his own maggot farm in Europe. "We have them deep-frozen on the ground to stop them hatching and then ship them over," he said. "We are now planning our own colony here so we can sell them elsewhere in Europe. I reckon they will go down well in the UK. London, especially, has a tradition of variety in its cuisine."
Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence.
Why does that picture make me think of, "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers"
I got news for you, folks. You're already eating them - and worse - every day of your life. Now, I'm not saying that a handful of crunchy maggots washed down with your beer is something to cap off a day with, but most people don't have a clue about what is in their food. Better to not know. Move along. Nothing to see.
At least they're not pushing it like sushi...
ROFL! Just ROFL!!
As el presidente Vincente Fox was saying...
The nice restaurants will give you a little tub of flavored lard to spread on your bread.
' Fecal Flambe ' ?
Well, there went my dinner, lunch, AND breakfast, all in one! Seriously, I think they've been serving that for years in college cafeterias.
Watch it, they will. Pretty soon they'll start charging extra for that "fly in the soup."
No. It's just that they are being meals that German maggots aren't willing to do...
Customer: "Waiter there's a fly in my soup!"
Waiter: "Hey keep your voice down buddy or everyone will want one."
You've heard of the new German-Chinese food?
This is just too priceless. GO EU! GO EU!
An hour later you're hungry again...
Fried food is bad for our health-I prefer my maggots steamed.
We have a local pest control company here in South Florida who has a radio ad that claims that the average American ingests 80 "bugs" in their sleep during their lifetime.
Pretty creepy, but not hard to imagine.
Yeah... Closest I've got is the Tequila worm. I'll leave the rest of the insect world to the sober among me.
Oh....Dear....Lord.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.