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German restaurant delights diners with fried maggots
The Sunday Telegraph (UK) ^ | May 22, 2005 | By Rob Hyde in Dresden

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.


TOPICS: Extended News
KEYWORDS: finedinning
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To: MilspecRob

That's nothing. Where do you think casings used for large diameter sausages and cured meats, like summer sausage, come from? Hint: it ain't part of the UPPER intestines of cattle or pigs...


61 posted on 05/21/2005 8:58:14 PM PDT by WorkingClassFilth (Fun Fact: Did you know that NEWSWEEK has killed more people than Ted Kennedy's Oldsmobile?)
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To: WorkingClassFilth

Is this a bad time to bring up cheese?


62 posted on 05/21/2005 8:59:28 PM PDT by null and void (It's a guy thing - we don't understand it either...)
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To: null and void
It's still bee puke...

But it's yummy bee puke. Irrational? Yes. Do I care? No. That's the beauty of civilized judgementalism. I can have it both ways and to hell with those who disagree.

63 posted on 05/21/2005 8:59:30 PM PDT by AshfieldK
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To: AshfieldK

LOL! Exactly!


64 posted on 05/21/2005 9:00:37 PM PDT by null and void (It's a guy thing - we don't understand it either...)
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To: null and void

"It's still bee puke..."

And not just regurgitated by one bee either.

Each single drop of nectar is passed from bee to bee to bee to bee (etc.) until it finally is loaded into cells, ripened and capped.


65 posted on 05/21/2005 9:01:01 PM PDT by WorkingClassFilth (Fun Fact: Did you know that NEWSWEEK has killed more people than Ted Kennedy's Oldsmobile?)
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To: kingattax

OMG!!! Those crazy Europeans will do anything for attention, won't they?


66 posted on 05/21/2005 9:02:28 PM PDT by Goodgirlinred ( GoodGirlInRed Four More Years!!!!!)
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To: null and void

Why, no. I love a tasty crusted mass of spoiled ruminant lactation.


67 posted on 05/21/2005 9:02:53 PM PDT by WorkingClassFilth (Fun Fact: Did you know that NEWSWEEK has killed more people than Ted Kennedy's Oldsmobile?)
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To: null and void
Is this a bad time to bring up cheese?

Casu marzu?

68 posted on 05/21/2005 9:05:35 PM PDT by A. Pole (The Law of Comparative Advantage: "Americans should not have children and should not go to college")
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To: alicewonders
Just think where eggs come from.

I remember a collage roommate from India seeing Pizza for the first time. He was repelled that we would eat something that looked like something the dog gaged up. Not to worry, we had him eating Pizza, KFC, and the Tequila worm by end of first semester.

69 posted on 05/21/2005 9:06:27 PM PDT by MilspecRob (Most people don't act stupid, they really are.)
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To: null and void

I honestly don't think I will ever be hungry again. :(


70 posted on 05/21/2005 9:06:28 PM PDT by Goodgirlinred ( GoodGirlInRed Four More Years!!!!!)
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To: null and void

.... and that's why Americans are so superior to those barbaric Europeans. We, intrinsically, know where the line is drawn. ;)


71 posted on 05/21/2005 9:06:34 PM PDT by AshfieldK
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To: aculeus

This is hard to understand. German food has always been fairly straight forward and, in my opinion, delicious.


72 posted on 05/21/2005 9:06:40 PM PDT by Jaysun (No matter how hot she is, some man, somewhere, is tired of her sh*t)
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To: A. Pole

That I'll pass up...


73 posted on 05/21/2005 9:07:08 PM PDT by null and void (It's a guy thing - we don't understand it either...)
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To: AshfieldK
.... and that's why Americans are so superior to those barbaric Europeans. We, intrinsically, know where the line is drawn. ;)

What is in the hot dogs?

74 posted on 05/21/2005 9:07:45 PM PDT by A. Pole (The Law of Comparative Advantage: "Americans should not have children and should not go to college")
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To: Goodgirlinred

The FR diet plan...


75 posted on 05/21/2005 9:08:02 PM PDT by null and void (It's a guy thing - we don't understand it either...)
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To: A. Pole

IF I ever eat again, it won't be anyone's food but my own.


76 posted on 05/21/2005 9:08:40 PM PDT by Goodgirlinred ( GoodGirlInRed Four More Years!!!!!)
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To: A. Pole
What is in the hot dogs?

The legal definition is: Lips, tongue, esophagus, and the attached fat not to exceed 20% by weight...

77 posted on 05/21/2005 9:10:03 PM PDT by null and void (It's a guy thing - we don't understand it either...)
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To: Goodgirlinred

lol...yep


78 posted on 05/21/2005 9:11:18 PM PDT by kingattax
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To: A. Pole
Sardinia's favorite black market treat, begins with a local cheese called Pecorino, which is left out in the sun, so that nearby barn-flies can deposit their larvae into it, until it becomes overpopulated with a swarming mass of maggots. The enzymes "produced" by the maggots cause the cheese to ferment, which, in turn, decomposes the fats, creating a living culinary delight.

Who was the first person to see this rotted cheese & think, "hmmm.....I hate to waste a good chunk of cheese, I wonder what that tastes like?"

79 posted on 05/21/2005 9:15:15 PM PDT by alicewonders
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To: Jaysun
This is hard to understand.

That's because you are thinking of real German food, like Brats and Kraut, Weiss and Strudel. Anything new that comes out of Europe now (especially France or Germany) has been tainted by the insane new European craze of relatavistic normalism, where there is nohing that is wrong or weird, only misunderstood.

80 posted on 05/21/2005 9:15:54 PM PDT by AshfieldK
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