Put The Bite on Bugs

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[6] If an insect is unfamiliar to you, it's best to be cautious before consuming it. The following testing procedure-suggested by Ronald Taylor in an extremely informative book entitled Butterflies in My Stomach: Insects in Human Nutrition is somewhat similar to the approach that mushroom hunters use:

To start off, be sure the insect is free of any objectionable odors and doesn't produce skin irritation when handled. Next, place a small portion of the bug inside your lower lip for a couple of minutes. It shouldn't taste acid, bitter, or soapy . . . and shouldn't burn the tender skin there. Spit the sample out if it's objectionable in any way. Finally, if the results of the first two tests are acceptable, eat only a small portion. If there are no ill effects within a day or more, you can go on to try progressively larger quantities.

WAITER, THERE'S A BUG IN . . .

The Aztecs preferred corn ears that contained worms over those that were "pestfree", and it's often been said that insects in our food actually make it more nutritious. The fact is that most of us eat bugs every day without knowing it. Our Food and Drug Administration has even set allowances for maximum levels of insects (or their parts) in commercially sold foods ... although—in practice—there are often far fewer bugs present than would be legally allowed, because canning companies set their own, often more stringent, standards.

Of course, in order to produce the nearly insect-free food demanded by society, ever increasing amounts of pesticides must be used. And, as you know, such chemicals can cause environmental contamination ... illnesses in farm workers . . . and dangerous accumulations in consumers' bodies. It's probably better for everyone concerned to learn to accept—or, better yet, prefer—a few insects in our foodstuffs.

A-HUNTING WE WILL GO

You'll likely want to devote your first foraging efforts to bugs that are flavorful and either abundant or of good size. These include (of course, taste is a matter of opinion) grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, grubs, beetles, damp-wood termites, and carpenter ants. Other popular insect treats - which are small or somewhat difficult to catch - are cicadas (all stages), bees and wasps (larvae and pupae), sowbugs, aphids, psyllids, and scale insects.

You must realize that bugs, like most wild foods, have their seasons. Winged termites and ants, for instance, swarm out of their nests in a nuptial frenzy for only a few days each year ... often during a warm, humid spell following a rain in the spring or fall. If you're lucky enough to be around when this happens, you can easily collect a protein-packed meal in a fairly short time, especially if you locate the nests.

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