Ants: The Other Something Meat

[avalon]

Ants, I must say, I have never tried. But I would, once at least. We have plenty of ants here in FL. but they are teeny tiny. Any Ant eaters here? 

http://pennyscout.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/penny-scouts-all-natural-ants-n-nuts-bars/#more-116

[TylerDurden]

I've swallowed live, flying insects before, by accident(while bicycling in the countryside). Didn't taste of anything. Tasted maggots and fly-larvae which seemed to taste disgusting.

I've heard that ants, in danger, release formic acid, which is an irritant. Not sure if that's worth the bother.

[avalon]

How did you come to taste maggots dare I ask    and perhaps eating 'dead' ants would be best 

How about snails? That's another I have yet to try, fresh or canned. Any reviews on snails?

[TylerDurden]

How did you come to taste maggots dare I ask    and perhaps eating 'dead' ants would be best 

How about snails? That's another I have yet to try, fresh or canned. Any reviews on snails?

All I remember, as a child, was my family cooking snails, taken from the wild, and getting food-poisoning as a result.

I'm sure, though, that the kind of snails you get in French restaurants are fine - I've tasted such, later on in my life(al;beit cooked), and they're excellent if used with various green herbs.

In the early stages of rawpalaeo, I would leave outside some  pieces of raw tongue so that they would age a little and become easier for my (then severely-weakened) teeth to handle. As a result, in the summer, flies would leave little larvae on top, which I would eat, regardless. I also would buy live maggots(meant for pets) but they didn't taste too good as they were meant for pets, and also had wood-chips in the tins with them, which would not have helped the taste at all.

[avalon]

Interesting. Can you filter pet Maggots free of wood chips? OMG! WHAT TO DO THEN? I CAN'T EAT'EM RAW!!!! AHHHHH!!!!! MAYBE... If someone in front of me ate a raw maggot, I'd do it once, on principle. After that I don't know. Paleo-

[TylerDurden]

Interesting. Can you filter pet Maggots free of wood chips? OMG! WHAT TO DO THEN? I CAN'T EAT'EM RAW!!!! AHHHHH!!!!! MAYBE... If someone in front of me ate a raw maggot, I'd do it once, on principle. After that I don't know. Paleo-

Trust me, maggots are pretty tame by raw-foodist standards. AV, after all, recomends raw faeces in extremis. Faeces is something I hasten to add that I've never tried!

(It's been estimated that we eat something like several pounds worth of insects throughout our whole lifetime, as insect-parts get caught up in machinery etc. and end up (mashed) in fruit, bread etc.)

Insects, either raw or cooked, are so frequently featured in 3rd-world countries such as Mexico or China, that I can safely state that our horror of bug-eating is entirely misplaced.

[wodgina]

I used to eat bugs when I was a kid ants taste like they smell when you squash them. Quite strong.

[avalon]

I knew that 

[seesawsemiology]

when i was a kid i ate ants several times (probably a dare) i remember them being really tangy and thinking they were actully pretty good... granted this was a long time ago and i guess ant flavor may vary with the kind of ant.
if i see any around ill give it another shot and report back

[wodgina]

I knew that 

Tried these then?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_ant

There's a few species of these honey ants, I will make it my mission to report back on some of these critters. I've seen nests before but just wasn't into raw food back then.

[boxcarguy07]

I remember an episode of "Bizarre Foods" on the food network where Andrew Zimmern ate ants known as lemon ants, and he said they tasted just like lemons.
They were in a jungle, I forget what country though.

[Sully]

I remember an episode of "Bizarre Foods" on the food network where Andrew Zimmern ate ants known as lemon ants, and he said they tasted just like lemons.
They were in a jungle, I forget what country though.

I tried an ant, it taste acidic. I guess you can call all ants "lemon ants".

[Python]

All I remember, as a child, was my family cooking snails, taken from the wild, and getting food-poisoning as a result.

Snails have to go through a period of purging and fasting before they are safe to eat because the contents of their stomach are toxic to humans.

[avalon]

If they're anything like me the wait might be considerable 

[stevesurv]

Never deliberately tried bugs of any sort. They seem like they'd be pretty nutritious, though.

[Sully]

I hear wasp grubs are edible, but the adults are poisonous.

[Sully]

Locusts and grasshoppers are common too. I ate a grasshopper. Its good to me, from what I can recall. Just tear off the woody legs if desired.

[goodsamaritan]

I was reading the sunday paper this morning.
They were featuring exotic Philippine food in the provinces and they showed pictures of ANTS EGGS!!!

So I asked my father in law if he ever ate ANTS EGGS and he said, yes he did eat them occassionally in his youth when he lived in the province of Ilocos.  He said that ANTS EGGS are commonly sold in his home provincial markets.

Then I showed the ANTS EGGS picture to my sister in law.  She's a cultural mapping person and she said she saw ANTS EGGS served in the province of PAMPANGA.

My mother in law arrived and I asked her about ANTS EGGS and her face lit up and she said ANTS EGGS were absolutely DELICIOUS and that when you bit them they popped nice popping sounds in your teeth as you ate them.  She comes from the province of LAGUNA.

I'm such a city born dork, I'm missing out.  Ants eggs are now on my list of food to eat when I drive to the provinces.  Better if I just get an ants eggs supplier and have them ship it to Manila.

[primaD]

goodsamaritan, I have eaten ant eggs before!     What a coincidence that you bring it up here.  I just had some about three days ago.  My gf is from Ilocos norte and her family sends us all kinds of goodies all the time.  The name for the black bugs we ate in Ilocano is "buos" and the name for the ant eggs is "Arrarawan".  (another type of beetle I tried last year is "abal abal")  Both of them are REALLY delicious!!  I really like them.  The only thing is my mother-in-law cooked them.  As I mentioned in another thread moments ago I bounce back from RAF to my filipino diet all the time.  Today is probably my 15teenth time aspiring to go 100% paleo again.  I would ask my gf's family to send me some freshly killed bugs that aren't dried or processed but they probably wouldn't be safe to eat when they arrive here in Hawai'i.  Oh well, guess I'll have to eat some fresh raw bugs when I visit there again.

[TylerDurden]

You guys in the tropics seem to have it all as regards variety within a rawpalaeo diet. Here in London, I have to work a bit to get enough variety given all the restrictive laws.

[donrad]

This is a very entertaining short course on eating bugs:

http://www.manataka.org/page160.html

I was advised that bugs should be an important part of the human diet. I was relieved to hear that shrimp are a close relative to insects. I spice shrimp  and dry them with the shell on. They are a great crunchy snack.

I spent a long time on the internet a while back trying to find info on insect eating. Except for the above all I found were academic articles. Grasshoppers because of there abundance and size, if I remember right, were one of the most commonly eaten. I don't think I could eat a live raw one, perhaps dried crispy with chili.

[goodsamaritan]

This sounds good... we could start a thread on insects.  A couple of insects are eaten in the various provinces of the Philippines but they are cooked recipes.

[donrad]

I did another search on "grasshopper insect recipes" and found a bunch of good stuff.


http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~cbader/ghprecwithinsects.html

http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/grasshopper-recipes/

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2160.html

http://www.frogsonice.com/froggy/recipes.shtml

http://www.congocookbook.com/other_recipes/insects.html

I was surprised to see a bunch of books at Amazon, scroll down on this page:

http://www.amazon.com/Eat-bug-Cookbook-grasshoppers-centipedes/dp/0898159776

[goodsamaritan]

I remember my in laws saying ants eggs were a delicacy, lip smacking good from Ilocos Norte. We just came from Pagudpud beach on the way down and found myself stopping by at the wet market at Bangui. I first got myself some of the famous traditional Ilocos garlic at only 120 pesos per kilo, then I asked for ants eggs and yes they did have it! Actually, 2 vendors had it!

See full blog story, video and pics

http://www.myhealthblog.org/2011/04/16/live-raw-ants-eggs-a-yummy-delicacy-of-ilocos-norte/

[Techydude]

Insects are supposed to be like nuts to humans. Lots more proteins and fats and minerals than meat. But nuts have enzyme inhibitors. Insects have a few other things. But insects are awesome.