Mealworms and crickets and giant water bugs, oh my!
Mark Berman, entomologist and chef extraordinaire at Bugman Educational Entoprises, was featured in the “Man Eating Bugs” program at the Franklin Park Conservatory’s Hungry Planet: Local Food, Global View exhibit, running August 20-November 6, 2011. The conservatory exhibit and programs are designed to encourage people to “explore local and global food culture through art and horticulture displays, children’s interactives and a full menu of programs for all ages.” And Jiminy Crickets, were the attendees in for an eyeful AND a mouthful! Mark, aka Bugman, introduced entomophagy (the eating of insects by humans) with his on-site Cooking with Bugs demonstrations.
While simmering up a special sauce for the giant water bug recipe, Mark told onlookers, "I don't cook with bugs as a novelty, I want people to find them unremarkable and a reasonable alternative ingredient for 'normal' food." He says, "When you eat meat, you get all 20 amino acids since the cow or pig has already synthesized the proteins. In cultures that don't eat a lot of meat, you usually find a lot of corn and/or beans because they provide the 8 essential amino acids we don't synthesize. Insects have a high protein content – protein is made out of amino acids – and so they count as meat, but more efficient meat than cows or pigs... substantially more efficient."
Mark has been showing people bugs at schools, festivals and special events for the past 15 years. His company also offers its own line of Fossil Food BUG-Snacks including Gourmet Grubs (cheese and BBQ flavored mealworms), BUG-Suckers (with crickets and mealworms) and Chocolate-Dipped Insects (mealworms and crickets). He began joining the entomophagy bandwagon cooking up tasty recipes about 7 years ago. Much of his inspiration (and a few recipes) came from two books that he also sells, Man-eating Bugs and Eat-a-Bug Cookbook.
Mark's line-up of "Cooking with Bugs" recipes included:
- Blueberry Honeyworm Pancakes
- Ant Brood, Peanuts and Mint on a Gourmet Cracker with Mango Paste
- Chilled Strawberry Soup with a Chocolate Swirl and Sweet-Roasted Honeyworms
- Combo Spicy Roasted Shrimp, Silkworm Pupae and Mealworms in Fried Rice
- Chocolate-Dipped Crickets
- Coco-Crunchers (sugar-coated crickets fried in coconut oil)
- Giant Water Bug on Watercress
When asked by an audience member where he got the bugs used for cooking, Mark talked about his recent shopping trip to local ethnic food stores. At a Thai market, he found frozen maeng da na (male giant water bugs – males taste lighter and better than females), ant "brood" (eggs and larvae) and Dak Dae (silkworm pupae, also often called moth cocoons). "On most food labels, the name and ingredients were in the native languages and English" but he chuckled and said "the African store had foods that I had no idea what they were even by reading the English part of the labels." Although eating bugs is common in African and Latin cultures, he did not find any in Columbus stores.
Shrimp Chips (fried shrimp similar to potato chips) and Ginseng Royal Jelly (comprised of food made by worker ants for the queen ants) were some ready-to-serve treats he had on display. Earlier in the program, Mark explained that "royal jelly is fed to the female larvae who in turn become queens and lay eggs totalling thousands of times their weight." Drinking two bottles a day of Royal Jelly is believed to benefit humans. In addition to frozen bugs, Mark buys supplies of live mealworms, waxworms and crickets from local suppliers and growers, such as Chirp n' Time Cricket Farm in Hamilton, OH. He had these and other live bugs on display, including tarantulas and tailess whip scorpions, also considered to be delicacies in some cultures.
There were many adventurous eaters, young and old alike. One woman tried the ant brood. She said, "I didn't taste the ant brood by itself but I took a bite of all of it and it tasted good." Another attendee peeled open one of the Giant Water Bugs. These bugs are an impressive 3.5 inches long. Their name, Maeng Da, means "pimp." The brave soul dipped the meat into the special Ginger Sauce and stated, "I can't distinguish what it tastes like but it doesn't taste bad." Mark expressed the fact that many insects have an indescribable taste and often take on the flavors of the seasonings and ingredients they are cooked with or the foods they're fed. "Kids often go coo-coo over Coco-Crunchers. Some kids pig out on them," Mark also notes.
Mark wrapped up his program talking about his favorite bug to eat. "Waxworms, which I call honeyworms, are my favorite. They live in bee nests and eat honeycomb and honey, so they have a high unsaturated fat content (the good kind) and high protein content. Dry roasted, they taste good - even better if sautéed with cinnamon and sugar." And if anyone exhibits an objection to eating bugs, Mark will be quick to point out that you eat bugs all the time in tomato sauce and other processed foods.
For those who haven't had the opportunity to try a delicious bug dish, Mark makes it easy to cook with bugs at home. Samples of his "Gourmet" Bug-Recipes, as well as details about his programs and future appearances, are listed on his website at Bugs.org. You can also keep up-to-date with the latest bug news on his Bugman Education Facebook page. And, be sure to check out Mark's awesome bug photos and bug videos!
Bug appétit!
Related links and resources:
Entomophagy: Food of the Future
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Defect Action Levels
Allergies Related to Food Insect Production and Consumption
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