Bugs For Dinner!

The Big Transition

2009-04-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

As of today, www.slshrimp.com is no more! SmallStock Food Strategies LLC has replaced Sunrise Land Shrimp. It's the end of a long process of re-framing my work to the world: while I [and several entomologists] liked the whimsical nature of the old name, it was simply too opaque and confusing for the general public.

The new name may have some of the same attributes, but to a far lesser degree. It's time to move into insect farming/rearing/husbandry --- these words are interchangeable. While some of the exotic "bugs" I've gotten over the years are quite tasty and impressive, 'the movement' will make the most progress through the production of captive-raised insects.

The wonderful Keri&Justin are my new webmasters, and I'm thrilled with what they've done. Those seeking Sunrise Land Shrimp will be routed to www.smallstockfoods.com and I'll be posting on my wordpress blog. Please do visit me there.

House Fly Pupae: Surprisingly Good

2009-03-03T05:57:00.000-08:00

About two weeks ago I offered four folks from RISD a special banquet. This was in a private home and the participants had a great time. I offered about a dozen varieties of insects, some of which I'd never served before. There was the impressive-yet-usual:

Giant Water Bugs [Lethocerus indicus, which for some reason I've barely mentioned in this blog]. I call them 'usual' because they're one of the insects more-or-less easily available in Asian markets in Providence. Though I've seen them served whole-fried in Thailand (I found myself unable to masticate them much at all, I guess my mouth is too tender), I serve them filleted; taking out the muscle tissue in the thorax. Most people are pretty blown away by the taste of it, but some folks just purely hate it.

and the unusual:
Thorny Stick Insects [Eurycantha horridum], which unfortunately are not all that good after all. Not much to eat on them, but they're much appreciated and enjoyed in Papua New Guinea, where they're stuck on a stick and roasted over the fire.

And there was one item that I myself had never tried: house fly pupae.

I'd gotten them last fall, through the kindness of folks at Cornell's Ag department -- thanks again, Allie!! I can admit now that I had a bit of a hang up about trying them, which had surprised and disappointed me. After all, I was supposed to be beyond having such issues. The problem I had was that when I picked them up in the insectary, I smelled what they'd been eating -- a mixture of milk and really rich calf feed, I think -- and saw the dried bits of that mixture among the pupae; I didn't enjoy the prospect of separating them.

Between the smell and the prospect of having to sort through the pupae themselves [the tiny red pills] and fish out the bits of their food [the vague nuggets], I wasn't eager. But at last I realized the simple solution there in front of me all along. If I would just parboil the pupae, as I did the crickets as part of their processing, the nuggets would melt away; such smell as there might be would dissipate as well; and then I could pan-fry the pupae and serve.

And it worked fine! Unfortunately I was too distracted to get an image of the final result, so once again my patient readers will have to take my word for it -- until such time, at least, as they can sample such cuisine for themselves. The pupae have a little bit of crunch from the very thin shells. The flavor is rich with a hint of iron, sort of like blood pudding. All other things being equal (meaning, if the idea of it wasn't particularly disgusting to so many people) I think there could be great potential for mass-rearing them and processing the pupae into either a flour or "hamburger helper" kind of protein ingredient.

I'm very happy to have gotten over my hang-up about this food. As always, I'm not describing all of this to gross anyone out. It's a food like any other, it wasn't raised on dead meat or on the side of the road, and therefore it's just like any other kind of entomophagy: a matter of triumphing over that bad ol' cultural conditioning.

Re-creating a Long-Ago Feast

2009-01-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

As I’ve said, I’m trying to make progress in several directions: insect farming; international product acquisition; education and publishing. Yet another involves exploring the past, whether ancient or recent, to find models from which to proceed. This leads to a certain amount of research.

The broad landscape of DeFoliart’s magnum opus is full of little gems. This is one of my favorites; though a bit long, I’m including the whole thing for sake of thoroughness:

===========================

L.O. Howard (1915), lamenting that there has been very little work recently on the edibility of insects, reports results obtained at his suggestion by J.J. Davis and D.G. Tower at Lafayette, Indiana, on the eggs and larvae of Lachnosterna:

They find that Lachnosterna eggs crisply fried in butter are excellent, having a taste very much like a fine grade of bacon. The larvae, fried in butter and eaten with bread in the form of a sandwich, were not at all disagreeable, having a fresh fatty taste. They ate the heads and all, and the heads were crisp and caused no inconvenience. This line of experimentation seems to me very well worthwhile, and field agents having the opportunity and disposition are urged to experiment in this direction when it can be done easily and without loss of time.

Howard's last statement suggests that he was acutely aware of how taxpayers would view such research by a government agency.

Howard (1916) suggests that, with many nations facing food shortages because of war conditions, it is a propitious time to consider new and cheap food supplies. He notes that although there is an extensive literature on the historical use of insects as food, there has been little modern experimental work:

These facts point out the desirability of just such experiments, and practically all our colleges of agriculture, with their departments of home economics and of entomology, are in excellent position to do just this work. First, the edibility of the principal species abundant enough to furnish a good supply must be tested, and when the edibility of any one or more of them has been established, careful scientific work on their relative food value must be carried out. Two kinds of insects from the viewpoint of abundance and possible food value at once suggest themselves, namely, grasshoppers and the larvae of Lachnosterna in this country and of Melolontha in Europe - the so-called 'white grubs.'

Howard describes a salad and a broth prepared by Dr. C.F. Langworthy, Chief of the Office of Home Economics, USDA, from Lachnosterna larvae shipped from Madison, Wisconsin, by Mr. J.J. Davis and Professor J.G. Sanders. Howard describes the informal taste panel that was assembled:

The salad was eaten by Messrs. C.H. Popenoe, W.B. Wood, F.H. Chittenden, E.B. O'Leary, R.C. Althouse, W.R. Walton, C.E. Wolfe, and Herbert S. Barber of the Bureau of Entomology and Vernon Bailey of the Bureau of Biological Survey, as well as the writer. It was found very palatable, although in chewing, all of us discarded the tough chitinous skin. Dr. Chittenden discovered a disagreeable taste which none of the rest of us noticed. He tried only one, and possibly that one may have been a little spoiled. The broth was drunk by Mr. O'Leary and the writer, and we both agreed that it was not only perfectly unobjectionable but really appetizing.

Shortly afterward, Mr. Davis collected a sample of Lachnosterna grubs in Lafayette, Indiana, more than 100 of which were sent to Washington, and the remainder of which were made into a stew (described by Howard) which Davis and his colleagues, Messrs. Fenton and Mason, pronounced as delicious:

They prepared the grubs as they thought oyster stew was prepared, and of course ate the grubs as well as the broth. Mr. Mason thought it tasted very much like boiled crab meat and not much different from lobster. Mr. Fenton thought that it tasted much like lobster, but had not eaten crab and so was not in a position to judge whether they were more like the latter. Mr. Davis had never eaten either fresh crab or lobster, but thought that they had a decided seafood taste. All thought it 'agreeable' and 'were sorry when it was all gone.'

From the grubs sent to Washington, a stew (described by Howard) was made in Dr. Langworthy's laboratory which was found to be "very appetising." It was eaten by Messrs. E.B. O'Leary, C.E. Wolfe, C.H. Popenoe, Joseph Jacobs, A.B. Duckett, C.H.T. Townsend, C.S. Menaugh, W.R. Walton, W.B. Wood, and by Howard. Howard states that analyses and digestibility experiments were planned to determine their food value (Lachnosterna is now considered a synonym of the genus Phyllophaga). In concluding, Howard states that he is "sure that the prejudice against insects as food is perfectly unreasonable." In a footnote to this article, Howard mentions that, "Miss Colcord, the Librarian of the Bureau of Entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture, is preparing a complete bibliography of this subject [insects as food] for publication in the near future." So far as known, however, the bibliography was never published.

==========================

This is a story in which people created an object lesson that achieved its goal. Though it didn’t effect policy or funding priorities anything like that, insects were served to well-to-do Americans, under no false pretences whatsoever, and were deemed quite tasty. I would absolutely love to re-enact this story, but there’s so much I don’t know.

What method was used to harvest the beetle grubs? How much did they harvest, and how much labor did it require to get them? What cleaning process was used [not merely to wash the dirt off them, but to clean them out]? What made them decide to serve them in this fashion, and to these people? Did it lead to any similar experiments?

I’ve tried (though perhaps not with sufficient perspicacity) to find historians in the Department of Agriculture, the University of Wisconsin, and Purdue University – where, I suspect, the gentlemen had originated. I’d hoped that those archival representatives might find one or two useful accounts of what had happened.

I have no particular ambitions to raise June Beetles (Phyllophaga) for consumption. There are many other candidates I’d try first that would be more economical. Even so, it would be fun to collaborate with a chef for a few recipes…

Cool new acquisition: Nsenene!

2008-12-18T23:07:00.000-08:00

A couple days ago I drove about an hour and bought nine bags of African grasshoppers.
I’d learned in October that a Ugandan community gets a shipment of grasshoppers in December. I knew that I'd want some of them, but I didn’t want to drive all that way for nothing. Since I’d lost the business card from my first visit, it was time for some internet research to find the right number to confirm that the product was available. As usual the calls were circuitous, amusing, and ultimately successful.

I was told the price-per-bag but not the size or weight of a bag; this made the information meaningless. I wondered what the unit price, per-pound or kilo, would be. I figured that since the immigrant community was probably not very wealthy, the item would not be very expensive. Yet the product arrived only once or twice a year, and I was pretty sure that it had a lot of sentimental value as a taste of the homeland.

I arrived in the city and achieved my goal within 15 minutes. The bags were disappointingly small. I spent roughly the sum I'd planned to, but the amount of product was miniscule. I’m not sharing how much I spent, since it’s already easy for people to decide that I’m crazy. Some would say I’m making a big deal out of a modest amount of money, while others would be amazed at how much I spent. The little bags make a pleasant pile on the kitchen table.

Don’t they look like shrimp?

The important part is to find out what insects taste like, and in the bigger picture to understand how people can feed themselves within harmony with nature. I’m getting a taste of a market in Kampala. I’m increasing my stock-in-trade.

They’re called Nsenene, which I suspect is onomatopoeic in origin. Since pronunciation counts: say “NnnnnnSEH-neh-nay.” The word is spoken quickly, as though the syllables are running out of your mouth.

Googling the name, I found several helpful sites, mostly blogs of those who’d had Ugandan experiences. All described how the insects are caught and processed: legs and wings are removed. Few of the sites included a binomial, and most that did listed Ruspolia nitidula. I was/am curious to know if there's something similar here in the U.S.. When I checked Bugguide I found the genus Neoconocephalus, which features several very similar looking species. I figured out two useful things: first, nsenene are katydids, not grasshoppers. This is good to know. Second, it's the mass movements of nsenene that makes for relatively easy harvesting during the season; this is not the case for the American version of this kind of katydid. But there's always the Mormon cricket, a species of large, flightless katydid in the American West. They were routinely mass-harvested by American Indians. But since nsenene are so tasty, I'm wondering if they -- or something just like them -- could be farmed...

When I cooked a few [or simply warmed them, actually, on aluminum foil in the toaster-oven] they turned a reddish golden-brown.

Two friends had come by and were up for a tasting, though they were a bit hesitant:

Of course I had one myself, though I didn't get around to shooting that. All of us proclaimed them very tasty indeed. They’re surprisingly buttery on their own, and taste like a cross between chicken, shrimp, and croutons.

And there’s some other intriguing developments [which as you loyal and patient readers will know by now is nothing new.]

I’m speaking with the great and noble Steven of Louisiana about the potential for starting an insect-rearing facility in his area.
I’ve contacted a researcher in stinkbug propagation, and it might be possible for me to get a supply of these insects.
I’m hard at work on the reprinting of the Food Insects Newsletter. Right now I’m constructing the various indices, which is less fun than when I'd started.

It's pretty much winter, so....

2008-12-04T12:15:00.000-08:00

I won’t be hunting insects for a while. I got less this past summer than I had in 2007; some ants and a few interesting things in Louisiana, but not as much as I’d have liked. I spent two very intense months filming a TV program, did roughly 35 library presentations, taught a summer composition class, and had other responsibilities. I stopped posting entries partly because I felt overworked and stressed. Not that I'm complaining, really -- I like being busy.

Future entries will likely continue the different directions my company is going in. I haven’t decided whether it’s better to expand my stock of exotic edible insects or to increase supplies of the species that can be more easily cultivated. Whether to concentrate on developing the educational aspects or product generation. What about that whole ‘office space’ idea, can that possibly be smart? And then there’s the important progress toward gathering the literature and creating a community.

All of these have great potential value, and as I’ve mentioned I’m just one guy. Figuring out how best to spend my energies isn’t easy. New development frequently arise, any of which could bring great success. It could be communication with someone in China or Mexico who says he wants to export insects and is looking for sources, or a journalist writing an article [I just found a new one today], or something else. But I’m not going to include every lead when the vast majority of them end up going nowhere.

Got to get the camera back out; more pictures needed.

Back From The Dead

2008-11-30T12:24:00.000-08:00

Meaning, this blog is. I’ve remained busy with my work throughout the summer and fall, and I’ll indulge an impulse to list my doings thus far in ’08 [this list is far longer than any from previous years, yet it’s probably incomplete]:

1/16: Banquet for the Gastronauts (exotic foods group), New York NY
2/10: New York Times Article (Sunday Magazine Section)
2/13: Colbert Report (aired same day)
2/19-2/21: FAO Conference, Chiang Mai, Thailand
2/28: Interview, Jay Thomas Show, Sirius Radio
3/2: Birthday party, Boston MA
3/6: Interview, Newport Mercury
3/21: ESA Conference, Liverpool NY
The Bryant Park Project [NPR program]
3/27: Appearance on One Guest [WGBH channel] Boston MA
4/17: Library program, Braintree MA
4/20: Cook-out in Southern Illinois
5/08: Discover Magazine article
5/25: Cooking contest in Richmond VA.
6/9: Time Magazine article
6/16: G Word program [on the Planet Green channel] (aired on 10/1/08)
6-7/08: Animal Planet program (air date TBD)
7-8/08: 35 gigs at various Libraries in RI and CT
8/08: Cooking contest in Philadelphia PA
9/08: RI Monthly article
9/12: Cultivating Life (PBS program), Portsmouth RI
9/16: Science Café presentation, Raleigh NC
9/21: BugFest, Raleigh NC
9/27: Birthday party, Exeter CT
10/2: The Tyra Banks Show (air date TBA), New York NY
11/14: Brown Daily Herald article, Providence RI
11/15: Birthday party, North Providence RI

As for updates regarding my endeavors:

I’m looking into getting an intern, and office space;

engaged in republishing the old issues of The Food Insect Newsletter [more on this
as it develops];

starting a conversation about founding an insect farm in one of the Southern states;

hard at work on a book about my progress from eccentric to creator-of-solutions;

continuing to expand my stock [I’ve been getting several new kinds of bugs];

and other stuff….

I’ve also been corresponding with a lot of people, so many that I couldn’t include them all so I’ll mention two promising contacts: Mr. Bart Hogebrink of the Netherlands regarding his very exciting project: http://www.foodfactoryfoundation.org/ and the Fourth Grade class of Ms. Deanna Lengyel in Oakley, California. I hope to continue dialogues with both parties, because either [or both] could change the world.

Mr. Hogebrink intends to create a factory to make insect foods and feed the hungry. The students of Ms. Lengyel’s class seem fascinated with the idea of what edible insects could represent. THIS is why I’m in the edible-insect business! The next challenge is to post more frequently…

Playing Catch-up

2008-06-16T03:34:00.000-07:00

A lot has gone on and doing it all has kept me too busy [and a bit exhausted] to blog. First, I won the cook-off!! David George Gordon was a worthy opponent, but somehow his orthopteran orzo, tarantula tempura, and 'Centi-pasta' couldn't stack up to my own three dishes, at least in the judges' consideration. It was a great day and a wonderful first visit to Richmond, a funky city I'd never been to. I can recommend Croaker's highly.

Then I went to my college reunion and saw a lot of folks for the first time in many years. Immediately after that my family drove me to NYC and left me there, at the Gershwin Hotel. The next day we started shooting for this Animal Planet show, and then the day after that we flew to Louisiana. Started filming here and there, having adventures. It's been amazing, and some day the show will air. For right now though I'm a bit too busy actually living the dream to blog a whole lot of details about it!

Time for Waxworms

2008-05-18T01:26:00.000-07:00

I'm in Richmond VA now, one of two insect 'chefs' engaged in a gentle version of Iron Chef. My competitor is David George Gordon, well-known entomophagist and author of [among other works] the Eat-A-Bug Cookbook. We'll see how I'll do against him; I MUST post coverage of this event in a prompt fashion, and that will include images of our dishes.

The crucial part of this to note is that I'll be working with waxworms (Galleria mellonella). Various people had told me how good they are, but between the crickets and the exotic items I get in, I hadn't made time for waxworms. Now that I have, though, there's no looking back.

As usual, they're not worms but larvae -- caterpillars, in fact, and their adult form is a small, nondescript moth. The name comes from the fact that the caterpillars consume beeswax! They're a pest for beekeepers, but a real treat for frogs, lizards, and people.

Big Ants 2008!

2008-04-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

It's True. The Great Penny came through for the second year in a row!! Her weekend off from work coincided with a thunderstorm or two in Southern Texas, and she was able to gather a mess of queen leaf-cutter ants. In fact she included [on her livejournal] a description of what she had to do in order to get them, and I'm most grateful.

The difference between last year and this one is that she's gotten a little tired of waiting for me to send her some 'authentic' Colombian-prepared ants, and decided to throw an ant-tasting party of her own. I'll still send her some of the pre-packaged sort, really I will, but it's fantastic that she and her friends went ahead and ate their own.

Have a look for yourselves:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doubledutch/

This is just the kind of thing I'd like to see others doing. These good people found out that yes, insects can be very tasty. It's time that others learned the same.
I'll let you all know when the ants arrive.

Bread and Vodka (and new friends)

2008-04-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Among the several new projects at SLS are two that have me working with new colleagues!

The first is insect flour. I'd worked with it a few years ago and wanted to do more with it. This speaks to the question of, "is it okay to transform the insect as part of processing it into food, or is that 'selling out?'" For a while I was against 'hiding' the bugs, but I've come to realize that if people are aware and content to benefit nutritionally, environmentally, etc from the experience of eating insects, that's what matters. Besides, it's good to meet people half-way. If eating a slice of toast (ground-up insect and all) is easier than chomping on an entire insect body, then why not help the people out in that regard?

The process is simple: take your thawed crickets out and dry/toast them in the oven. Then grind into flour.

A couple weeks ago I dropped off the flour at Liberty Elm Diner at 777 Elmwood Avenue in the glorious city of Providence. Liberty Elm is a relatively new establishment and they're multo cool -- not just because they're willing to bake with insect flour. Their food is great, they've got live music, and they're friendly and wiki-enabled. You can learn more about them at

http://www.myspace.com/libertyelm

Here's the flour and what we made with it.

In fact the diner's baker made the wheat-flour/potato bread both with and without the cricket flour, for comparison's sake. The dark one contains the cricket flour; it was also quite a bit denser. I'm mildly embarrassed to say that I don't yet know exactly how she worked that recipe -- how much flour was called for, and how much cricket flour was used, and did the latter simply replace the usual flour or was added to? Questions like these need answering, but the more important details are that the cricket rolls were very tasty, with a sort of parmesan cheese taste to them; AND that even though the rolls were not officially on the menu, several people ordered and paid for them! Most cool. With a little more effort I could help Providence reach the forefront of entomophagic cities in this country...

The other project: BOOZE!

I am fortunate enough to be in contact with the illustrious Baron Ambrosia, who creates some pretty amazing stuff in NYC. He's classy, enthusiastic, and he excells at staying presposterous. You can get a taste -- nay, a banquet! -- at http://www.underbellynyc.com/season1/

I have no images yet, just this link to the episodes of Underbelly. As can be seen upon a perusal thereof, each of the episodes concludes with the proclamation, "Stay Preposterous!!" From what I can tell he's all about the high life, and to that end he's got some very interesting ideas about capturing the essence of insects [particularly the giant water bugs, for example] in distilled spirits such as vodka. This is just the kind of thing I want to work with, since it's another way of making the concept of entomophagy a viable option. But in terms of the Baron himself, there is a good deal more going on.

Granted, at first blush it looks like he's only playing around, there's a serious message too. The Baron has filmed not only in the gritty 'first-world' of The Bronx, but in Liberia and Sierra Leone as well. He and his crew plan to visit Somalia and Chechnya in the coming year. When I asked him about his predilection for travelling to places wherein he's likely to have his ass shot off, he said something like, "The Baron loves the world. I want to do things the other shows won't do, which is to show how beautiful people really are." Granted this was a telephone conversation, so I can't claim to quote verbatim, but the gist is that in the service of humanity there is no danger to fear. I was moved. And I look forward to working with him.

Finally: Two important links!!

2008-04-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

Hey there, everyone.

Although these things happened about two months ago, and though all of my friends have found them already through simple Google searches, here's the links to those two milestones:

the New York Times article of 2/10/08, written by the great Sam Nejame:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/magazine/10wwln-essay-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

and, following the above, my 2/13/08 guest appearance on The Colbert Report:

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=156551

Maybe it's just taken me this long to get used to the idea that these things have really happened. That said, though, it's not like they've propelled my little company into any stratospheres of prominence and/or success. Yet. But they have been efficacious. My webmaster tracked the "bumps" in the hits, and suchlike marketing details.

More big things ahead...

Thailand II

2008-04-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

The first insects I had eaten were in the evening market on Sunday, the first day I'd gotten into CM. The mixed bag was about 60 cents U.S. and contained six kinds of insect. They were all pretty good, but a few kinds were delicious.

I'd bought them at this table; there was only one such vendor at the market that late afternoon.

I'm aware that pictures like this are kind of a tacky standard subject for foreign tourists, and I felt a little strange shooting away like this, just as if I was some gawker. But I tried each kind of insect and then bought a second bag for later, and some of these were very tasty. For my money, the best of all were the BIG grasshoppers.

The conference,

Edible Forest Insects: Humans Bite Back

took place on a Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday. Presentations took up the first day, and that evening there was a banquet of sorts. The main courses were beef, pork, chicken, and fish; before these dishes were many insects. I tried all of them.

The Bamboo Caterpillars

and grasshoppers were among the best. Unlike most of the other conference-attendees, I tried all of the insects on offer, though several of them weren't fantastic:

Of these, the ones in the lower right quadrant -- the bedraggled sphinx moth, the rhinoceros beetle, and the longhorn beetle cut off by the edge of the image -- were pretty bad. The Giant Water Bug also was disappointing. But the large crickets (genus Brachytrupes) in the upper right area, and the house crickets on the left side of the plate, were quite good, as were the two varieties specified already. After finishing the great majority of this plate I will admit that I was ready for the vertebrate selections that evening.

The second day consisted of a driving tour full of stops related to the development of insects in one application or another, but mostly as foods. We went to an insect zoo; a cricket farm; a bee farm; and another market -- where I sampled some deep-fried scorpion.

One of the 39 cricket pits housed in an unwalled area the size of a four-car garage -- a concrete circle a meter across and half as high. It's a self-contained cricket utopia (except for the part about being harvested as food, but then the crickets themselves never know about that part). There's plenty of hiding places, food [chicken feed], and water [two plastic water-bottles laid on their sides, with paper towels out of the holes punched to let the capillary action draw the moisture up for the insects to drink -- brilliant in its simplicity!] There's even a handy laying-tray with the right kind of substrate: coconut husks and potting soil. The eggs can hatch in a new pit and thereby start off the next generation. Seven weeks later, harvest time.

The scorpion (Heterometrus spinifer, looks a lot like the emperor scorpion that's a somewhat-popular pet choice among certain circles here in the U.S.) didn't have a lot of real flavor, but the texture of the exoskeleton was unique, and a fairly pleasant eating experience. But it was hardly as much fun to eat as some already mentioned items.

The last day included some papers (including mine, which went pretty well) and group meetings.

Afterward I hit the night-markets, as I'd done several times by then. The next two days were spent with new friends on a driving tour -- we drove Northwest-ish from Chiang Mai towards Myanmar, and stayed at the Cave Lodge. It was amazing: a large cave with thorough tours, a five-minute walk from the Lodge.

Best of all: after the tour, we lay ourselves on the dry riverbed and watched the hundreds of thousands of cave swifts speeding through the evening air, back to their perches in the cave. Spectacular!! The shots I took didn't do them justice, but a charming Montrealean named Madga sent me some video she had shot. If anyone just has to see it, let me know and I'll try to send it to you.

Too soon I had to return to Chiang Mai and fly home, to Bangkok, where I wasn't able to see a thing because I didn't plan it into this trip; then Tokyo, where I had sushi in the airport; and back to Chicago, Boston, then home at last to modest, cozy Providence. I'm looking forward to my next trip to Thailand; we'll have to see how soon I'll be able to go.

What's going on these days

2008-04-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'll be posting more about Thailand soon, but for the moment I want to just run through current projects:

I’m trying to be patient during some heavy-duty business negotiations.

Bugstock 3 will take place in rural Louisiana at the end of May: I’m deciding whether I can make it.

I’m trying to write a book, at last, on my life as an entomophagy guy.

I’m busily making cricket flour for baked goods, and a couple days ago I dropped off some at a diner here in Providence. I'm told they'll make some oatmeal raisin cookies with it, and I'm definitely hoping they'll use it in bread as well.

Colbert and then Thailand: Part One

2008-03-06T08:14:00.000-08:00

I've been back a little over a week and it's time to start describing my adventures.

Being on The Colbert Report was great, though the interview wasn't quite everything I'd hoped for. A bunch of people had commented that it's too bad he didn't try an insect and I guess that's true. I was nervous and didn't quite live up to my own standards but I had fun, didn't embarrass myself too much, and even made him laugh so that's something. I didn't get my picture taken with him or anything like that, so there's nothing to show you really. At the time I didn't have that starstruck 'must get photo opp with celebrity' thing.

I stayed overnight in Manhattan and managed to do some extra filming with an independent TV maker the next morning. Took the Acela train back and had a few hours in the evening with my family. Finished packing. Left for Logan Airport around 1am [thanks again John!]. Then to a layover in Chicago, where I was smart enough to buy Nyquil. 13 hour flight to Tokyo, then to Bangkok and then Chaing Mai at last. My first time in Asia.

Chiang Mai is a medium-sized city full of bad air, tourists, temples, and street shopping. It never took very long for me to get a little sick of walking the streets yet the city has its charms. Due to my limited world-travel background it was like a different world, though as you can see some things are universal:

The streets were very quiet in the mornings and full at night, even though the days weren't so hot when I was there. Lots of foreign shops, probably for the farangs [tourists]. Lots of everything except urban greenspace.

And then those temples:

But the heck with the scenery: you might want to know whether I ate insects there. Do you think I'm the kind of guy who would eat insects there? THAT will have to wait for the next installment.

I've Got Representation!

2008-02-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

Since I'll be in Thailand for a little while, it would be a shame if those who'd like to talk with me missed out. While I'm away please direct inquiries into me and/or Sunrise Land Shrimp to:

Mike Ritz
Mritz@eyeofprovidence.org

Media, contact 617-462-6908 to schedule interviews.

Thanks,

Dave

Some Big News for SLS.

2008-02-10T04:28:00.000-08:00

Today there's an article about my work in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. Sam Nejame wrote it and he did a really nice job on it. It arose from an ice cream project I'd done in the Fall, which -- along with a few other subjects, like my wonderful Gastronauts experience and Zack's shipment of bugs from the wilds of Louisiana -- I need to post about. Though the article includes neither my website nor the name of my company, I know that potentially interested parties will be able to locate me well enough.

Other news: I'm to be a featured guest on the Colbert Report this Wednesday, 2/15. That'll be interesting. And I'll be leaving for Thailand on 2/15 for the FAO [Food and Agriculture Office, a branch of the UN] Conference mentioned in the NYT article. I'm looking forward to seeing Thailand; I've never been to South-East Asia before.

Please stay tuned, you wonderfully patient and loyal readers.

Another country heard from

2008-01-24T07:14:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of things to talk about, I need to blog them but for the moment here's a thought for the day.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012308EB.shtml

I'm slowly starting to get ready to research the underlying issues and realities around food-production and the ways that entomophagy can fit into a paradigm of living sanely on the planet. This desired research may have to cover a vast amount of territory, including water consumption; efficient conversion of plant foods into edible proteins; the quirks and patterns that shape food preferences and biases; animal flatulence; and stuff like that. The above article is about the loss of topsoil, which I would never have thought was a problem but yup, it seems to be.

More soon.

A New Challenge for the New Year

2008-01-04T10:03:00.000-08:00

Greetings Everybody. Happy 'O8.

There are a lot of good challenges facing me and my little company this year and I'll write about them soon. I promise.

For the moment, I've got a challenge for you, especially those of you in or near American cities. As I've mentioned, several small markets here in Providence offer three kinds of insects in the frozen food section. I'd love to hear about what's sold in NYC, or DC, or LA, Chicago, El Paso, Denver, places like that. I just learned about an African market in Burlington VT [not most people's idea of a very diverse part of the country] that sold dried caterpillars or grubs not long ago.

My visits to both Chinatowns [if one can still use that word in this day and age] in New York turned up practically nothing. There was plenty of exotic foods, especially in Flushing, Queens, but nothing in the way of insects. Inquiries went nowhere. The same happened in Boston.

Is it possible that a smaller city like Providence has the bugs but larger cities don't?? Seems really unlikely. It's more likely that I don't know where to look.

I can offer small rewards -- we could easily work out just what that would mean. But just as I need insect hunters to beat the bushes throughout this country and world, so do I need pairs of feet through the aisles of stores here and there.

Whaddaya Say??

This blog

2007-12-22T09:51:00.000-08:00

Last night someone told me that my blog sucks. That hurt, but I guess I needed to hear it. She explained that she was referring to the frequency of posts rather than content, which made it hurt a bit less.

My computer won't let me attach images; the pertinent windows won't open. It's super-frustrating because I want to feature more than just words. I store images on my zip drive, visit computers at work or the public library and patch the drafts and the images there. I'd love to get a new computer but that's not feasible.

My family responsibilities take up a lot of time, so I can't get to the above locations as much as I'd like.

So in lieu of real insect news, here's a solstice-season whine.

On the more positive side: a bunch of cool projects are going on, and though they might well be a bit dated by the time I blog them I promise I will share the details with all.

Summer's Hunt

2007-12-06T12:20:00.001-08:00

It's cold now, the insects are gone. I can only anticipate more hunts next year and recall this setting of past strivings; the epic struggles between a determined human hunter and a host of highly-evolved flying insects.

Man Eating Bugs, the impressive ‘picture-book’ by Menzel and D’Alusio that illustrates worldwide entomophagy, includes dragonfly hunting on the exotic island of Bali. The people there call them ‘sky prawns,’ which is significant. I knew I’d have to go get some, and that the hunt would be hard work. I once read about a simple way to catch dragonflies – pluck them while they rest on branch-tips over little streams at night. But I’ve never found them that way. It would be either stalk/charge/swing-the-net or nothing.

This made the hunt the most labor-intensive I’ve executed. Some would say more laborious than the prey is worth but if I started listening to the voice of reason I might be tempted to give up on entomophagy altogether, and hat would be a crying shame.

The Indonesian method was similar, but craftier. The hunter [generally kids] would visit the ponds and paddies frequented by dragonflies. The tool of choice: a considerable length of reed, the end of which coated in sticky tree sap. This would be held out like a perch and yet flicked at the right moment, taking an insect while on the wing.

My technique: Iaido-style. The haft is held down and to my left, across the body, double-handed. Having sighted my target, I approach stiffly, one footfall at a time. I would keep my eyes locked (not always as easy, especially when another target would interpose) until the moment to swing the net. Once I learned to swing just above the insect's resting position I could sometimes see it rise into the net's apeture, but at least as often I saw it sail away over or beyond the net. My average was not very impressive but I improved.

The documentation: minimal, merely these words and images. I've been obliged to work alone so there’s no one to hold a camera. I took these pictures so I'm not in them. I probably looked so ridiculous out there that only motion picture [a la Youtube] would have done it justice.

The results: not too bad.

I haven't done much to identify them; this bothers me a little, since, given how little is known about which insect species are edible and which aren't, it would be useful to have a lock on what I plan to eat or to serve to the public. But I've spoken with an expert or two, and there seems to be no records of any toxic in dragonflies North America. So that's reassuring.

I did get some large grasshoppers along the way. They're much easier to identify, by and large, when it comes to that: they're Dissosteira carolina and they're not easy to catch. In fact before I developed my own technique I looked really silly chasing them across the field as I missed getting them again and again. Once I got my method on, though, things were slightly different: I caught them once in every 5 tries instead of once in every 12, and though I still looked ridiculous it wasn't quite as bad.

There were other good moments out in the field; birds, deer. Once I surprised a young black racer and managed both to get him in the net and then out again in my hands before he could foul the material with his very nasty-smelling cloacal emissions. After admiring him I let him go. After all, this is not a reptile-eating endeavor I’m running here, and I have no interest in taking an animal from the wild as a pet.

The eating: dragonflies taste a bit like burned toast, but the texture is unique.

It's no surprise that cooking the dragonflies robs them of some of their delicate perfection. They look pretty good on the plate, but nothing compared to freshly-frozen.

What will I do with these insects now that I've got them? They're available for the contest in Richmond, or for some special order from a customer. And I'll probably experiment with a preparation or two as well.

More on the way [and one more gig coming up]

2007-11-14T10:42:00.001-08:00

Greetings.

It's been a long while since I've posted, and I can offer only poor excuses like my day-job and family responsibilities. But I haven't abandoned the noble cause, nor the desire to communicate through this humble blog. Please know that I'm working on a couple of posts and they'll be out soon.

Also, this coming Tuesday, 11/20, I'll be a featured guest at the meeting of New England branch of the Explorer's Club. It's scheduled for 8pm at the Blacksmith House, 56 Brattle Street in Harvard Square. The public is welcome, and there's a suggested voluntary donation of $10.

Perhaps, gentle readers, I'll meet one of you there.

Food for Thought: An impressive success

2007-11-05T13:41:00.000-08:00

This was a big event for SLS. I was in the company of some of the best-known restaurants in Providence – a town where people like their restaurants. The setting (the newly-expanded Botanical Gardens at Roger Williams Park) was lovely, and the guests seemingly better-heeled than myself. I still hope to get some pictures of the actual event; but first, a couple images of the preparations.

The most labor-intensive prep was ‘filleting’ the Giant Water Bugs. We [I got a lot of help from the staff and students at the Genesis Center) did 175 of them. I thought a good deal about what the professional crab-pickers did with those world-famous Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs.

This is the empty square. The Six-and-five-eighths ounces of empty weight is equivalent to 188g.

Later, filled with the meat of the 175 insects, the one-pound-and-three ounces equaled 540g. Close perusal will reveal two kinds of tissue; the darker and more-square pieces are from the thorax of the animals, and might just correspond to pectoral muscle(?). The lighter-colored stuff is more connective rather than central. If that makes any sense. Seeing the inside of the insect would be helpful; I'll try to get some good macro shots of that this winter.

Here are the shells. The weight was 2 pounds and 11 oz. I don’t have the metric equivalent but it doesn’t really matter since this mound does not represent all 175 of the insects; some were discarded and could not be retrieved. I tried to boil the shells so as to get a stock but they proved far too salty to work with.

And Here Is The Finished Product!:

[Photo by David Winthrop]

The first name we gave it -- we being myself and Chef Branden Lewis of the Genesis Center, who was wonderful to collaborate with -- was Sour Candy Canape. This name reflected the fact that the bug's meat is reminiscent of sour candy, especially for example Jolly Rancher. But this first name morphed into WaterBugaMelon, since Branden wanted to be more clear about the fact that the dish contained insect protein material.

Traditionally, some people salt their watermelon in the summer. The saltiness-yet-fruitiness of the meat paired well with the fruits. The cocktail umbrella is for decoration only.

Then there were the crickets, which were good also although the planned dish didn't quite get off the ground. The intention was to 'honey-roast' them and serve with popcorn. We were to call it "Popcrick," and maybe next October we'll get it nailed down. Here they are on the roasting pan

and yeah, they were tasty; the sugar didn't overwhelm the nuttiness of the crickets themselves. But we had some problems with the popcorn maker, and in the end I'll need a real honey roaster, which I've seen at carnivals and suchlife venues but I haven't found something affordable that could fit the need.

I was too busy that evening to take pictures of the diners, but I may be able to track down some images one of these days. My tables were quite busy, though, and the even raised my company profile here in Providence, as well as started me off with a really nice collaboration with The Genesis Center, which is a great place.

I'll be serving the bugs at the next Food For Thought in October 2008.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT (and some other subjects)

2007-09-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

My life has been too hectified for me to have covered this earlier: I'm very proud and happy to be involved in The Genesis Center's event on October 25th at the relatively-newly-expanded Botanical Center at Roger Williams Park. It looks pretty spectacular -- more than 25 of Providence's best restaurants (and ours is a city known for its food) and me. The cuisines will reflect the great diversity of the city, and that's part of the origin of the name: Food For Thought. This will mark the 11th year of the event; more information here.

I plan to have some pictures of the event: as it happens I've got three events before it coming up: Syracuse in a few days -- the 29th -- and then Central Square, Cambridge, on the 13th, and then Oak Knoll Audubon Center's Spooktacular on the 20th.

A Contest in Richmond

2007-08-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

Yet more big news: I'm going head-to-head against the renowned David George Gordon. The email was so splendidly official that I am co-opting the text:

On August 1st I was invited to participate in the first annual Broad Appétit, a festival hosted by Richmond's Downtown Neighborhood Association. On Sunday, May 18, 2008, from noon until 5 p.m., West Broad Street will feature Richmond's finest chefs, a bug chef cook-off, specialty food vendors and visual artists. There will be food demonstrations and competitions, a mini-Farmers' Market, children's activities, street performers, music and more. The event will be heavily promoted through print material and advertisements in print and on the radio.

The slightly longer story is this: David George Gordon (whom I saw give his bug cooking presentation way back in 2002 here in Providence, and who, it must be admitted, has been a sort of model for my efforts) has competed against the redoubtable Zack Lemann in the past, and Zack was approached for this event so that the pair could duke it out once more. But AH!, Zack has a engagement set for that weekend that cannot be shifted. Thus the mind reaches for some replacement, so that the contest aspect of the thing can be realized. My name is broached, and deemed acceptable to all parties.

Naturally the news has thrown me into excited nervousness, and it's taken me a week of thinking about it to be ready to "blog it." I need to start planning. More updates on that progress to come.

Chapulines On The Menu!!

2007-08-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

Wow. What a great way to start the month.

Today I dropped off a half-pound of the tiny chapulines at TWO popular restaurants here in Providence. I won't say which ones just yet, other than one of them is a Mexican place and one serves hipsters and artist-types. In a little while I'll ask them if I can include their names in this blog; what matters for the moment is that these adventurous people had taken samples from me and decided that it was time to play with a new ingredient.

In fact I'd made one or two previous small-scale sales before these, from that larger order I'd picked up last month. I know that there are other restaurants out there also willing to take the plunge, and I'll be selling frozen/chilled insects at a few of my up-coming events.

Thus the whole thing grows....

What Gourmet Insect Food Looks Like

2007-08-01T10:43:00.001-07:00

In addition to getting the exotic bugs -- as I've mentioned several times by now -- the other main push this summer is to develop my cooking skills. I've mentioned elsewhere that people are often surprised that insects don't taste all that bad, and that that reaction is no longer satisfactory to me. Therefore it's time for me to finally develop my own cooking skills and make the insects shine.

And there are precedents models out there. Zack Lemann (last name is pronounced as 'Lemon,' by the way) is one of those few well-known insect chefs around. He's out of New Orleans and is currently orchestrating a venue at which regular insect-cooking demonstrations will be taking place. This is pretty amazing stuff. These are some of his culinary creations.

First is f-ANT-assticcrackers. The key ingredient is "Hormigas Culonas," the Leaf-Cutter Ant Queens. These were harvested in Colombia.

The Grasshopper Gumbo. These are lubber grasshoppers; they're quite large, and there's a big question about them.

Odonate Hors D'Ouerves. These are tempura-fried dragonflies on mushroom slices.

The Split Pea Whole Hopper Soup

Recently I was able to glean a few things from a chef at a party thrown by an Entomological Society. By and large this was a regular summer shindig: there were the traditional expected foods --

Grilled chicken; salmon; hamburgers and hot dogs. A token ear of corn.

And there was a variety of cooked insects:

One might say that these were "grilled," but in my slowly growing sense of clue regarding cooking I'd guess they were more steamed on the grill. While no liquid had been added, the convection from the coals never got through the foil, which means that no grilling was going on.

And how were these insects? Not so good. Too damp. The Giant Hissing Cockroaches were easily the worst, in fact they were inedible as a result of the whole 'juices trapped in the bug's body' reality. Really roasting them would likely be better, the more so after either ventilating the insect or even removing the gut.

The worst part was that the insects were basically wasted, because few people wanted to try them. I had quite a bit, but it looked hopeless.

Then in stepped Steven, who's a real chef. He was curious about insect cookery, and he showed me the best way to fry insects.

Here he is, keeping close watch over the crickets.

And a shot of the silkworm pupae that followed:

Worth noting: the netted-scoop-tool to the left of the pan is known as a 'spider.' That's amusing.

This was the first chance I've had to learn and prepare for the future. Making insects into haute cuisine makes me wish I had some real training.

A matter of taste

2007-07-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

Something not addressed thus far in these posts: how do the insects taste?
One kind of answer deals with the details – dry-toasted cricket tastes like sunflower seeds; katydid like toasted avocado; palm grub like bacon soup with a chewy, sweet finish. Weaver ant pupae have practically no flavor, while the meat of the giant water bug is, astonishingly, like a salty, fruity, flowery Jolly Rancher. People are usually amazed by it.

The other kind of answer is more theoretical and conceptual: often, insects taste the way that people expect them to. After all, they’re absolutely outside the norm for us and it’s considered freakish to eat them. If insects were delicious then we’d all know it and we’d eat them, since we like delicious food. Whereas if insects are perceived [however incorrectly] as dirty, disgusting, disease-bearing vermin, the chances that they’ll be deemed delicious are pretty low.

Last March David Letterman had an exotic foods expert on the show; the occasion was a banquet at The Explorers Club. There was a long table set up with a slew of weird foods – giant hissing cockroaches were visible, but the short segment did not include that tasting. Letterman tried boiled ostrich egg, eyeballs, rattlesnake, and a bunch of other stuff. Both along the way and at the end he proclaimed them all horrible. Given that these foods were part of a lavish banquet given every year at a prestigious institution, the culinary preparations would not be in doubt. Rather, it’s likelier that Letterman (and, by extension, a lot of people) tried the food expecting it to be awful and this created its own outcome.

This is part of the challenge that I face. In my experience it’s not very often that those people who are willing to try an insect find it delicious. Three possible reasons for that occur to me: 1, that the insects are simply not good-tasting; 2, my cooking skills are not very good; or 3, the afore-mentioned culturally-based predilection toward the rejection of bugs as food.

On the other hand, the most frequent response I get from a taster at one of my events is, “Gee, that’s really not so bad.” This is actually encouraging, and part of me thinks that I should be quite satisfied with that reaction. I’m not. The goal must be to have people amazed at how truly tasty the insects are. I fault my cooking skills, or lack thereof, and I’ve resolved to partner with chefs so that I can bring my abilities to the next level, and do the insect ingredients justice, at last.

It's not super-stardom, but...

2007-07-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

It's gratifying nonetheless. A charming young lady at that Newark event had written me up in her blog:

http://www.xanga.com/cral7616/596645762/bug-mania-2.html

Basics 3: Other resources [online]

2007-07-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

It's been useful to remind myself that I'm not the only Westerner out there advocating for entomophagy. Brings to mind that John Lennon song: 'You may say that I'm a dreamer,' and so on. There are other voices shouting in the wilderness. Here's a listing of them; first entomophagy, then insect-related in general.

http://www.food-insects.com/
The ultimate source of information online regarding the edibility of insects. Includes: entomology; nutrition; general research; cultural aspects; societal reactions; etc, etc.

http://www.hollowtop.com/finl_html/finl.html
Further articles and content from The Food Insects Newsletter (FINL)

http://www.eatbug.com/
LOTS of good info, but no images. From what I've gathered, this is one of the earlier websites created. It was gone for a while, but it's back. Wrought by one Aletheia Price, who was 17 at the time. Includes recipes. I believe that a good deal of the same content can be found at
http://www.manataka.org/page160.html

http://www.davidgeorgegordon.com/
Hailing from the Seattle Area, David George Gordon is the most renowned entomophagist in the country. He's written a slew of books on various kinds of "bugs," including a cookbook; the site includes one or two of the recipes therewithin.

http://www.planetscott.com/babes/index.asp
Representing the good people at B.A.B.E.S., the Bay Area Bug Eating Society (which may or may not be currently active). The site's creator is Scott Bowers, who has traveled to various parts of the world in order to eat their insects. Includes recipes.

http://eat.bees.net/
Various images of people eating insects.

http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/ythfacts/bugfood/yf813.htm
From the University of Kentucky

Other insect recipes
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/misc/insectsasfood.html
http://www.ia.wvu.edu/~magazine/sum99/htmlfiles/cicada.html

Raising mealworms and crickets
http://www.icomm.ca/dragon/mealworm.htm
http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/misc/ef002.htm
http://crawford.tardigrade.net/bugs/cricketsuppl.html
http://skylab.org/~chugga/cricket/index.html

[Highly Helpful] General Insect stuff:
http://www.bugguide.net/
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/
http://www.insects.org/

http://wiki.bidabug.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
This last one is a really cool project to gather a lot of information centered on the insect hobbyist, including a lot of good insect-rearing help.

A Colony Attacked

2007-07-18T03:45:00.000-07:00

This might not seem a dramatic image. It was the site of a great catastrophe, at least from the perspective of the carpenter ant colony that lived there. I am what befell that colony.

I'd first turned over the log on impulse, and replaced it carefully when I found a seething mass of large, winged black ants. I returned the next day and a few times after that over the next four or five days. The ants were members of the genus Camponotus, a.k.a. carpenter ants. I've known for some time that people have eaten these ants here and there; supposedly lumberjacks in 19th Century Maine ate them to avoid scurvy.

I'd envisioned a "clean kill," meaning a labor-efficient harvest wherein I could harvest the insects only. It didn't work out that way, mostly because the ants had no interest in being harvested and therefore tried to run away very quickly. And it's true that that seething business rattled me; I knew that the ants couldn't hurt me, it was just that as I was scrambling to collect as many as I could, this is what I ended up with:

A whole lot of wood bits, dead leaves, and some soil, with a good deal of ant-made sawdust. It required a good deal of processing. I would've liked to document this process, but the sad truth about both this blog and much of my work in entomophagy is that I do a lot of it alone so there's no one to hold the camera.

I had about six or sevent containers from my various raids; some had this litter from the forest floor; in others it was mostly sawdust from inside the log. I found that sifting the mix in large bowls worked quite well, reminiscent of the old-fashioned wheat-from-chaff technique. All of this in order to get to the prize: the pupae.

Of course I'd collected a heck of a lot of ants too, and I was most interested in them also, despite my slight concerns about Wolbachia -- an endosymbiont that wouldn't do me much good if it was in my system. Here's the ants with a few bits of wood [toward the end of the sifting].

And here they are again -- the queen (one of many; methinks the colony, having done well for itself, was about to send a whole raft of winged alates into the the world); some drones; and the necessary workers.

I find the ants quite beautiful, dead or alive. And working on prepping them as food emphasized what I'd felt when I was collecting them at that log -- a touch of guilt.

I thought of the colony as a society or a machine consisting of living parts, each of which pursues its function for the greater good of the whole. This conception is on my mind quite a lot, and it's something that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't find in hunting magazines (if I read them, that is). A "real" hunter, as represented in such publications, respects his or her mission and goal; respects the quarry and the landscape too; honors the kill, but doesn't succumb to any feelings of guilt about having to kill. After all, hunting is simply the involvement of the meat-consumer in the process of getting the meat, and therefore the hunter is more authentic than someone who simply lets others do the killing, and merely picks up the wrapped and sanitized Styrofoam tray in the supermarket. There's a lot to be said about that perspective.

I appreciate the times when I feel this way, which I sometimes do. Other times, though, I have other feelings. When I was collecting cicadas off the trees in New Jersey in 2004 I thought a lot about the fact that these insects had been underground for 17 years, all in order to emerge and mate and die. All of that time in preparation for procreation -- arguably, the prime evolutionary function and purpose of every organism. And here I was, getting in the way of that. Granted, it's not much of a stretch to say that I was acting like any other predator. The mass emergence strategy of these multiple billions of cicadas was an evolutionary response to my actions as much as it was to the actions of birds, snakes, skunks, raccoons, bats, etc. The cicadas are a temporary banquet. "Go ahead," the vast numbers seem to say. "Eat all you want. We'll make more anyway. All of your efforts cannot make much of a dent in our overall numbers." How generous. Yet I remember the mixed feelings as I scooped up dozens of handfuls of live adult, newly-winged cicadas and the just-emerging nymphs into the large ziploc bags that went straight into the large icy cooler.

And so it was with these ants. A nation is attacked by something with greater technology. I don't really need to kill the ants, since I have lots of other foods that I could eat. But I'm trying to make a point here with entomophagy. It's just like other kinds of hunting, right?

Another kind of hunting these days has been for dragonflies (and the odd grasshopper along the way). It's the opposite of 'anting;' for one thing, it requires stalking and netting the individual insect, and so it would seem to be less labor-efficient. Given the way that I've executed this ant project, though, it's a toss-up.

Basics Part 2: Tasters

2007-07-11T14:06:00.001-07:00

My programs have been full of people who had to wait their turn to eat insects, and since we can't have you doubting me on that here's a more-or-less random gallery of tasters trying dishes at events from the last year or so.

Here's the scene at the Newark Museum's BugMania2. I was serving at the far tent.

This is Sarah, who really did enjoy her insects. I'm pretty sure that her grimace came from the fact that the cicada (barely visible between her teeth) was a little chewier than she'd expected.

One might ask whether images like this are good for the cause, given what an ordeal it looks like for her. But this may just be the face of someone readjusting her ideas about food, and getting used to a new concept -- after all, the vast majority of participants have never before deliberately eaten an insect -- one that, a week before or even 30 minutes before, seemed repulsive. So that's great progress then.

Besides, this blog is about what it's like to operate an edible insect company; therefore I'm not interested in pretending as though there won't be difficulties along the way. I'll blog the good and the not-so-perfect, like the resistance that inevitably comes..... Though Sarah was a great sport.

Visting with students in the Boston area.

Both Mom and Son tasted the crickets and/or cicadas; that day there were several kids -- and some adults -- who asked for seconds. I'm pretty sure he was one of them.

I never got this guy's name, but just look at that facial expression! He knew how to enjoy a good bug.

And once more: the look of YUM.

Basics Part 1: Presentations of the Past [and upcoming]

2007-07-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

So far I've mostly focused on the recent acquisitions of fancy exotic insects, and it's been great to share that. Yet my "business history," if I can use that phrase, has centered more on simply feeding the public the crickets and other insects that I can get on a steady basis. Sometimes I tend to take these insects for granted; they're far from boring, and it's time that I featured them.

But before I go into detail about those bugs I'll focus on the people part of all this. These are the educational programs [and other notable business-related activities] I've done thus far. My website doesn't yet feature the entire list -- I'll put that on the list of things to do...

2001

10/6: Peabody Museum of Natural History - Yale University; New Haven CT

2004

3/7: ESA [Entomological Society of America] Eastern Branch Conf.; New Haven CT

2005

3/17: AS220 Gallery; Providence RI
3/20: ESA [Entomological Society of America] Eastern Branch Conf.; Harrisburg PA
7/31: EcoTarium; Worcester MA
9/10: Dennison-Pequotsepos Nature Center; Mystic CT
10/9 Roger Williams Museum of Natural History; Providence RI
11/9: Menunkatuck Audubon; Guilford CT

2006

9/15: Centers for Nature Education at Baltimore Woods; Marcellus NY
9/16: Helmer Nature Center; Rochester NY
10/7: Powder Mill Ledges Audubon Refuge; Smithfield RI
10/31: La Laiterie; Providence RI
11/17: Community MusicWorks; Providence RI
11/25: Jamestown Philomena Library; Jamestown RI
11/26: EcoTarium; Worcester MA

2007

2/21: Radio Show Interview, WNRI; Woonsocket RI
3/10: Portsmouth Public Library; Portsmouth RI
3/15: Shipment, Tonight Show with Jay Leno; Burbank CA
3/17: Peace Valley Nature Center; Doylestown PA
3/18: ESA [Entomological Society of America] Eastern Branch Conf.; Harrisburg PA
4/17: NY Entomological Society; New York, NY
5/24: Cranston-Calvert Elementary School; Newport RI
5/24: Broad Meadow Brook Audubon; Worcester MA
6/09: Newark Museum; Newark NJ
6/25: Shipment, meeting of the Washington Entomological Society; Washington D.C.
8/01: Radio Show Interview, WNRI; Woonsocket RI
8/05: Farmer's Market; Mystic CT
8/12: NOFA Conference; Amherst MA
9/6: Powder Mill Ledges Audubon Refuge; Smithfield RI
9/29: Centers for Nature Education at Baltimore Woods; Marcellus NY
10/13: Central Square Festival; Cambridge MA

I bolded the last few listings because at this point they're coming up.

ANOTHER new edible insect in the mail! The Big Ants

2007-07-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting on this pretty amazing news for a little while now, getting ready to blog it, as the kids say. First I’d gotten the chapulines (picked up another 4.5 pounds from the Mexican market just today), then the cicadas, and then these big ants. By the Fall I hope to receive two or three other kinds of insects.

I’d contacted a member of http://www.bugguide.net/, a pretty cool group that posts images of North American insects and other arthropods; identifies the species, collates geographical information, etc, etc. My contact lives in Texas and had posted images of leaf-cutter ants – specifically the alates, meaning the winged reproductives that some types of colony-living insects send out at specific times. In this case that would be, more or less, in the second half of May.

These ants [in the genus Atta] are cherished delicacies in Colombia and other places between there and the U.S. Were it not for concerns about slowing down these posts with lots of extra text I’d cite some intriguing stuff about the Spaniards, when they arrived in what became Colombia, scorning the local caviar, as it was thought of, only to attempt seizing control of the ant colonies once they got a taste for the insects. This decision provoked an uprising from the natives. Those interested in reading this for themselves can find it here.

Though at first that Texas connection wrote that -- had missed the brief emergence-time of those winged queen ants, word later came that -- had been successful after all! Very exciting news.

At length the large box arrived [note my foot for scale, and that I've cleverly obscured the sender's address on the shipping document]

inside was a Styrofoam cooler,

and inside that was OVER TWO POUNDS of ants.

They’re beautiful, impressive insects.

The real question, though: how do they taste? The morning after I got them I laid a few down on a hot iron skillet. I tried both winged and wing-free individuals; unlike those of the cicadas, these wings really did get in the way. The flavor is very nice; surprisingly mild.

I’ve tried these ants before – pre-packaged [and quite expensive.] The flavor is very intense, almost harsh. I’ve heard that fresh off the vendor’s cart in Colombia they’re heavenly (and, again, quite expensive). The ants are still enjoyed today, and are called “hormigas culonas,” or ‘big-bottom ants’ due to their impressive abdomens.

Given that I've greatly enjoyed these ants in other settings, I'm pretty certain that I can make them taste even better.

This item is just the kind of thing that those few discerning customers ask for; the ones who want more from life than the standard crickets and mealworms. When this happens I'm ready.

Also worth mentioning: I've seen one or two websites centered on the harvest and preparation of these ants in Colombia. Not altogether surprisingly, these sites are in Spanish, which I cannot translate. So getting some help with that would be great...

On the other side of the plate are the mopani worms; they shall have their own substantial post at some point.... Boy, would I love to get a source of those!!

As for the Texan ants: my source mentioned having some ideas for, hopefully, an even bigger harvest next Spring.

The Support of Paper

2007-07-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

The package that arrived from Japan; hopefully there will be other packages of materials concerning entomophagy. As much as I'd like to get actual processed insects from around the world [no live ones, please -- at least not yet. That would be a logistical and legal nightmare that I'm not at all ready for], starting a good library of information will be a great start.

Inside were two offerings: a wonderful book on insects and their varied environments around the world...

Check out the 'warrior-mantid' pose. Many kinds of mantids go through this display -- you might call it a bluff except that they're quite capable of doing some damage with their raptorial fore-limbs. It's not hard to find accounts of mantids killing and eating birds and other surprisingly large prey.

The other contents of the package: within the large envelope, the entire first incarnation of The Food Insects Newsletter, clearly the best repository of information on entomophagy. The Newsletter was founded in 1988 by Gene DeFoliart at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After 22 issues [3 per year] it was taken over by Florence Dunkel at the University of Montana, where another 12 issues were published. This second phase of the FINL seems to have ended as of July 1999, though that may well change at some point.

I've long been fond of the Newsletter's logo. It gave me inspiration for my own company's graphic...

Within the sphere of those who know about or have some curiosity about entomophagy (which we know has never been a particularly popular subject) this publication is quite well known. People have asked me about the FINL at several of the events that I've run, and when the subject of entomophagy comes up on the ENTOMO-L listserv, for example, the Newsletter is always mentioned. It's a real shame that this resource is not currently available.

The Tale of Nick

2007-07-06T01:36:00.000-07:00

The story of Nick.

In mid-April 2005 I posted a classified ad on a site devoted to insect-collecting. I’d been lurking there for some time, uninterested in their discussions of cherished pinned specimens, etc. This was the ad:

Wanted!! Edible Insects! Educator seeks reliable, safe sources of processed edible insects from around the world. Will arrange permits, etc with you [not difficult]. Orders between 1 and 2 kilos desired, though this is negotiable. The insect products should be dried or canned. NO PRESERVED SPECIMENS, as they are not edible. NO LIVE SPECIMENS.

That’s what brought Nick into the picture. My non-partnership with Nick Kugbeadzor of Accra, Ghana was like other things in life.

At least some of what I’m going to say from here on out may seem a little ridiculous, at least in the light of 20/20 hindsight.

Eventually other things became clear to me. For example, shipping only one or two kilos would be very expensive, and I didn’t know the first thing about the permits I’d alluded to. In the bigger picture, it hadn’t occurred to me that maybe there were good reasons why no one else had been importing mopane from Africa.

I remember it seeming like magic; in fact it was a form of seduction. He was enthusiastic and optimistic; he was playing me like a $2 fiddle, and I completely failed to see it. But I take some comfort in the fact that a huge number of people are routinely swindled out of their hard-earned money, and many of them lose far more than I did. So a little contextualization helps.

I’m not telling how much I sent. This is because everyone would have his or her own reaction as to what constitutes a lot of money. Some would be awestruck that I had sent so much while others would think it a small loss. It was neither; but it was a considerable sum from my point of view, and that’s the key variable.

[[[UPDATE (of sorts)]]]
It’s now late November, 2008, and perhaps I’m committing a breach of blog etiquette by messing with chronology but I can explain. I’m just now replacing this entry, having removed it at Nick’s request, which was many months ago. He said that the post would damage his reputation (HA!) and that if I removed it he would make things right between us. Sounded good to me, so I complied.
A longer version of this entry – which might well be complete with an excerpt of our IM exchanges – will hopefully find a home in the book I plan to get published.

Next Bug: cicadas

2007-07-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Cicadas are the insects people hear more often than see; they're the loud buzzing sound we may associate with summer. When we see them, it's often as a flash -- they're super fast flyers. But they're not so fast when they emerge; they crawl out of the ground in their nymphal shells, climb up a tree or some other nearby vertical [like one's legs, if one stands still for a while], and struggle out of their skins. After that it's still a long while before they can fly. And all of this time is when you can scoop them up by the pound.

Some species live only one year; the periodic cicadas are better known due to their staggering emergences. A predator-response strategy has led the species to stay beneath ground for either 13 or 17 years (depending on the particular species) and then come up more or less at the same time. This allows a range of creatures to eat as many as they want and still allow a good percentage of the insects a chance to reproduce.

And here's a single one:

In 2004 the "famous" Brood X emerged in many states on the Eastern Seaboard; I drove down to Princeton, NJ; slept in my car on campus during Memorial Day weekend; and harvested eight or nine pounds of cicadas from a few massive beech trees on the Princeton campus. I've been serving them -- sauteed or dry-toasted -- to the public ever since. A few images of that event are on my website.

This year it was Brood XIII's turn. They were locally numerous in the Chicago area, and since I couldn't get out there I contacted a professor of Entomology, who knew of a few graduate students -- my official "THANKS" go out to James (Jamie) Zahnisser and his crew of friends -- who were willing to collect some for me. The cicadas arrived a couple of weeks ago.

After a little rinsing, I packed them into the freezer (as I've said before, I've got an understanding wife).

Though the bowl design features "pasta," we should note that insects are basically the protein source of a meal.

Cicadas are found worldwide and are a very popular food. Heck, Aristotle wrote that the last earth-bound stage, before the animal breaks through its thin brown shell, that's the tastiest. He loved them.

Summer of New Bugs: The Chapulines

2007-07-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

Chapulines are the name for "Grasshoppers" in Mexico, where they are a pretty popular kind of food -- the most popular insect food, though there are several other insects consumed there as well. This part of the story of my business starts with Chapulines because they came first chronologically. I've got two varieties now; the larger ones are from the state of Morelos, and I got them last October. Unfortunately the source is pretty much non-renewable, though I have some hope that I can get more of them. They're dry and crunchy and really good.

The second kind I got more recently; the first batch was almost a month ago. They're from Oaxaca -- the next state over from Morelos and the part where chapulines are best-known and most popular throughout Mexico. I'd learned that YES, there is legal importation of Mexican grasshoppers from Mexico -- they're exported to just a few places, including a town about 40 minutes from where I grew up. So I called up the store, and on my way to visit Mom I dropped by to pick up their last pound of 'hoppers, which they had put aside for me.

A variety of grasshoppers are collected and sold in Oaxaca, and in fact these insects seem to be culturally notable (there's a saying that goes something like, "Those who taste the Chapulines will always return to Oaxaca") but they seem to be known for the little tiny ones not much bigger than rice grains, which is what the market in NY sells:

In the basket or plate, these little ones have the appearence of shredded dried beef (though, granted, when you examine them up close, they look rather insect-like). In the mouth they're somehow both meaty and crunchy. They're sold cold and damp, whereas the larger ones are as dry as crackers. They're also considerably spicier than the larger ones. I have plans to buy a good deal more of the second variety, since I hope to have customers. In fact I've introduced this very tasty food to two restaurants in Providence (they haven't quite committed yet, but the proprietors are quite intrigued, so... fingers crossed!)

A Good Day

2007-06-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

A good many of these posts will be old history of what I've been doing in the last three years or so [though the real goal will be to serve up "hot off the press" posts], but here's some relatively new news. On May 17th I served I gave an insect tasting at an Audubon party, celebrating the hard-working people who nurtured the Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary over its 15 year history in Worcester MA. Some of the attendees were really into what I was serving, which is always good. Some of them were really into the Giant Water Bugs that I so love to serve, and others chowed down on the less ostentatious cricket. Though I did hit my usual environmental message a little, I was content to be part of the entertainment, along with the talented caricaturist who did a great job on me.

In fact, yeah, that's one of those Giant Water Bugs right there; I'm holding it in the wooden spoon. And a big “Thanks” to my good friend Trip Wolfskehl of Screen Craft Tile Works in Providence for scanning this for me.

And while I'm at it: the Newark gig was two days ago, and that went very well. Bug Mania! 2 had well over 1,000 visitors; not all of them came over to my table, and even fewer ate insects, but quite a few folks got involved.
As it happens, this was one of the gigs where I was on my own, so there was no-one there to take pictures. I may be able to score some from the museum's photographer [you never know...]

Next Gig! (uh, presentation)

2007-05-31T05:12:00.000-07:00

I’ll be serving up the insects at the Newark Museum’s Bug Mania 2 on June 9th. The event runs from 11am to 4 pm (a long day) and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll be serving:

House Crickets
Cicadas [not very many]
Chapulines [VERY few]
Ant Pupae
Silkworm Pupae
Giant Water Bug

And possibly something more; not sure yet.
I'll also probably blog my review of the day.

The Story Thus Far

2007-05-23T04:17:00.000-07:00

I live in Providence, RI with my wonderful wife and daughter. In 2001 I realized that insects are the best food with which to feed the world, whereas cows, pigs, and other large mammals are thoroughly inefficient ways to produce food. (Granted there are other concerns, but when someone finds something that really fuels his or her life, obstacles tend to melt away, at least temporarily. I've noticed that the obstacles are still around, and are very substantial.) It’s just that insects are such an elegant solution to so many of the food issues humanity is facing these days that I couldn’t resist getting involved. Besides, it’s fun to feed people insects.

I got started slowly, learning and teaching about edible insects, and didn’t officially form my business until 2005. Sunrise Land Shrimp has been going pretty well. The website needs a lot of updating – it’s one of the reasons for the blog – but there’s still a lot of good information and images there. And contact information, but I’ll include that here too: Dave@slshrimp.com

As for the sense behind the name [this text was once at the top of my home page; I should probably restore it]:

Sunrise because I wanted to send a message that there was
something new under the sun, a new day dawning. Land Shrimp
because insects are to the land what crustaceans are to the sea.

Yet while entomologists tend to like the name quite a bit, most people just scratch their heads and look at me funny. Though I’ve been attached to the company name, the time has come to shift to something more easily identifiable. “Dave’s Gourmet Insects” comes to mind; I’m open to suggestions.

Mostly I’ve been giving educational programs about the uses of insects as food, and at the great majority of these programs I’ve served cooked insects to the attendees. I’m also very interested in obtaining processed insects from all over the world, and I’ve had some small successes in that. Though I’ll write about the bugs themselves of course – and share pictures – this will be more about trying to make the business work. In fact this is long overdue; mass communication is a good way to finally start working smart instead of just working hard.

I’ll do my best to make this entertaining. We’ll see. In the meantime I’ve got some really great T-shirts to move. Just thought I’d toss that out there.