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EATING BUGS
MELISSA: We're in the backyard with Joyce Saunders today. She's from the Natural History Museum and she is going to demonstrate how to cook up some bugs. They're going to be a tasty treat later for our crew. So what's with all the bugs here, tell me about everything?
Okay, well, the stage that we're going to be eating today is the larva stage.
MELISSA: The little creepy crawly ones that are crawling up the side.
JOYCE: That's right, trying in vain, and this next stage is called the pupa stage.
MELISSA: Okay.
JOYCE: That's just before the adult form, which is the darkling beetle.
MELISSA: So the big black ugly one is actually the adult form?
JOYCE: He's not all that ugly.
MELISSA: Okay, now let's see what we're going to do.
JOYCE: Okay, well, the main idea is just to wash them, and to freeze them as they are.
MELISSA: Okay, okay. That's fairly simple.
JOYCE: So when we wash them, we want to actually make sure that we use a very fine colander so that they'd don't crawl out the bottom. We want to keep them in there, not down the drain. We want them to go down our throat instead.
MELISSA: Okay, so now we freeze them overnight,is that right?
JOYCE: At least overnight, yeah. If you have a bit more time, I'd take four days just to make they're rigor mortis.
MELISSA: Okay, because when we slap them on the griddle, we don't want them starting to crawl around again. We'd rather they be dead. Okay, so first we're going to add a little oil here.
JOYCE: Okay, we have a griddle here, we have it on low to medium heat. We're going to put a tablespoon of olive oil right in the middle.
MELISSA: Okay. Grease it up a little bit.
JOYCE: Okay, and the next thing, I'll just sort of add a few of these, you can hear them sizzling.
MELISSA: Umm, listen to the sizzle.
JOYCE: Now, any movement that you see on the pan is not because they're coming alive again, it's simply because of the oil.
MELISSA: Okay, it's the oil popping 'em around. And I'm getting bug juice splattered on me.
JOYCE: Yeah, there you go.
MELISSA: Ooh! It's like popcorn, they pop right up off the griddle.
JOYCE: Yes, the next thing I'm going to use is a bit of barbecue seasoning, and I hear that's appropriate for...
MELISSA: That's right, to give a little spice to the Mexican fiesta. Okay, so these are looKing nice and brown here, like they're getting nice and crispy.
JOYCE: And depending on how you like them, you know, if you like them squishy on the inside and crispy on the outside, you can cook them that way, but I like mine really crispy so that you can hardly tell what they are anymore, they essentially taste like chips.
MELISSA: So these actually are not for people to eat usually, you usually feed them to your reptiles?
JOYCE: Yeah. But they're an excellent source of protein and high in fibre because they eat bran all day, so...
MELISSA: Okay, and they're actually called mealworms because they eat meal. These worms are looking nice and crispy and they smell great. When we comeback, we're going to feed them to an unsuspecting member of the crew. It'll separate the men from the boys, so bring your beer.
JOYCE: That's right, we'll see who wins.
MELISSA: It's only about the meat. Our mealworms are ready, and they actually smell pretty good, so let's find someone to eat these. Who's man enough of our crew to consume some of these little buggies? Miles, come on down. Pick one of these little crispy critters. They're actually pretty crispy.
MILES: Yeah, they are pretty crunchy.
MELISSA: Ooooh…
MILES: Those aren't bad.
MELISSA: I don't think Miles really enjoyed that, but hey, let's see if they tickle your tastebuds. Grill some up and see who the biggest stud on your block is. You can be a real man, crunch into them. Um, um, um, tastes like chicken, not bad.
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