I Ate A Bug

I'd never thought I'd do it.

My fear of bugs are so irrational. I'm a million times bigger than them yet the sight of them sends me hiding behind a can of bug spray and prodding it with a broom to see if its dead. Even then somewhat scared they might be playing dead and come back to life as I decide to scoop them up.

So when my friend brought this over I didn't know if I could stomach the challenge literally. The pack consisted of ready to eat mealworms, crickets and that nasty looking cockroach.

This company seems to specialise in making all these different types of edible bugs and I thought its about time I crossed that line and just man up and eat a bug. My friend purchased this recently at the Moon Festival in Cabramatta at $10 a tub.

The sight of the mini tub of bugs is really off putting. Especially the part where you have to put your fingers in to get your bug out. I kept trying to scare everyone with the thought there's a live bug amongst them and it'll come to life when you decide to reach for one. Sometimes humour is the easiest way to mask that inner fear.

The close up shots really didn't help my preparation. Look at the legs and the lines on the bugs. It's really just got to be mind over matter to overcome this eating task. The easiest way was to close your eyes, imagine you're Pumba from The Lion King and eat that nutritious sucker.

I felt an obligation to tackle on all the levels of this big eating challenge. The easiest was the mealworm, the cricket and then the cockroach. It was also probably not a good idea to make it look at me straight in the eye before eating it.

What does it taste like? Nothing really. The mealworm was no more than an outer shell. Very easy to put in your mouth and crunch away. The other two were just crunchy and as you chew, it starts leaving a grainy residue. The way it was cooked reminds me of eating these anchovies from Asian grocers that seem to use the same technique. The worse part is the left over legs that might get stuck in your mouth/teeth.

I'm really doubting this experience has made me less afraid of bugs... probably just less afraid of eating deep fried ones...