Mealworms

I had salt and vinegar ants once. Pretty okay. Kind of nutty.

I used to eat ants as a kid because they tasted like lemon

You don't need to be poor to like the idea of never having to spend money on food again. It's a pretty unrewarding thing to waste money on, you only spend on food because you need it to not die.

Would an insect diet be a healthier alternative to factory farmed meat?

Those were ants that survived and evolved from continuous fumigation.

Only way to know for sure is to adopt a couple kids and feed one only insects and the other only factory farmed meat.

Maybe formic acid?

The fuck is this thread

Did you even check to see how much protein you get from this shit? It's better than whatever you're eating probably.

>Backyard Pals

My fucking sides, it's Apple Cabin Foods all over again.

>not enjoying one of the most enjoyable things in life

OP watched Blader Runner 2049

anyone who eats insects should be fucking crucified.

run them through the food processor then a fine sieve to get the exoskeletons
add a little meat glue (Transglutaminase) and some seasoning
roll out, cut into fun shapes
deep fry and you got some cricken tendies

Top kek

No, stop listening to hysterical end-of-the-world eco nuts. Insects have high protein per gram but are lacking in literally every other nutrient you find in animal meats or fish meats

Youre the same kind of idiot that says you can make good gains on broccoli instead of beef because it has a higher protein count per 100g, but you dont stop to think about density.
100g of mealworms is an entire fucking rice bowl, vs 100g of beef being a single bite.

...

So is there any actual insect cuisine or is it all memefood like ranch crickets?

anyone that voluntarily eats bugs deserves to die.

It clearly says "not for human consumption" fucking idiot

You'd need a few bowls of meal worms to feel satiated

That just means that particular company isn't bothering to market their product for people to eat, not that it's dangerous for people to eat it. You could live off of dog food just fine too and those companies won't be marketing their product for human consumption either.

Yes but mostly in 3rd world countries, besides novelties like bug candy.

In the bible John the Baptist is described as eating Locusts in honey.

Well yeah you theoretically could live off of it, as well as dog food, cat food, stuff you find in the garbage, but I question the sanity of anybody who willfully chooses to.

I don't see how not buying into a completely arbitrary social taboo about insects as food means you're psychotic. You could very easily have been born into a culture where pig meat was considered not fit for eating, the degree to which you participate in cultural hangups isn't a very good indicator for mental health.

>In the bible John the Baptist is described as eating Locusts in honey.

Yea but that's not real cuisine. That's just putting some sauce on a bug. I am talking like dry roasting locusts with cardamom and fennel seeds and then simmering them in cream base with fresh herbs to make sauce that is served over pasta.

A real dish that has a name. Spaghetti alla locusta or some shit. Not Bug A with Flavor B.

I imagine they're not really documented much in English just due to the taboo and the fact nobody's running around Africa or wherever and writing down bug recipes.

Eat my cum Sage

You aren't going to find complicated dishes because eating insects is mostly a hallmark of less advanced cultures or cultures that can't get their protien elsewhere (and the two *tend* to coincide). The "cuisine" notion of cooking came from the French. But from looking around, i've found that Oaxacan cuisine in Mexico tends to strongly feature insects, especially Crickets called Chapulinas

>“Crispy grasshoppers, better known as Chapulines, are a delicacy in Oaxaca and are popular all over Mexico. They’re often eaten as a snack on their own or used as a toping to add crunch and texture, like we offer on our guacamole at [my restaurant] Johnny Sánchez. Think Mexican bacon bits. After being cleaned thoroughly, we toast them on a comal—a traditional Mexican griddle—with chili and lime to add spice and flavor. They’re absolutely delicious and are a great source of protein."
Aarón Sánchez is chef and partner at Johnny Sánchez in New Orleans

>"In Mexico, there are 398 different species of edible insects. Grasshoppers, or chapulines, are among the most traditional and can be found in the U.S. I like to sauté chapulines from Oaxaca with garlic cloves, chile de arbol oil, sea salt and Spanish peanuts. This is a traditional snack that you can find at the markets in Oaxaca. We serve it at the bar as an accompaniment for mezcal." Karen Barroso is the owner and head chef of Guajillo in Arlington, VA

etc: time.com/3830167/eating-bugs-insects-recipes/

ACtually, the 'locust' referred to in the Bible is locust bean, aka carob. Not the literal insects.

Crickets also smell like ass

don't be boring

It depends on who you ask, but most scholars actually believe now it was insects because of the Greek word used in the original text.

do americans really

I'm not surprised it's given someone inspiration, it's the best film ever made

I didn't know that birds browse Veeky Forums now, neat.

why shouldnt you consider an extra ingredient in your diet. the more options you have the better.
its true that insects are easy to cultivate and also that the density of protein isnt compareable to a piece of meat.
but for example you can process mealworms to powder and add it to whatever. like bread, soups, sauces since it doesnt have a strong flavor. just leave cultural habits aside and you wouldnt feel disgusted with the thought. by consuming insects we could help to lower the negative consequences of mass meat production. guess that would be a nice ecological bonus.

Crickets are better for powdering though if you're going to do it yourself. Mealworms have a tough waxy exoskeleton that makes things tricky.

Literally just put them in the freezer

>mass meat production
here's the thing
>work all day every day and spend your hard earned money on meat at the store costing you thousands every year
or
>spend $15 on a 1 day permit and shoot a deer
>have free meat for the rest of the year

all the things people complain about would be fixed if everyone would stop being a bitch and just go catch their own food outside
doesn't even cost much for start up. The freezer is your biggest investment since mosins are back to being under $200 again if you don't have a rifle

I like the cut of your jib, buddy. Wanna go in on a pair of kids with me?

You seem to have forgotten three important things:
>most people do not spend 1000s on meat each year
>you conveniently leave out the price of a gun and the huge freezer for keeping enough venison to last a year in
>the only reason people are currently able to go shoot a deer is because not everyone is outside shooting a deer

He clearly mentioned the price of a rifle.

But yeah, you're exactly right that hunting is only feasible with a fairly sparse population. Imagine if the entire population of NYC decided they wanted to hunt for their food. Just where, exactly, does user think that 8.5 million people are going to get their venison from?

Though it certainly is practical outside of major population centers. And many species of animal can withstand a massive amount of hunting pressure. The US South has a huge problem with feral pigs. People shoot them for meat, for fun, and sometimes even get paid to do it. We trap hogs, shoot them out of helicopters with automatic weapons, even put out poison in some areas, and are barely putting a dent in their population. The feral hog population could feed millions of people.

why not put them on a hook and use them to catch fish: a food normal people eat.

I don't understand why anyone would think of seafood as significantly different from insects. Shrimp look almost exactly like cockroaches and people love eating shrimp. It all seems pretty irrational.

I don't eat shrimp because they look like cockroaches take that bitch

OP's pic says 50% protein by weight, which is roughly double that of beef.

How thick are you? Weight != Density

Put it this way, I'd only need a tablespoon of lead to match the weight of your head because you are so fucking dense

Lol, you got that 2nd part backwards. You'd only need a TB of lead to match his head because his head is so not dense.

Yes, user, when you dehydrate something its density goes up. Why not look up the protein content of beef jerky? That would be a much more valid comparison. Either that or compare non-dehytraded mealworms to raw meat.

I compared mealworms to beef, neither of which are dehydrated. What are you talking about? And what the hell is this talk of density for? Are mealworms like 90% air or something?

The mealworms in that bag are dehydrated. If they weren't they'd be rotting in the bag.

Dehydrating a food increases its content of everything except for water.

>>Are mealworms like 90% air or something?
Water, not air. Any living thing is mostly water.

Google it. The protein content of whole, not dried/dehydrated mealworms is well known because it's of concern to people feeding them to their pets. For example, this site gives the protein content of non-dried mealworms (and a few other larvae commonly fed to pets):
grubco.com/nutritional_information.cfm
Notice the protein amount is around 20%

Looking up the protein content of a cooked sirloin steak at USDA comes up with about 30% protein:
ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3895?manu=&fgcd=&ds=

you compared dry mealworms to fresh beef

I didn't know they were dehydrated, thanks. I figured they were refrigerated or something.

There's a company in my town that makes cricket and meal worm energy bars. They're really good, super nutritious, and cheaper than standard snack bars. I was talking to the owner at the farmers market last week, and he said the biggest problem is the smell of the holding chambers, not the cost of holding or processing. He said that anyone who has the space and knowledge to prevent disease or overpopulation should go for it

Burgers and pizza are amazing. But if you can't understand the hassle, you're probably a mental fatass.

>I can enjoy a steak but I can't enjoy eating crickets or mealworms

I found their site: chapul.com

On a side note, I actually think that finding alternative sources of animal proteins, such as can be found in insects, is a great idea. Even if you aren't an eco-fag like me, it's hard to deny that cattle consume a huge portion of our water/arable land, and produce a huge amount of waste, whether it be physical or chemical (I was just reading about how cows produce more methane than cars), and thus are not a particularly efficient method of generating edible animal protein. It seems like edible insects would be a great solution to this problem: less input cost, less wasteful, more easily manipulatable genes. I would wager that we will see a rise in insect-based agriculture over the next two years, even to the point of factory-style farming

If you order the starter kit the bars are cheaper than if you just order the bars normally, plus you get protein powder thrown in. The fuck?

The responses to this are bizarre, if you consider that this is a board for the appreciation of food. If you like food, and aren't willing to step outside of your arbitrarily defined "code of edibility", then maybe you should consider that you don't like food as much as you would have thought? If something is edible, and perhaps tasty, you should probably give it a go. Even if you don't like it, at least then you know. I would forever torture myself if I hadn't eaten clams and lobster in the states, or sheep brain and cow tongue in Latin America, or snail soup and goat in Morocco. What's the point of talking about food if you can't be adventurous with it?

I dunno, I just buy them off the guy in person. Haven't looked at the store. The guy who owns the company seems super nice, though, I'm sure if you shot them an email you could work out a specific deal. He is at our farmers market every week and is always helping other trucks load in/out and is always down to chat

>tfw packages of chapulines come to you from famalam in Mexico every year

If it's supposedly so efficient to farm crickets, then why is that shit so expensive?

Currently it's a small scale niche product because not many people want to buy it. The cost would drop drastically as it becomes more popular and sales increase, market competition increases, etc.

Again, I don't know anything about the specifics, but I would assume that it is due to economies of scale. Since there are already a ton of cows here, and the market already exists, and the government subsidizes cattle farms, it makes sense that it would be cheaper to buy beef than cricket. But if all factors remained equal, it would be a lot cheaper and more efficient to harvest bugs as our main source of protein. It's kinda gross, but not much grosser than chewing through the layers of fat on a dead animal carcass

Why are you even on Veeky Forums? You're like the soylent people or the fast food junkies.

Food is about more than filling up your stomach. It's an enjoyment, a great excuse to socialize, it's fun, it's exciting, and cooking it is one of the most rewarding hobbies.

>letting advertisers bring you joy
fat shit detected

>having feelings
for what purpose?

a crustacean isn't a fish

This. If you look at it as more than "fill my gullet until I'm full" or "maximize my caloric and nutrient intake per dollar", then it can become a pretty fun hobby. The act of cooking, whether alone or with friends, is a joy, and it becomes even better when you get to talk and eat and appreciate

>not much grosser than chewing through the layers of fat on a dead animal carcass
I don't find that gross at all though, I happen to enjoy chewing through layers of fat on dead animal carcasses. I think the best animal carcass is lamb, I enjoy the heck out of chewing on their dead carcasses.

Not so sure about insects though, that's kinda gross. But I'd probably try it if it was cooked in an interesting enough way.

This guy gets it, christmas is the best holiday for me not because of lame gifts but because the family gathers in the kitchen cooking food together all day for two days. And then we sit down together and enjoy everything we've cooked. Throw in a beer or two and you've got heaven on earth.

The irony

Re-reading it, this isn't irony, it's mutual agreement. Fuck if I shouldn't have said "no" to that last whiskey

I was just about to comment that. Whisky sounds good though, I think I'll go have a tiny glass.

I'll do one more, because that might decrease my defensiveness. This website does that to me

i breed them and can't get the beetles from eating the eggs

Don't worry about it, I might as well have been shitposting and then it would've been the appropriate response. This site turns us into shittards for some reason, but I guess that's why we keep coming back.

>70% feces and chitin : the meal

...

>Food is about more than filling up your stomach.
You didn't choose to need to eat food though. You're like a rape victim who decided to convince herself she enjoys it because she doesn't have a choice not to be raped.

the mental illness is too real. please seek help.

I think there's some projecting going on. I always enjoyed eating good food and I will keep enjoying it.

For me it's like having a nice loving fuck, or a spicy hot fuck, or just a good old regular fuck after having gone without just a tad too long. It's really enjoyable and I keep looki g forward to more.

Meanwhile you're like a rape victim turned rabid feminist who say I can't enjoy sex because sex is inhumane. And you accuse me of being mentally unstable when in fact you have traumatic experiences in the past that you haven't been able to put behind you in spite of extensive psychiatric care, drugs, one diagnosis after another. Alienated from your previous friend circles because you can never just calm down about how sex is so horrible for everone and that they should be ashamed of doing it. Now you can only find some distractions from your sad and lonely life by spending time on the internet preaching how bad, immoral and horrible sex is, believing that all "PIV" sex is rape and should be punishable by death.

I feel sorry for you, I hope you get better with time. And fuck off to tumbler.

I'm just saying genuine hobbies aren't things you're forced to do just to stay alive. I never accused you of being mentally unstable. Submissive rationalization isn't the same thing as mental instability.

I'm accusing you of being mentally unstable because you likened it to being raped, not the other way around.

If I have to do it anyways I might as well get the most out of it. But I started to enjoy cooking and baking before I had a reason to cook because my parents always did it, so it's not a hobby or interest that started out of necessity, and if I didn't enjoy it I would eat frozen bland meals that fill you up without being disgusting or take any time.

>I'm accusing you of being mentally unstable... not the other way around.
Never mind, maybe you are mentally unstable after all since you wrote:
>And you accuse me of being mentally unstable
Like 10 minutes ago and already forgot somehow.

That entire paragraph is just a long metaphor taken to the extreme if you didn't catch that.

FYI metaphors aren't the same thing as being able to contradict yourself and have it not count. They're more like tools for conveying meaning of a less known topic by referencing more familiar topics that share similarities with it.

All I know is that you started talking about rape and I called you mentally unstable. I leave the semantics of what is what to a native speaker who is uninvolved in my insults towards you.

Let me break it down for you.
>You: You accused me of being mentally unstable!
>Me: I didn't accuse you of being mentally unstable.
>You: No, I accused YOU of being mentally unstable.
>Me: But your post is right here saying how I accused you of that, you made it ten minutes ago?
>You: That was a metaphor!
>Me: ...

Let me break down for you

>me: I enjoy cooking and eating food
>you: you're like a rape victim with stockholm syndrome
>me: you are like a rape victim calling me mentally unstable for enjoying sex
>you: when did I say you are mentally unstable
>me: you didn't