More Potentially Objectionable Food

29 Nov

First Durian and Now Bugs!!!

 

Yesterday, I described the proposed Durian flavoured Kit Kat bar that will likely be coming to Thailand.  If it’s already available, I’ll buy it and possibly try it out.  (Actually, no I won’t.) If it’s not available, that will be fine with me.

Since my arrival, my days have been pretty busy, and I haven’t had a chance to get into full Bangkok Blog mode, so I thought I would carry on with another potentially gross food entry.  This post moves from Durian Kit Kat bars to the world of eating insects.  Yes, I realize that this might gross many of my readers out, but I thought this was still a story worth telling.

In Southeast Asia, eating insects has always been popular. There are hawkers who sell insects from their carts all over Bangkok.  You can get crickets, meal worms, ants and other insect treats.  To us North Americans, these ‘delicacies’ can be pretty disgusting, but for those who are not squeamish or who have been raised here, it turns out that these little critters are packed with protein and fibre and use few resources compared to raising cows and chickens.  There are a lot of good reasons to eat bugs and once you get used to them, they taste pretty good as well.

My experience with insect eating in Bangkok has been related mostly to snacking.  But just recently, a very high end restaurant, called Insects in the Backyard has been opened to rave reviews and to coverage from journals all over the world.  If I have time, and can get a reservation – the place is so popular that these are hard to get – I might try it out.

The pictures in the slide deck above show some of the dishes served at the restaurant, which is now considered to be a gourmet haunt, according to the Bangkok folks I know who have been there.  I realize that some of you might be grossed out, but eating has as much to do with culture, upbringing and experimentation as it does with visuals, so buck up and take a look.  After all, heavy duty media such as the Guardian, Bloomberg and Fine Dining have all covered this restaurant and given it good reviews.  And like I said, getting a reservation is almost impossible, so lots of people are clearly giving it a try.

A lot of the coverage in the Bangkok Blog has to do with food and that will continue.  Even food considered to be nauseating to its readers should be covered.  And that includes Durian and Bugs.

Okay, I couldn’t resist.  Here’s a video of some bug eating activity in Bangkok – Bon Appétit.

But wait, you might think that these Southeast Asian guys are the only ones eating bugs. Thinking this is wrong because even western countries normally seen as highly civilized are starting to munch away on these critter ingredients.  Check out which country here.

4 thoughts on “More Potentially Objectionable Food

  1. Ok. So far I have not been able to look at the slides. Nor have I tried this video. Safe, I thought… No! I turn on my local beloved CBC and what are they discussing? Snakes in toilets in Bangkok, and the 39,000 cases reported there !! ARGH! I am reeling from that story. I am taking to my bed. I fear things in my bathrooms, bugs in my bread, spiders in my salad and, yes, the actual invasion of moths in my kitchen!
    Enough!

    • Yup, she saw it and objected. I was just trying to suggest that this alternative form of protein could be turned into fine cuisine by a creative and experienced chef. Obviously, she was not impressed.

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