Tasty insects

Ishtar gave me the idea of doing a blog post on edible insects.

Ants

AntThe very first insects I ate. According to my mom, I became very adept at hiding them from her, tossing them into my mouth when she wasn’t looking. I can’t remember how they tasted but they must have been good — I hope…

Crickets

CricketI almost tried these once back when I was little and loved to eat every creeping thing. My mom slapped the poor insect out of my hand — the way she did when I attempted to eat a cockroach (if you’ve ever eaten a roach, I’m still curious as to how they taste). I heard they’re good though.

Grasshoppers

GrasshopperAs the house captain in secondary school, I got a lot of presents from parents and their kids alike. I really think it was during this period I ate the greatest variety of food. Roasted grasshoppers were crisp, but that was that. Most of the taste came from the sauce I had them with.

Grubs

GrubsLarvae of some insect (don’t ask me which) found in rotting palm tree logs. On a tastiness scale of 10, I’d give them a 12. If you haven’t seen them before, they’re what Timon of Lion King fame relishes, and no, you won’t have to spit them out like Pumbaa does.

They’re found mainly in the South (at least I didn’t see them when I was up North) and very popular in the Niger Delta. People traveling a lot by road have probably come across brown ‘things’ on sticks sold by the hawkers chanting ‘edible.’ I guess most people decide not to try it when they discover ‘edible’ means ‘edible maggots.’ They’re not maggots…

Locusts

LocustThe insect that inspired this post.

I still don’t know how to differentiate between locusts and grasshoppers, but if you asked me, my answer would be along the lines of ‘locusts taste better’ — especially with palm oil and pepper. I’d give them up only for termites or grubs.

Termites

TermitesI ate a handful of these only once when I was hungry in secondary school. A friend of mine had a bag of roasted termites. On the tastiness scale, I’ll put them right behind grubs. They’re simply awesome and crunchy.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had any opportunity since then. The same friend ate them raw when it was time for them to swarm. According to him, they were just as tasty, but I couldn’t be persuaded to try stripping the wings off one and throwing the wriggling, very-much-alive ‘mite into my mouth.

What insects have you eaten?

Comments

  1. femme says:

    azuka
    so u are one of those people ready to put anything in ur mouth eh? fortunatly u have helped settle a debate between HE and i.
    he doesnt believe that some people eat grasshoppers(and that in school, i ate the termites with garri).

  2. Ugo says:

    weird weird stuff, my friend…simply weird..lol!

  3. simplycider says:

    Well… (arranging thoughts) The grubs HAVE to be the most em… HORRIFIC (definitely no offence intended) thing on the insect menu for me. Give me camel meat anytime! (jk)

    My mum ate some peppered grasshoppers a few days ago.

  4. Biodun says:

    Azuka!! repeat after me “I AM WEIRD, I AM VERY WEIRD!!” lol, on the real, ur joking right? You didnt actually eat insects?

  5. Jem says:

    Grubs have got to be the most repulsive item on there. Eeewwww!! I wouldn’t ever think about putting such a slimy creamy type chewy insect in my mouth. I can almost depict the whole thing *shrugs*

    i have eaten termites though. Salt and season them , roast them or fry them are u’re good… you can even saute some onions and pepper and combine the whole thing, lol. I know some people reading this comment are gonna be weirded out, lol

  6. Jem says:

    lolllll, i just saw the part where you said grubs are not maggots … they sure look like them tho …

  7. aworan akin says:

    Hey, bro. Every rainy season back home meant there’d be a fresh supply of winged termites. Used to fry it with maggie sauce. Hmmm…. Swanky crunchiness!! I’ve also had grubs when I worked on my old man’s farm. Highly nutritious. I guess when hunger strikes, you’ll eat If anything, including (and you know what I mean Azuka!) Vegetarian.

    ps: bro, not really familiar with Natalie Cole’s music. Just sample some of her stuff via Itunes.

  8. Calabar Gal says:

    A big thumbs up for Grubs! Yeah!! They are lovely!! I first saw them when I was about 10 in my mothers kitchen and her intention was to cook them in a pot of stew. I admit I was apprehensive at first getting them past my lips but once they got past GO, it was delicious eating all the way!! Yummy, very, very yummy grubs are.

    I love termites too. Got introduced to them in boarding house and my adage is when in rome….. So when other boarders caught them at night and fried, I must admit it tasted good and when during the holidays they came flying around our home again, I didnt hesitate in keeping a huge basin of water where the lights were so they could fall into it and a very nice snack it was. Double yummy! LOL!!

    About the Grasshoppers and the Crickets, I’m sure I’ve caught either one of them and eaten them as well but the thing is, I really couldnt for the life of me differentiate between the two of them so dont know which one I ate and which one I didnt eat. We just caught the insects and if the help said they were edible, ate them (after roasting of course)and if they werent edible (according to the help) let them go.

    Ants – No f…king way!!

    Locusts – Never been around where I lived. Arent they horrible insects that eat ur crops and cause a famine? LOL!!

    Thats my piece on tasty insects. LOL!!

  9. At first I thought “Yuck!!” then I remembered that when I was in boarding school some girls caught and “roasted” some insects which I ate. I believe they were locusts.

    The memories you suppress..

  10. Azuka says:

    Femme
    There are some things I find tasty that a lot of people do not — e.g. mango leaves. Not that I eat them in front of other people!

    Ugo
    Cmon, which ones have you eaten?

    SimplyCider
    Have you tried them even once? Just give them a try…

    Biodun
    Don’t tell me you’re one of those who’ve been missing out all this while?

    Jem
    Just keep the thought of maggots out of your head and you should be able to get them in.

    Aworan
    Great. I need to tell my people to get some ‘insects’ ready for when I go back in December.

    Calabar Gal
    Yay! A true insect lover — like me.

    inmyheadandaroundme
    You have been found guilty and are hereby sentenced to two bowls of termites. 😀

  11. Vera Ezimora says:

    *Xcuse me while I go puke*

    Eww!

    Azuka, this post had me shrieking and shivering. You ate ants? Wait, that’s not even half as bad as eating grubs. Yuck!!

    I ate termites when I was lil. They tasted good – or so I thought. Now, you won’t pay me 2 eat those things. Yuck!!

    Grubs r maggots (sp?). Ewwwww!!! You shuld see me shivering out of disgust. Yuck!!! Gross!!

  12. Dave Gracer says:

    Hello Azuka and others,

    Wanted to tell you: though it’s lonely doing this “job,” I do operate a small business here in the U.S. devoted to entomophagy, which is the fancy term for the consumption of insects [which as we all know, most of the wrold has no problem with]. I’ve eaten about 25 kinds myself, including just about everything you have featured in your post…

    The grubs are beetle, specifically weevil, particularly the large species in the genus Rhynchophorus. I tried one once in Florida — not long ago; they’re native to the southernmost part where it’s a bit more tropical and humid. Absolutely delicious and I wish I could have gotten a lot more!!

    Crickets and grasshoppers I’m very fond of; I harvest them myself and buy them live from pet stores and turn them into human food. Ants I’ve had too, and many others, including scorpion, caterpillar [mopane worm too], etc.

    Here’s where I am:
    http://www.slshrimp.com
    http://bugsfordinner.blogspot.com/

    I love receiving packages of edible bugs from around this country and from other parts of the world. I’m always looking for reliable business partners!

  13. femme says:

    you see, u now have customer to sell u your own finger food. when u say u eat mango leaves,do u mean raw?

  14. ejura says:

    Urghhhh! Goodness! Azuka! Urghhh!

  15. Noni Moss says:

    Considering the fact that I hate insects, this has to be one of the most disgusting posts I’ve ever read. My stomach is heaving. Heaving I tell you, heaving.

    My aunt had the grubs in her fridge one time and i picked one up thinking it was suya. I bit into it and spat it out almost immediately as the texture was odd. I retched when I looked at it and nearly threw up when i realised what it was. DISGUSTING!!!

  16. princess says:

    Yea, i know grubs and termites are quite edible. Lots of peeps around me eat them. U wont get me to put those things in my mouth even to save my life.I wont!
    Btw, i hear cockroaches are poisonous.

  17. mochafella says:

    Gulp!! no comment.

  18. Vickii says:

    You’d be an amazing contestant on ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’ because the tasks they struggle with are always the ones where they have to eat insects.

    Hmm, I’ve only had termites – they’re the ones called shinge right. And in the rainy season, they would fly around and we would catch them, take off the wings, fry them and eat them. I don’t know if I could now though. I remember my mum couldn’t understand for the life of her how we could eat them.

  19. Yeah, I have eating some of dem bugs before…taste yummy. Now bite me!

  20. Kafo says:

    Mercy
    I’m like WHAT
    but then again before i cast the stone at you
    i must admit that i did eat termites while in abeokuta
    only we didn’t call them termites
    we called them esun esun and we ripped off the wings just like Vickii said and fried them

    but I’m not sharing that information with ANYONE anytime soon

    out of curiousity are these the same termites that get into wood

  21. ijeoma says:

    Chineke..i will never eat any insect intentionally

  22. Oracle says:

    Azuka, if you’ve really eaten all that, then i think you can eat anything.

  23. femme says:

    ive been stalking ur blog. update already!

  24. Noni Moss says:

    I kno I’m not in any position to make demands but … Dude! It’s been a week now! Update 😀

  25. Oj says:

    Weird- I’ve eaten the maggot things in the Delta and termites in the South East

  26. confused naija girl says:

    ewww! wow
    thats all i have to say

  27. an american would call you weird, but i’d get a similar response from one as to caviar….. thus, i’d call you old school…… 🙂

  28. Azuka says:

    Vera
    Now who’s the scaredy cat?

    Dave
    Thanks for dropping by. Yeah, too many people come to conclusions before even trying any out.

    Femme
    Yes, raw. It’s not like I gather a bunch of them and eat or something — every time I walk under a mango tree I pull off one or two.

    Ejura
    Et tu? You’re scared?

    Noni
    Haba. Well, I’m not so fond of insects when they’re alive either.

    Princess
    The cockroach reference was just a joke. There’s no way I’d try them even now. Ewww…

    Mochafella
    Is that the sound of you swallowing a mouthful of crisp grubs?

    Vickii
    Yeah, shinge. Absolutely ‘fantabulous.’

    Nigerian Politricks
    That’s great to hear. I’m sure a lot of people will begin to rush them after some self-styled guru advertises on TV about how nutritious they are.

    Kafo
    Yeah, I think they’re the same — although curiously, I haven’t been bitten by any of the winged ones.

    Ijeoma
    Hmmm. What if I said insects’ bodies are made of the same material as crayfish? 😆

    Oracle
    Oh, there’re some things I still don’t like.

    Femme, Noni
    On my way. I should post in the next five minutes.

    Oj
    I’m sure you loved them 😉

    CNG
    Are you sure you don’t want a bowl or two of termites? 😉

    Nikita
    Well, it depends on the perspectives. I’ve eaten nothing but fish eggs once and they were fantastic. I’m not sure I’ve had what you’d call ‘caviar’ yet though…

  29. azuka was interesting eating habit you got there. I too Im sort of a fan of insects..lol.

  30. Freelance says:

    Lovely blog. Keep up the gud wuk!

    Cheers!

  31. belle says:

    AZUKA!!!!

    dang. eww. puke!

  32. aivy says:

    u are so WEIRD….. cant believe you ate all those creepy insects

  33. Desola says:

    That is some weird stuff Azus!

  34. nyemoni says:

    EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Gross! DIsgusting!

  35. Mrs Somebody says:

    CG is my sister so anything she eats I eat.

  36. femme says:

    some of us have been waiting for u o

  37. Jaja says:

    interesting…
    I ve tried on some night bettele.. dont know their prooper names… attracted by bright light… they r quite fatty and pure delight to the senses…

    I spent too many Christmas holidays in the village…

    believe me man.. u dont want to do the roach… they even smell like shit…

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  39. Jaycee says:

    Guess what???

    I have eaten GRUBS before…he he he….on a tastiness scale I give them 15…oh my gosh, if you guys haven’t tried them you need to try them! Co-incidentally, I was talking about them to some friends the day before yesterday…lollll…

  40. jadedjune says:

    i used to love crickets…..delicious…..

    hehe

  41. afrobabe says:

    I love termites,they were always very tastily prepared in the village,the trick is not to look at them though my brothers did!

  42. teediva says:

    i love grubs too. and they’re called ‘edibo’ not edible lol. they are called ‘odon’ in urhobo and eaten with ‘kpokpogari’. lmfao!

    b4 i saw the grubs i was going to say u are so gross.

  43. Azuka

    It’s so nice you’re keeping it real. I attended boarding school in the Western part of Nigeria (F.G.C. Odogbolu to be precise) and yes those insects (can’t remember the specie name) did swarm down during the rainy period.

    Of course, i did try them and dey seemed like a delicacy then….but what didnt we don back then as young people! I would puke if anyone ever tried that near me again! lololololol

    Big up jare

  44. Ame says:

    I have eaten Edible Worms and I love them – call them what you like I will always love – i am from the Delta region of Nigeria – and know where they come from and how they are prepared – I often close the day’s business for the vendor as i have to buy the whole lot…… of course you have to share – i have been know to suffer over eating stomachaches but this still does not and will not stop me. My mouth is watering at the thought of them now……

  45. Ovye says:

    Men,
    Is like u really need to taste the cockroach so as to complete your insect profile.
    I’ll like to know just how it taste.

  46. Kanna-Chan says:

    Though I’ve never eaten insects before,I would probably be willing to try toasted grubs or termites,but only if toasted, not boiled.But I would NOT eat a cockroach.Grubs and many other insects are reasonably clean and wholesome,but cockroaches are just flat out nasty.

  47. Azuka says:

    Kanna-Chan
    I can’t imagine eating them boiled. Never liked boiled shrimp (they’re all chitin-covered creatures, I think), so I’ll have to agree.

    The cockroach comment was tongue-in-cheek. Thanks for visiting!

  48. Sandy says:

    Definitely worth the read

  49. Jossy ewere says:

    It so gud 2 see ur write up,i luv grups &can never get of it.infact am working on it as a project topic.in nigeria

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