We stopped for some snacks near Neak Loeung on our way to the countryside earlier this week and Doungchann, our Administrative Assistant, introduced Charlotte to some of her favorites.
Charlotte enjoyed the hard boiled quail eggs. There were quite delicious and the yolk had a nice rich flavor. They also came with a tasty tipping powder that included salt, pepper, and – probably – MSG.
Charlotte wasn’t as convinced by the second snack, fried crickets. They were so delicious, infused with a garlic flavored oil and just a hint of spicy heat. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
I told Charlotte that her Great Uncle had written an entire book about eating insects but that didn’t sell her either.
She did eventually try a single cricket – after having me remove the head for some reason – but that was enough food adventure for her. I ended up eating most of the rest myself.
Haha. Good that Charlotte at least had a bite. Seeing the heads and/or eyes of any animals we eat (chicken, pig, sheep) can be off- putting. We think they are watching us. I think you have to close your eyes or be briefly distracted by something else to try eating insects the first time, and be surprised by discovering later what you’ve done. Teenagers might do it on a dare just to prove something. The resistance to eating them is mostly mental, not amenable to logical argument.
Well perhaps to my discredit, i never was one to expand my food horizons too much into what others around the world would consider delicacies (squid jerky for example…) so i certainly understand Charlotte’s reluctance. BUT good for her for at least taking a nibble.
🙂
I’m not as adventurous as I was back in the day but squid jerky and fried crickets… Yum, yum.
Crickets are yummy…just too small to make much of a difference. Small children usually eat them freely when accompanied by stories of John the Baptist in my experience!
Traditionally, crickets were harvested from the rice fields but one of our partners is working on a cricket farming project. I’m hoping to get to visit the model farm in December if COVID-19 doesn’t disrupt our travel plans yet again.