tirsdag, august 14, 2007

Would you eat it?

I am worried about today's youth. But first, a story. Thor and I were travelling recently in Gold Country, when we happened upon the coolest candy store in the history of candy stores, in Placerville. Hidden among the homemade fudge, all the brands of sweets that I didn't realize were still made (Charleston Chew anyone? Or how about a piece of Bit-o-Honey? Or maybe I can interest you in a set of wax lips?), the back room of exotic jerky made from antelope, elk, ostrich, were the insects. Crickets, larva. Each available in two exciting flavors. Of course I thought instantly of Thor's nephews, two hard to shop for pre-teens. Not that they're hard to shop for because of any shortcomings on their part (they're nice kids), but...what on earth does one get for pre-teen boys? So, naturally we got the bugs, for each one a box of crickets and a box of larva, nicely flavored and everything. Instant street cred for Onkel Thor and his exotic (please note the ironic tone with which I type that word) American girlfriend.

And we got some street cred to be sure. Talk was made about taking them to school to show off to classmates. The only thing is, neither child would eat any. In fact, in a birthday party of people, the only ones who would even try them were myself and one other adult. I don't get it. I'm sure that I would have been more than willing to try them when I was younger. But then again, maybe I'm reinventing the past...I don't recall ever having the chance to try anything that exotic in my pre-teen days. Maybe I wouldn't have, but isn't there more street cred in actually eating insects than in just showing them to one's friends? Are Danish boys just squeamish that way, or am I glorifying the willingness of youth to do disgusting things, just for doing them? Would you have tried crickets, or larva, when you were younger? Would you try any now?

I should perhaps admit that, despite having flavor names on the boxes, neither type of insect tasted much of anything. They were just dry, bland, and vaguely crunchy.

20 kommentarer:

Devil Mood sagde ...

I think I'd be more willing to try them now than before. Maybe if I didn't look at them too much and didn't feel any paws or wings in my tongue ....yack! I'm not sure!
Do you think, instead of cred, they would be seen as yucky for trying those things?
I am concerned about youth in general, not only their eating habits ;)

jdbauer sagde ...

Oh you bet I would! I ate grasshopper in a Japanese restaurant. It was a special I ate with my sushi. It was a Taka on Grove Street in New York. Some guy leaned over and said, "that's just a cockroach". Didn't bother me. It was crunchy and yummy!

jdbauer sagde ...

That a should have been an at.

Vanessa sagde ...

I know exactly which store you were at!
At the far opposite end of town is a fantastic little restaurant, Z-Pies. You didn't happen to stop in there, did you?

i'm marion sagde ...

Uhm, I'm usually up for trying everything. But sometimes looking at pictures and reading about things is very nice too... ;-)
On a somewhat related note ("safe distance"...), my sea monkey didn't survive my recent 10-day absence... how are yours?

Unknown sagde ...

Mmmm... Do they taste good with Chinese food???

Simple American sagde ...

As long as they don't chirp going down my throat Exotic Kimananda. :P

Greg Mills sagde ...

There's this great, amazing, fake California tapas place on the main drag near my house. They serve crickets. Not sure what it has to do with tapas, they aren't particularly flavorful, just peppery.

Now that I think about it, there's no reason for them to serve crickets. It's troubling really.

Anonym sagde ...

Mmmm, bush tucker.

I have eaten green ants (the green bit tastes like sherbet) and witchety grubs. Its protein. *shrugs* Not as bad as a meat pie with mushy peas.

Most boys I know would have eaten them. Mind you the kids I used to look after where all mini-psychopaths.

Dok Holocaust sagde ...

I've had chocolate-covered grasshopper before, as a kid. it tasted like chocolate with something salty and crunchy inside.

madelyn sagde ...

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

naw

and yes...Thor does have an exotic
girlfriend:)

:)

Anonym sagde ...

nope. I would not eat it. No no no, not then and not now. I'll leave the exotic stuff to you. You are so much better at it. And retro candy is huge out here. Go to Cracker Barrel and they sell everything like Cherry Mash, Chick-O-Sticks, Abba-Zaba (my fav)and Mary Janes to name a few.

Scholiast sagde ...

Happy birthday, dear!! :) And please, find some other food than larva to celebrate... I think I would only ever eat something like this if death was imminent and there was nothing else around - as a child I would certainly rather have starved to death than try something like this! (Or peas, carrots, stuff like that, come to think of it. It's a wonder I grew up at all...)

Anonym sagde ...

I'd eat them with green eggs and ham! (P.S. I'm back...)

Stephanie sagde ...

Hi - I'm a visitor via devil mood's blog. You had mentioned listening to a delightfully melancholic CD - my favorite kind of music - and I wanted to see if I could find out what it was :)

There's a a candy store on the way to my folks' house in Maine which stocks all sorts of retro candies, including ones (circus peanuts, anyone?) which really should be extinct by now.

No bugs though, Crick-ettes or other kinds.

i'm marion sagde ...

Kim, I e-mailed you about meeting in Manchester - I hope you'll pick up your e-mails before tomorrow. Sorry, I didn't have internet access for the last 10 days...

Chipper sagde ...

Hello! Long time no talk. I couldn't find your email, so I thought I would leave you a message here...I have a really good friend-Kytari who will be moving to Denmark in the next year and she would like to perhaps ask some questions from you. I told her to leave you a message here(since I have no idea where I put your email address at!) and I just wanted to explain first who she was. ;-)
You know, I think I would have to try all of insects, just to say I'd done it.

Anonym sagde ...

I think I'm goona puke!

theblackscorpio sagde ...

Totally unrelated, as always, but I think, you may like this lolcat:


http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/09/10/ur-theory-has-merit-i-submit-for-peer-review/


:o)

kimananda sagde ...

Ms. Mood, you could be right about the yuck factor as opposed to the street cred. It seemed pretty cool to me, though.

Jonathan, that's the spirit! I believe in trying lots of different foods. It adds to the overall quality of life, I think.

Vanessa, nope, no Z-Pies...we went to an o.k. fish restaurant, but nothing memorable. And now that I think about it, it was late on a Sunday night, and we basically just saw a bit of the one street.

Marion, my sea monkeys were doing well before the trip to the UK (where it was great to meet you, by the way!)...when I got back, I found that Thor had fed them with the large end of the feeding spoon, and they had all died! Easy come, easy go.

Annemarie, they sadly didn't taste that great on their own, so perhaps with Chinese food, it could work...I'll have to try that sometime.

Mr. American, nope, no chirping...they were far too freeze-dried to chirp.

Greg, it might be troubling, but think of the street cred. Well, maybe don't think about the crickets at all.

Gondul, so you're saying that Thor's nephews aren't psychopaths. You're probably right about that.

Morose, I've had chocolate covered ants, and they were pretty good. I'll keep a look out for the grasshopper version.

Maddie, nope, not exotic, just me. But really no crickets for you? ;-)

Daphnewood, the exotic thing is just because it's fun to try new things. Retro candy, on the other hand, is a beauty and a joy forever.

Scholiast, hmmm...I will take your advice...actually I took your advice...for my birthday, chocolate and cake was the order of the day.

Sangroncito, yay! Welcome back!!! And green eggs and ham? Would you eat them with some crickets? Would you eat them if you had rickets? O.K., not good, but what else rhymes with cricket? Or larva, for that matter?

Stephanie, it was my lame way of thanking Devil Mood for sending me a beautiful mix cd for my birthday. I believe she posted the list on her blog at some recent point. Oh, and welcome to my humble space!

Etchen, yes, trying it, just to say you've done it. I agree with that. Oh, and your friend has left a comment, but it doesn't link to anything, so I can't get any e-mail for her. Please let her know that she's welcome to e-mail me (address on my blog profile), and I'd be happy to respond.

Day, too many larva and crickets? ;-)

Ms. Black Scorpio, very cute, thanks! :-)