Synopses & Reviews
The Essentials of Bug Cookery…From Soup to Gnats
“Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup!” Or wait…maybe it’s a katydid, a silkworm, or a tasty young bee. Anything’s possible at the Eat-A-Bug Cafe, otherwise known as the kitchen of naturalist David George Gordon, entomological epicure extraordinaire.
Gordon has gone to the ends of the earth, to his backyard, and under the refrigerator to find culinary inspiration, and now, after years of experimentation with entomophagy (that’s bug-eating, for those of you in the cheap seats), he presents the results with relish…or at least a light cream sauce.
Now you too can tantalize and terrify your family and friends with Gordon’s one-of-a-kind recipes, including Really Hoppin’ John (grasshoppers add that little extra kick), Pest-O (common garden weevils get their comeuppance in a delicate basil sauce) and Fried Green Tomato Hornworm (the Whistle Stop Cafe was never like this!)
Anecdotes, insights and culinary tips (such as the right wine to serve with scorpions) make this truly a book like no other. Follow the detailed instructions, and your guests will ask for seconds, just like folks at David’s notorious cooking demos. Open your culinary horizons. Buy this book. Eat a bug.
Synopsis
David George Gordon, author of THE COMPLEAT COCKROACH, presents such one-of-a-kind recipes as Really Hoppin' John (grasshoppers add an extra kick), Pest-O (common garden weevils in basil), and Fried Green Tomato Hornworm. Each page is swarming with information, including the right wine to serve with scorpions, how to order edible insects by mail, and more. ReviewsSee video of David cooking on Time Magazine's website: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1810336,00.html
About the Author
An award-winning nature writer, David George Gordon is the author of eleven guides to North American wildlife and wild places.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments - x
Introduction: Embracing Entomophagy - xi
A Meal Moth in Every Pantry, a Chinch Bug in Every Pot - xi
Who Eats Bugs? - xii
The Benefits of Bug Eating - xiv
Shouldn’t Everyone Eat Bugs? - xv
Government-Approved Entomophagy - xvii
About the Recipes - xviii
The Live Ingredients - xx
Cooking Techniques - xxi
Choice Cuts - xxiii
Beware of Bad Bugs - xxiv
The Best Beverages for Bugs - xxv
Part One
Don’t Worry, Be Hoppy: Nine Culinary Leaps of Faith,
Using Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Their Kin - 1
Chapter 1: Cooking with Crickets - 7
Orthopteran Orzo - 9
Chirpy Chex Party Mix - 10
Chocolate Cricket Torte - 12
Bugs in a Rug - 14
Chapter 2: Grilled Grasshoppers, Creamed Katydids, and Locusts Lovingly Prepared - 15
Oaxacan Whoppers - 17
Really Hoppin’ John - 19
St John’s Bread - 21
Cream of Katydid Soup - 23
Sheesh! Kabobs - 25
Part Two
Togetherness: A Selection of Social Insects--Bees, Termites, and Ants--for Special Occasions - 27
Chapter 3: Tantalizing Termites (The Other White Meat) - 29
Curried Termite Stew - 32
Termite Treats - 34
Chapter 4: Beginning with Bees - 35
Three Bee Salad - 38
Glory Bee - 40
Bee’s Knees - 41
Chapter 5: Ants on (and in) the House - 43
Ant Jemima’s Buckwheat-Bug Griddlecakes - 45
Amaretto Honeypots - 46
Ants in Pants - 48
Part Three
Who’s Bugging Whom? Eight Ways to Turn the Tables on Home and Garden Pests - 49
Chapter 6: Preparing Pantry Pests - 55
Superworm Tempura with Plum Dipping Sauce - 58
Larval Latkes (a.k.a. Grubsteaks) - 60
Chapter 7: Creating Cockroach Cuisine - 61
Gregor Samsa’s Samosas - 63
Cockroach à la King - 65
Chapter 8: Garden Grazers Alfresco - 67
Fried Green Tomato Hornworm - 69
Piz-zz-zz-za - 70
Pest-o - 73
Alpha-Bait Soup - 75
Part Four
Side Orders: A Smorgasbord of Treats from Assorted Arthropod Taxa - 77
Chapter 9: Spineless Delights - 79
Giant Water Bug on Watercress - 82
Sweet and Sour Silkworm - 84
Ample Drumsticks - 86
Spin-akopita - 88
Sky Prawns - 90
Scorpion Scallopine - 92
Party Pupae - 94
Baked Bird-Eating Spider - 96
Resources - 99
For More Information - 99
Suppliers of Edible Arthropods - 99
Sellers of Prepared Edible Arthropods - 100
Manufacturers of High-Quality Toothpicks - 100
Suppliers of Arthropod Care and Collecting Gear - 100
Sponsors of Bug-Eating Events - 101