Fun and Food

January 6, 2000

Whole Foods presents David Gordon, author of the book "The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook" who discusses health and food issues concerning insects and bugs.

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HonCCC: Tonight we'd like to welcome the author, David Gordon! David is author of The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook and has researched the benefits to eating insects. Chat with him about how he cooks up these critters! Hi David!

David Gordon: Hi everyone.

HonCCC: David, are there any insects you won't eat?

David Gordon: Yes! I don't like to eat parasitic insects, so count me out on things like head lice.

Silvergirl07: Who eats bugs?

David Gordon: I do.

Wf-siggie: It is rumored in my family that my aunt eats daddy long legs spiders.she says she eats them whole, live, and that they taste like mint. Is that ok to do?

David Gordon: Everyone except Europeans and European colonies like the U.S. eats bugs. Yes, it is fine. In the Middle Ages people used to eat spiders for medicinal purposes. In Venezuela they still eat tarantulas. <laughing> Why not eat insects? People eat way weirder things like chicken eggs, and lobster tails.

Wf-siggie: I have only heard of people cooking insects. never eating them live . that's why I asked.

David Gordon: I don't believe in eating uncooked insects, usually.

Bean: David, I once saw a show where they showed a village in Mexico where they took tortillas and brought them out to catch beetles crawling on the bark of trees. Once the beetles get on the tortillas, they are eaten raw. I've always been curious about what kind of beetles they are and what they might taste like.

David Gordon: Yes, it's called a Stinkbug, bean, so technically it's not a beetle at all. It's actually a popular dish in parts of Mexico. There's a Mexican woman who has a book that has a recipe for "stink bug pate." They only come out at night.

Gail39: How do you get over the "creep" factor when eating bugs?

David Gordon: At first I thought this was pretty weird. I kept finding out more and more things about places where they eat bugs and eventually I was curious enough that I had to try it myself. It's pretty much a mind over matter issue. You just have to have a "here is goes" attitude. The first bug I tried was a cricket. There's nothing wrong with eating bugs. In our country, we have a real bias against bugs. Bugs are actually good for you. They are 6 time more protein-rich than lean ground beef. Crickets are loaded with calcium. They are slimming too--only six grams of fat in a cupful of crickets.

ExtraGorgeous: If you saw a roach in your house on the floor. would you pick him up and eat him like an M&M?

David Gordon: Extra, first, I don't ever eat uncooked bugs because they could have parasites that could get passed to people. More importantly, they may also have pesticides in them and then you would be poisoning yourself. So the roaches I eat have been reared in labs and I know they are healthy and pesticide free. You don't want to eat the free ranging ones.

Wf-bantha3: How do you cook them? Do you try for particularly meaty ones?

David Gordon: Crickets can be cooked in lots of different ways. First I freeze them and then defrost them (so I don't have to worry about them hopping out of the pan.) I cook them in a wok with a little oil. It only takes about 1 to 2 minutes on high heat. You can also bake them in an oven and even microwave them. If you microwave crickets, they taste like shrimp chips. There are lots of cricket recipes in my book.

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