Stuart Altmann on fri 4 jun 99
Nikom Chimnok:
The grubs that you saw being roasted in front of the kiln are the larvae of
insects. Insects and their larvae are eaten by many people all over the
world. (See "Insects as Human Food," by F. S. Bodenheimer, W. Junk, The
Hague, 1951). In Chicago, there's a very good restaurant whose Spanish
name means grasshopper, and that's the feature item on the menu. In
Edmonton, one store stocks chocolate-covered baby bees. In Kenya, the
locals who work in our research camp were delighted when I brought back a
bag of the alates (winged reproductive males) of ants. They sauteed them
in butter.
Roasted or fried, many grubs are delicious and nutritious. Here is a
typical nutrient composition, in terms of 100 g edible portion, of dried
larvae (from Leung, FAO, 1968): calories 420, moisture 9.1%, protein
52.9%, fat 15.4%, carbohydrate 11.2%, fiber 5.4%, minerals 5.7%, calcium
185 mg, phosphorus 617 mg, iron 2.3 mg, retinol 220 microg, beta carotene
50 microg, thiamine .17 mg, riboflavin 1.3 mg, niacin 6 mg.
So, do check the contents of any rotten log in your wood pile. They may be
better in you than in your kiln--and give you the energy to stoke it!
Stuart Altmann
email: salt@princeton.edu office 'phone: 609/258-4520
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