Bugs? Yummy!

Sorry for the long gap in posting, I made it to my friend's place in Chiang Mai, and the past few days have been filled with eating, sight seeing, scootering around (yes, I DROVE one!), and catching up with my friends.

The food has been one of the best parts of this trip, I have tried just about anything new or different, just for the sake of trying it. Some of it has been not good, but a lot of it has been wonderful, and I have enjoyed trying it all! The food in this part of the world is a little different then 'western' food (western is what they call any food from North America or Europe). One specific thing that they eat here that is very different is what we could classify as bugs. In the western world bugs are something we try hard to keep out of our food, but here, they are the food! My first run in with eating bugs was in Laos. There was this little old woman on the sidewalk selling something wrapped in banana leaves, and it smelled wonderful. I attempted to asked her what it was, and it was clear that such a discussion was beyond her English ability, and well beyond my Laoscian ability, but she was more then happy to sell me some so I could find out for my self! So I bought some, and I honestly thought it was some sort of fruit, or rice, or possible meat, as these things are commonly wrapped and steamed in banana leaves. Turns out, I was a bit off- it was some sort of larvae. You can judge for yourself in the picture below, but my best guess is that is was wasp or bee larvae, and it was still in the comb. I was rather unsure how to go about eating such a thing, and so I just bit in. I won't lie, it was pretty damn good! I really expected it to be seriously nasty, but it is actually one of the most tasty things I've had on the trip. It's hard to imagine, but once you got it past your lips (and out of sight!), it really tasted, smelled and chewed nothing like what you would expect larvae to be like! From a mouth feel perspective, it really was no grosser then eating green beans. But I do have to admit, that getting it up to your mouth, and getting the visual image of what you just put into you mouth out of your mind, was a little tough! Due to the visual, I only managed to finish about 1/2 of it, but I think if I had it a couple more times, I would really learn to love it! For dinner tonight we went down to the local market (which is nothing like Safeway!), and I picked up some crickets and maggot looking things, both fried. They are both very good as well, nice and crunch with good flavor, they taste nothing like you would expect a bug to. The maggots are not unlike cheeze puffs!

Some folks have commented on the speed of the embedded slide shows (pictures go too fast), and I have looked and looked and can't figure out how to slow them down. So if you click on the little colorful circle in the bottom right corner of the slideshow, it will take you to a new window where you can see the pitures full screen, and control the progression.

More soon!