What The Fuck Am I Doing? :: 27/02/10 ~02:30 :: Comments: 4
category: random
Since the majority of people who read this (all 4 or 5 of you) are people who know me, I'm sure you're aware that I'm adventurous when it comes to food. I'm more than happy to try anything once, and I tend to like most things. Aside from olives. Good god those are vile.
Anyway. A fair while ago now, I placed an order with Edible for some bits and pieces. I ordered chocolate covered ants and a chocolate covered scorpion, which I ate quite a while ago; they were good, but the chocolate was pretty thick so it was hard to taste a lot else. The ants were very salty though. Anyway, one of the other things I ordered was a tub of giant toasted ants. This tub has been sitting on my desk ever since, because I was quite frankly scared to open it. Tonight, I thought I'd give them a go!
Unlike what the website shows, it's actually a screw-top tub they come in, not a bag:
I won't apologise for the blurry picture, you should expect it by now. Anyway, allow me to recite the text on the label:
The back of the label reads: Giant toasted ants are one of the largest speciest of ant to be found in the world. They are harvested in Colombia by the Guane Indians, during the short rainy season between March and June. They are then toasted in a mud pot over an open fire. The Guane Indians believe that these ants have youth giving and aphrodisiac properties. Giant toasted ants taste similar to crispt bacon with an added earthy spicy kick.
And, here they are. This photo is fucking awful. Not quality wise, but seriously, when I unscrewed the cap and I saw this, I was genuinely put off.
I can only describe this as a cluster of dead gigantic ants. The chocolate covered ants I ordered off the place were big, but not as big as these scary bastards. And the smell when you open the container is ungodly. It does smell oddly familiar but I can't place it at all. I was absolutely petrified to tip these things into my hand, or even to pick one out of there, I had to use a spoon to pull one out. And I'm really not usually terribly squeamish about this sort of thing (spiders aside), but by god it took me time to work up the will to eat one of these.
There's one sitting next to a 10p coin, so you can get a rough idea of what size these things are. So, I ate that. I do take issue with their taste descriptions; nutty, I can kind of see where they're coming from. Bacon? No, not anywhere near. They have a distinct taste, but it's very difficult to compare it to much. They're certainly not as salty as the chocolate covered ones, even though it's the same insect. Not sure what to make of that, really. They're also quite dry and flaky, it does kind of feel like chewing dry popcorn. And you do need a drink to wash some of the flakiness away. I think what put me off most was the fact that you can entirely recognise these things. I tried to take a lot of photos of the ant on the plate to show the detail, but my photos all suck. But the head is clear, you can see the weird little pincer-things where its mouth are, the tips of its legs and stuff. It's a bit horrific really.
Tasty though!
Lostprophets - A Better Nothing
Comment:
UGH UGH UGH SO VILE.
ugh ugh ugh ugh.
Name:
Greg
Comment:
HOLY SHIT, that is DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!! How in the name of Satan could you
contemplate putting that in your mouth!? I wouldn't be too impressed if I was in
the same room as it!
Name:
Jill
Comment:
ew :(
Name:
Li bee
Comment:
Ew, that's gross. i've seen scorpions on skewers in china but I've never
considered eating it, purely cuz I know I won't enjoy it so why bother.
it's annoying that I have to enter my email to leave a comment btw.