Natural world

Kitchen

Almost anything is food for an arthropod. These adaptable creatures find nourishment in a huge variety of substances including textiles, dung and wood. Given a chance they also hungrily tuck into all kinds of food that we had planned for ourselves. Many feed on their own relatives, or drink blood from humans or other animals.

Some humans turn the table and eat insects themselves. We all unintentionally swallow at least half a kilogram of insects in our lives. However in many cultures insects are a staple food. Believe it or not, they are good for you, as they are high in protein and low in carbohydrates. Most of them taste like some of the delicious foods we are already used to eating, such as nuts or prawns.

Here are some creepy crawly recipes from around the world. Bon apetit!

Recipes

Warning !

All the recipes given here are based on traditional dishes eaten by people over many generations. There are small risks when eating insects, so it is recommended that:

• Nobody with an allergy to shellfish, chocolate or dust should try these recipes.
• All insects should be prepared exactly as described and thoroughly cooked before being eaten.
• Only the insects mentioned in the recipes should be used, as some other species are not edible. Please take care not to eat or even touch a hairy caterpillar in Britain.

• Scorpion Soup
• Mopane Worm Stew
• Pan-Roasted Grasshoppers
• Honeypot Ants
• Insect Crunch
• Chocolate Chirpie Chip Cookies
• Red Ant Stir Fry
• Dragonfly Stew