Bug Appetit

Chocolate chip cookies with roasted crickets. MMMM

 With world populations rising and traditional food sources limited, it's just a matter of time before we run out of food. The answer to world starvation may be Entomophagy. That's the practice of eating insects. . . and liking it.

Our Bug Chef Emily in her lab. . . er, kitchen.
Emily is a New Orleans native,  an LSU graduate, her family
is part of a Mardi Gras Krewe… but she doesn't ride floats.

We stumbled into a small kitchen in the rear of the U.S. Customs Building in downtown New Orleans where privately-funded Audubon scientists are busy preparing bugs for public consumption.
The place is named "Bug Appetit" and we were a bit incredulous at first. But then we had a long talk with Emily the Entomologist and we've now got a new attitude about what may be in our future. Emily was serious about the Chocolate Chirp Cookies she was baking and the Six-legged salsa. This was no joke.
"Insect eating is practiced all over the world," we were told.  "In many places, bugs are eaten as a good and readily available source of protein, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins. We don't want to dare you to do something gross, we want you to understand that insects are good for people. And a lot of them taste really good too!"
This was a lot to swallow.
Charts on the wall showed the benefits of crickets, meal worms, beetles, grasshoppers, ants, caterpillars and weevils. Here's some tips for gathering lunch: go for green and brown bugs, avoid bugs with warning colors like red, orange, and yellow. Catch them away from urban areas where they may have been poisoned. Stick with the abundant breeds.

Our official bug taster. 

Got it?
Wax worms are easiest when poached or boiled. Lower temperatures (275-300) are best for meal worms. For the weight conscious, one cup of crickets contains 250 calories and 6 grams of fat. And did you know that when young Louis Armstrong had a sore throat, he drank a brew made from boiled cockroaches?
Emily's batch of Chocolate Chirp Cookies with the roasted house crickets had just come out of the oven. Everything was quite sanitary, Emily wears gloves when preparing bugs.
Stan said no way to the tray of treats, but Kathleen dug in and bravely took a cookie, and it wasn't just to show off. She is the risk taker -- going on roller coasters while Stan holds her purse, making toasts, or betting the grocery money on an inside straight -- so this would be true to form.
The insect cookies tasted just fine, she reported, the cookie was chewy and the crickets nice and crunchy!
Is there a new waffle topping in the works?

When we saw this sign in the hall, we thought it was just a Food Court. In we went. Surprise.