Eating Insects

Main Dishes

Grilled Tarantula………… 1 USD

BBQ Black Scorpion……1 USD

Black Aquatic Cockroach…1 USD

Thursday, November 24th, Cambodia. Today, I am both proud and disgusted with myself. I feel both brave and stupid. I do not know what to think of myself eating bugs. Not even normal bugs… poisonous and dangerous insects that sting, and have hairy legs, and are hated all around the world… yep I actually ate 3 of the most horrific insects I know of: Tarantula, Scorpion and a full cockroach. In this blog I will review the taste of every insect I tried and explain why on earth I tried such a crazy, yet very popular snack in Cambodia. 

We are staying in this very nice hotel called Heritage Suites, in which we hired a guide to explain to us all about Cambodian history and its temples for 3 days. His name is Chan (It was either Chat, Chan, Chal or Cham) it was a great experience and we learnt lots and lots about Cambodian history, architecture and culture. I once remember asking Chat what was his favourite national dish, he said something about coconut oil and some herbs but I didn't really understand. Then I asked him wether they ate weird stuff in Cambodia,  and he told me about monkey eating. (They spoon their brains our while they are still alive). So I asked for something more human. He told me that they really liked eating bugs like a snack. At first I thought of ants, so he took one red ant from a nearby ant nest in a tree and ate it, to make the story short, my brother and I also tried them, they are a bit sour and full of proteins. I asked what other insects they liked and the answer was: Tarantulas, Scorpions and cockroaches. Hahaha so funny right? Well he wasn't joking. 

I honestly have no clue how I ended up eating those miniature -well…. also big- monsters, since I’ve never been a big fan of insects, I never even thought about TOUCHING them and didn't even DREAM about actually eating them. Anyways, I asked Chan if he could take me to eat some insects, he didn't sound shocked at all, I imagine it was like asking him if he would like to get some french fries, he said that in the last tour day he would take us to the street where they sell and eat those insects. 

The day came and we stopped the car and went walking straight to the selling stands. When we got there, this was the first thing we saw: 

I almost told my mom I didn't want to do it, but I said to my self: Man up, Man up, be strong that you can do it. So my first snack was the Grilled Tarantula. Inside slimy and crunchy outside. The hairy back legs weren’t too bad at all. I only tried a couple of legs and it was pretty good. It tasted as a fried potatoish flavour, but then Chal took the rest of it and just ate it immediately. I had never admired Cham so much, he actually ate the butt or how ever you call the end of a spider. After that, I tried the cockroach, I really wanted to try that one to make my mother proud and bring honor to my family… Just kidding I only wanted to disgust my lovely mother. I took it between my teeth and ate it full body, head and everything! It was glory. It tasted so freaking good. It was extremely unexpected, but it was very delicious. For the last snack, I ate a scorpion. I tried the tongsand it was very hard and rocky. There wasn't much taste, so I spit it out and enjoyed the cockroach flavour in my mouth (how could I try it) 

As a conclusion I would like to say that I feel very lucky to have tried some insects and that some things in life seem inconvenient or even bad and they might turn out being good. Sometimes you need to take risks, and there will be tough times but others will be good. I’m really glad I tried them and I look forward to eating the next cockroach I find under my house’s couch. (Just Kidding) 

Bon Appetit,

Juan Martin