At 30 baht a can, the new delicacy sold
like hotcakes yesterday, disappearing from
shelves at a technical exhibition

Bankok Post

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), January 15, 2000

Answers

You amaze me Spider!

I'll say one thing: I'd have to be some-kinda-hungry!

-- (Kurt.Borzel@gems8.gov.bc.ca), January 16, 2000.

Yum Yum Gimme Some

Canned bugs fly off the shelves

'I was disgusted first, but they're delicious'

Sirikul Bunnag

Forget about the look, just focus on the taste. Canned insects are now on the recommended menu thanks to the magic of food science and efforts by nutritionists to find new low-cost high-protein sources.

At 30 baht a can, the new delicacy sold like hotcakes yesterday, disappearing from shelves at a technical exhibition held by campuses of the Rajamangala Institute at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, in just hours.

Nipaporn Amussa, a researcher at the Agricultural Research and Training Institute in Sakon Nakhon, which canned the insects, said sales jumped to 70 cans, which was unexpected considering a humble target of 10-20 cans set earlier.

Among the varieties on offer, mole crickets, crickets and patanga (locusts) were the most popular and much sought after as appetisers by beer and wine drinkers.

Just focus on the taste ... Canned insects on sale at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre yesterday. _ APICHART JINAKUL The insects are stir fried with salt, pasteurised and canned-a process that gives them a shelf life of several years.

Mrs Nipaporn said she started canning bugs last year and marketed them through the Rajamangala Institute in Bangkok.

Production capacity is only 20kg per day but Mrs Nipaporn said expansion is possible if households accept the insects as part of their daily diet. She also hopes to sell them overseas.

Defying beliefs that insects should not be on the dining table because they are dirty, poisonous and can cause disease, Mrs Nipaporn said they are rich in protein, which promotes growth, and chitin, which strengthens bones, and are very nutritious.

She guarantees her insects are insecticide-free as they were caught in fertile forests.

Mrs Nipaporn said insects have been a staple food of northeastern people for a long time.

Kamol-lak Lorthong, 43, bought two cans and thought the choice should be widened to include insects harmful to crops, to reduce the use of insecticides.

Supin Duangthipchan, 40, a northeasterner from Nong Bua Lampu, said: "The taste is right, just like one of our dishes back home."She urged the Sakon Nakhon institute to produce more to serve the large northeastern population in the capital.

Boonlert Lertviboon, 50, of Phuket, said he felt disgusted at first, "but after eating them I have to say they are delicious".

-- (RUOK@yesiam.com), January 16, 2000.

"Boonlert Lertviboon, 50, of Phuket, said he felt disgusted at first, 'but after repeating the name of my village several times, I shrugged my shoulders and started eating bugs.'"

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), January 16, 2000.

Kamol-lak Lorthong, 43, bought two cans and thought the choice should be widened to include insects harmful to crops, to reduce the use of insecticides. I like the idea. Mousie

-- Mousie (mousie@mymousehole.com), January 16, 2000.

time to eat that Y2K bug

-- crunchy (almost@like.chicken), January 16, 2000.

Good one Ron!

-- Gia (laureltree7@hotmail.com), January 16, 2000.

As I recall(could easily be wrong - has been late 60s since I was there), the village name is pronounced as:

Poo(as in poo bear) Kay

regardless, you comment WAS funny!!

-- jeanne (jeanne@hurry.now), January 16, 2000.

Ron, I have tears in my eyes. Thank you. :)

-- helen (sstaten@fullnet.net), January 16, 2000.

Baht bugs in a can! What else will they think of? It's a shame they didn't get them on the market in the states last summer. Some of the super-survivalists and "self-styled snake eaters" would probably have bought up several years of production as part of their y2K caches.

Rant by imaginary super-doomer: "See how hard-core I am? I've got canned, fried rice bugs for when the very worst days arrive! And I'll be living high on the hog, eating canned, tempura fried bugs while all you pollies will be having to turn over rocks to find your own bugs to eat raw!"

WW ;)

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), January 16, 2000.

spider, what about canned spider?

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), January 16, 2000.