Re: Joy of this, Joy of that

On Fri, 6 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 06/12/2024 09:00, D wrote:

  On Fri, 6 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
 

On Fri, 6 Dec 2024 03:29:11 -0000 (UTC), pH wrote:
 

I haven't checked with my friend Google/et.al. but I seem to recall that
there is a problem that the chitin (sp?) of those insects....the
'shell'...can have some potent allergen reactions for some people.
 I've heard that this can be a problem with 'cricket flour', I believe.

 Probably for some people. Personally I'm a little weird and I eat the
tails on fried shrimp and shrimp cocktails. Maybe I have some sort of
dietary deficiency but I'm fairly sure I could handle cricket flour.
 I don't know if it's still around but Reese was a company that sold cans
of weird stuff including fried grasshoppers, whale, and chocolate covered
bees. The grasshoppers weren't bad.
 Trivia: Many of the Indian tribes ate grasshoppers. They approached it
with great efficiency and set fire to the fields. The fire got rid of the
legs and wings, producing roasted hoppers.

 Interesting! Nothing new under the sun! But somewhere there is a problem or else there would be abundant grasshopper protein companies.
 I mean, there are companies making ridiculously expensive meat substitutes, but they have all neglected the grasshopper route.
 Or maybe it is just culture, and they foresee it as being very difficult to persude the consumer to try it.
 

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Food processing is a different regime from food cultivation
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I think that point about crickets and grass hoppers is, like many many other edible things, they just are not that good.
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Tasteless prawns I would imagine.
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Food really exists in three broad categories...
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Food you really like to eat
Food that is OK if boring.
Food that tastes vile, but will keep you alive, in extremis
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I think insects are probably at the lower end of the second category

I agree. The closest thing I eat on a regular basis is crayfish, and by themselves they taste very little and need spices and condiments.
I think the market segment for cricket-flour would be the lowest end of the market, that need calories and proteins at a low cost. I can imagine, perhaps a few eco-fascists might jump on the cricket-train as well.

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Of what good are dead warriors? … Warriors are those who desire battle more than peace. Those who seek battle despite peace. Those who thump their spears on the ground and talk of honor. Those who leap high the battle dance and dream of glory … The good of dead warriors, Mother, is that they are dead.
Sheri S Tepper: The Awakeners.
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