Today in Bug Eating News

Totally random from my post the other day about I was reading a daily email news letter I get and they had this piece on a food truck in San Francisco that was selling insect snacks, the truck is called Don Bugito and the food is being called Prehispanic by chef and owners Monica Martinez and Rosanna Yau.  One thing lead to another and I followed a link for a site called Minilivestock (love the name) and came across this really fascinating video about insect farming and eating in Lao PDR.  When I used to have my import store I spent a fair amount of time in Lao (it's actually not called Laos so no that isn't a typo it's actually called Lao PDR and people from there are called Lao not Laotian) as a source of protein in a country where children's growth is stunted because of malnutrition.

The bar at the end of this video is on the street where I used to stay and I walked by it every day - a friend mentioned to me at that the that this particular bar served insects as bar snacks.   This is something that you see all over Pat Pong and other night life neighborhoods in Bangkok, food carts that sold only different types of insects for snacking (fried grasshopper with your beer sir?)

The only time I have ever knowingly eaten insects was in one of my favorite restaurants in Bangkok called Jim Thompsons Sala Deng Cafe they were promoting a new packaged good: Silk Larvae in traditional Thai spices.  The texture was like a potato what made it gag inducing to me was the added flavor which was very medicinal and unpleasant to my Western taste buds.

This is a great video and if nothing else makes me want to visit Lao again!

For more information on the work of the FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations) check out their site here.