Ever wondered what grubs taste like? A culinary review.
The Background
They look disgusting. They sound disgusting. They feel disgusting. In much of Southeast Asia, they are considered a delicacy and eaten raw or fried. In the amazon rainforest, they are used as a shaman medicine to treat asthma. We decided to take a leap of faith and try these squirmy palm grubs in the amazon!
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus are an invasive species of beetle that infest 13 species of palms around the world and destroy from the inside out. Indigenous amazonian communities will drill a small hole in a palm tree and then come back in about 3-6 months to farm the palm grubs. During the 3-6 month period, adult beetles will come and lay the larvae in the hole and larvae will begin to feed on the palm. As you can see, palm grubs can grow as big as your thumb.
The Process
After procuring the palm grubs in a local community, we impaled them with wooden skewers and left them to roast near an open fire for about 5 minutes.
Nervous laughter before trying the grubs.
An instant snapshot of our first reactions.
The Taste
One of us almost threw up after eating the grub (can you guess who?), but it really wasn't that bad. When I put the grub in my mouth and bit down on it, I felt some liquid come out and then experienced the flavor. The texture was something like a juicy calamari ring filled with some kind of buttery ricotta filling. It tasted surprisingly sweet and buttery, much like the subtle taste of butter on toast. The flavor was full but not overwhelming. There was a sweet aftertaste that lingered for about a minute after eating, but not one that was in any way disgusting or unpalatable.
All in all, I probably would eat it again! If you get the chance to try it and can overcome the feeling of a grub in your mouth, it actually is pretty tasty.
Like the post man. One word of advice, use 5 tags man. This might have killed it if you did. Still enjoyed the originality though! SteemOn
Thanks for the advice! I will definitely do that next time.
Pass the grub looks tasty :)
I have tried it once and it was not bad at all! It's just not common in western world so we don't know it and asociate it as gross. But in many cultures it's an often-seved snack :D