The Food Fetish - Entomophagy

Entomophagy The eating of insects by humans Terry Traub

*          When the topic of eating insects, dogs, or other animals/animal parts arises, it always tends to coexist with the word "weird" or "gross" or something of that ilk. As a westerner, "exotic", as its archaic definition of foreign implies, simply means outside the boundaries of my homeland.
          Theses countries and cultures don't prepare food for curious tourists to wince at and deem "disgusting". People have been eating these things for centuries. North Americans love their cow-meat. The Chinese love their pig-meat. Certainly, as one population chews up their meat-of-choice, other cultures eschew these as food sources. We all know of lands which revere the cow, and those which want no part of pork. While we gobble down our grub, other cultures eagerly search out grubs to roast on the fire. Such efforts must award some form of delicieux.
          One of the more taboo tastes, that being man's best friend, as far as the Western world is concerned, is often looked upon with great distaste. One should think: Residents of extremely poor countries can often barely afford to feed themselves, let alone a four-footed luxury. Cats and dogs then, while cute and cuddly to the big beef-eaters, may not be anything more than a food source.

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"He was a brave man that first eat an oyster." Jonathan Swift, 1738

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