Crickets, Bizarre Food or Garden Pest?

I am incredibly fascinated by the aspects foreign cultures that we call “weird.” That’s probably why I am addicted to Travel Channel and to TV shows like “Bizarre Foods.” So naturally, last fall when I got the chance to meet the host of “Bizarre Foods,” Andrew Zimmern, I couldn’t say no to the pack of Crick-ettes he handed me. Crick-ettes are a consumer friendly line of flavored cricket snacks. They come in sour cream and onion, bacon and cheese, and salt n’ vinegar flavors. I was offered the wonderful sour cream and onion variety. This was my first time eating a bug and I’ve got to say, it wasn’t too bad. However, it also wasn’t too good.

I was on my way to Bend, Oregon to visit my buddy Micah for Thanksgiving. Being the eccentric freak that he is, I knew he would appreciate this experience as much as me. So I saved my crickets for the celebration of my arrival in Bend after a 1700 mile drive from Iowa.

When we first broke the little brownish-green captives out of their consumer friendly packaging and saw them in their natural dead insect state, I began to lose my courage. Bugs lay scattered across the counter like some kind of infestation had been thwarted. Usually this would be grounds for a good full kitchen cleaning, but there I was about to ingest the pests. I reminded myself of the words of Andrew Zimmern, “If it looks good, eat it.” His advice does not apply to this situation. Finally Micah begins to taunt me for being a pussy and I quickly recover from my hesitation (thanks dick).

We grab the crickets by their hind legs and look them straight in the eyes. “Mind over matter,” I repeat over and over in my head. After a quick pose for the camera and a CRUNCH! I have a mouth full of dry bug parts. It’s not really as unpleasant as it sounds. The texture is kind of like a rice cake. The flavor is sour cream and oniony at the beginning with a lingering finish of 8th grade biology class. I popped one more for good measure and tossed the rest.

My overall rating on a scale of yuk to yum is, meh. Not extremely good or bad but defiantly worth the experience. I’m sure this is not the last time I will eat a bug but it’s defiantly a good warm-up for future exploration. I would recommend it to anybody.

To buy Crick-ettes and try them for yourself click here.