Saturday, December 8, 2007

Unusual Edibles: Definitely not for the Faint of Heart or Weak of Stomach

So, you're tired of potato chips and popcorn. Your usual snacks foods no longer hold the same excitement they once did, like when your mom let you have your own bowl of popcorn in the living room. Pringles stopped being fun in junior high when you realized how dumb the Pringle duckbill really looks. Well, a new snack is on the market and trust me; you need a stomach of steel and the heart of a lion to eat them. Good news: the new age snack of dried mealworms comes in more than just mealworm flavored. BBQ, cheddar and Mexican spice can throw your taste buds for a loop, if you can actually stomach the idea of putting a worm in your mouth on purpose. Larvets: Original Worm Snax are made by a company in California. On the back of the box it lists the top five reasons to enjoy Larvets. I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t find one reason to enjoy eating worms other than seeing the faces on people during their first worm consumption experience. It is priceless and I do suggest having a camera handy so you can capture the moment.
Those of you that actually do enjoy eating unusual things such as mealworms or think you would, should definitely try Larvets. If you don’t like the contents in the box, the box itself is thoroughly enjoyable. The whole box contains only nine calories, perfect for those of you watching your waistline. I first came upon these little morsels at my boyfriend's parent's home. His youngest brother thought it would be hilarious to chase the girls around the house with these edible worms. When we didn't run screaming at the site of them, he decided to dare us to eat one for a buck. I am not that poor of a student; my price is higher than a dollar to put something in my mouth that happens to be my pet lizard's favorite treat. Instead it turned into home style "Fear Factor."
‘Tastes like chicken’ isn’t comforting to me, when what I’m eating isn’t chicken. At first glance these new snacks look revolting and more of a punishment rather than a tasty treat. Actually every time I look at them, tasty let alone edible hasn’t come to my mind once.
Foreign cultures think that the mealworm is actually a delicacy and you can find these critters in the center of some Chupa suckers that are popular in Latin countries. They are also thrown in stir fry in Indonesia and according to BBC News eating a mealworm is actually good for you and can make you feel better (I think I’ll just stick to my daily vitamin).
So I decided to put my Western thoughts and opinions behind me for however long it would take me to eat one of these cheddar flavored mealworms from California. Trying to summon the courage to eat something that I’ve been taught my whole life not to eat and happens to be a reptile snack, took a couple of days to find. The moment was finally upon me, I had a paper to write and a deadline to meet.
I shook one out of the box. I could’ve sworn that it moved. I could see the little legs and the bits of cheddar flavoring in the nooks and crannies of the worm. I rolled it around in my hand a couple of times and wretched a little. I highly suggest that before eating something like a mealworm or any other repulsive dish, to have your favorite drink close at hand. I popped open a can of Diet Coke. Water isn’t good enough (milk or soda are the best to wash it down with). I closed my eyes and down the hatch the cheddar treat with legs went. I think the worst part, was the fact that it was a worm. Also the artificial cheddar flavoring didn’t help. Otherwise it was like eating popcorn, not as good though and it definitely didn’t taste anything like chicken. It left a horrible taste in my mouth once I’d swallowed it. I really thought I was going to lose everything that I’d eaten in the past week.
In my mind anyone who can eat something of that caliber and actually enjoy it deserves some sort of medal or should be examined by a physician. After the matter I do feel kind of cool, I can tell people, "Oh yeah, I’ve eaten a mealworm." Then they can marvel at how daring and brave I am. I’ll just leave out the fact that it took a couple of days to actually do it. I wish I’d been more courageous and just done it, instead of agonizing over it for several days. I could have spent those days brushing my teeth. Although I don’t think I’ll tell my boyfriend that I ate one because I’m sure he’ll never kiss me again no matter how much mouth wash and toothpaste I’ve used.
In my opinion if you are daring and have a stomach of steal these flavored mealworms may be the new delicacy you’re looking for: they could be a great diet food, or they could take care of your cravings for chips. You might enjoy them, although I don’t think I’ll be eating them ever again, even if someone offered to pay my bills for a month, I’d kindly refuse and eat a chip instead.

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