Good Drink, Good Grub. Good Gosh Let’s Eat
by thestickman on Dec 03, 2008 with 6 Comments
“Grub” is generally meant as a euphemism for “food.” A “grub” is also a larval stage of many insects and yes, in many cultures insects including grubs are eaten. A ‘survival food’ of last resort in dire emergency events for those that understand the situation and normal fare for other cultures, grubs and other insects are high in nutritious protein. Surprisingly, insects can be rather tasty too.
A Linux GRUB
Well, here “GRUB” stands for “Grand Unified Boot-Loaded”, the program that tells Linux how and what to launch on start-up. The other Linux bootloader is called “LILO” which takes the first two letters of “Linux Loader” and creates the name. I have used both and of the two, I have to say that I personally prefer the “GRUB” bootloader best.
These Are Pretty Good Grubs
Back when I lived in New York in the rural country, I would find these all the time. Any woodsy place with soft, moist arable loamy soil and especially in old woodlots where sawdust and treebark were present is a good place to look. The entire bug is edible, although the thought of maybe being gnawed upon from the inside by one of these is unappealing to me, so removing the head and the legs I found preferable. Maybe even pinching-off the very tip of the abdomen and squeezing out that dark juicy stuff from the inside, and eating just the meat. Raw is actually okay, it has very little flavor and not in the least unappealing. I would imagine though that skewered upon a thin sharp stick and roasted over a small flame or hot ember would be more appealing still. Knowing wild spearmint, wrapping a few of these in a spearmint leaf and slow-roasting the skewered bug would be actually quite pleasant-tasting.
This Looks Appetizing
Roasted grubs, a meal in itself. I wouldn’t mind taste-testing this sometime. Maybe after a few beers…
Some Cultures Eat Bugs
Its all too easy to say and think “…if that’s all you’ve got” or “…desperate measures” etc. to rationalize the eating of insects and such, but in some cultures there is absolutely nothing wrong with eating insects. Prepared in just about any manner, insects including nice plump grubs can be a welcome addition to the local diet. And think about it, we eat honey. This is made in the stomachs of bees and regurgitated into the honeycomb for their use, but stolen by us for our enjoyment.
Yes, -we consume ‘bee vomit’ and think nothing strange of it.
Stumble It!
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Published in: Cooking
C Jordan | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
Good Drink, Good Grub. Good Gosh, Good Article. I’m just trying to picture it: “Yeah, that’s a McGrub and fries to go. Do ya wanna supersize that?”
thestickman | Dec 4, 2008 | Reply
Yes, -my wife cringed when I was telling her about this article. She loathes bugs (the live ones) and with an almost passionate fear. I find them …intriguing. While being far from a Yuel Gibbons (”Stalking the Wild Asparagus” author, nature foods advocate,) walking around in the country I see food, food, FOOD! Stalk of this, root of that, these leaves are edible, those nuts, seeds, berries, etc., -all good. I’d love to be given a bowl, a knife and a tent and do a weekend ’survival training’ thing or ’subsistence maintenance’ at least.
Then, come back and write a best-selling novel of how I survived (and probably gained weight) eating foods I harvested in the wild! 
Here in Toronto there are many Ginko trees (in residential, not in the wild yet) and the pit or nut of the Ginko looks and TASTES like pistachio nuts! They have to be baked and salted of course, but they are a very close simile to pistachios.
Pretty sure at least I would not go hungry. -Did’ja read my article about crayfish? Little mini-lobsters in the creeks and rivers. Weekend in the wild? -The boy would be eatin’ good!
-thestickman
James DeVere | Dec 4, 2008 | Reply
It would have been better focussing on the insects. Starting with the Computer analogy was confusing. Still nice read…keep it going . j
CHAN LEE PENG | Dec 6, 2008 | Reply
Great work!
eddiego65 | Dec 7, 2008 | Reply
Looks appetizing! But I don’t think I’ll try it. Great piece though!
Kanna-Chan | Jul 4, 2009 | Reply
When you think about it,eating beetles and grubs are really no different from eating shrimp,crabs,etc.Shrimp are basically just bugs with gills that live in water.Crustaceons and insects are very closely related.