I am a member of the Explorers Club (www.explorersclub.org) I am proud to be a member as we have an illustrious history. Explorer Club expeditions have taken place on both poles, Mt. Everest, the moon and just recently our Academy Award-winning member Jim Cameron arrived at the deepest part of the ocean.
Every year an annual dinner is held near the club’s headquarters in New York. It has been traditional to serve “exotic” foods at the event. Last year they didn’t because someone did not strip the tarantula legs well and some people got heart palpitations from the digitalis like contained in the hairs. But this year was different.
At the reception we were treated to some real delicacies – cricket atop a stuffed tomato with crab salad, python in a pepper sauce and grubs in a mushroom cap. The cricket was crunchy and the python a little peppery but all very tasty. You can get the Los Angeles Times take on it by reading food writer Rene Lynch’s article; N.Y. chef promotes roaches, other insects as food of the future
This is not just food to test the bravery of us explorers. Instead much of this is to highlight alternatives for sustainable foods. Chef Burt Rurka also served cockroaches which he says are similar to lobster. Sadly I missed those.
I can’t wait to see what they are serving next year!