I ‘love’ it when things especially edible ones have misleading names. It gives you this false hope or should I say understanding of what is to be expected and ever so often you will never quite welcome the surprising truth. Take for example the common term in Chinese Cuisine- “Paddy Chicken” which is really a frog or the British dish “Toad in the Hole” which contains no toad but instead pork in Yorkshire pudding. Quite frankly when indulging in cuisine not native to your own, I would say never to too lazy or polite to ask “what’s in it?” and to take seriously any reply “…like chicken” because I find that how’s the world describes every form of meat they have no words for.
And that’s really what today’s post is about, bizarre food and how even if you are all for sustainable food – they slip in there. Let’s just take a look at bugs. If someone asked me do you eat insects, I’m going to say no I do not, but after doing some research, I can’t be too sure anymore.
1. Organic/natural red tinted food
If it’s red and red because an organic/natural coloring agent was used then chances are you just ate bug. Carmine or carminic acid is made from cochineal ,a scale insect native to tropical and subtropical South America and Mexico. To get the dye, the insects are killed thousands at a time, and then boiled to produce a liquid solution that can be turned to a dye using a variety of treatments.
2. Shellac
If it’s too shinny to be true than chances are you just ate bug again. If a food product like your candies is shinny, then it’s been shellacked! And if you thought shellac was obtained from a tree…well you’re only half right because while it is scrapped off the bark of trees, it’s really a resin secreted by the female lac bug that’s being scrapped and collected to make shellac. Note that raw shellac will contain bark shavings and lac bug parts!
Moral of the post -These days, it’s tough to answer “No, I’ve never eaten bug”
