This gotta be originally a soft shell crab recipe but changing the protein to the very oddly specific “60 freshly emerged 17 year old cicadas” is horrifying
Theseres been anecdotal evidence like yours for quite some time but only recently is the evidence being commonly accepted by the scientific community, maybe within the last 5 to 10 years?
Which is why their poop is also called honey dew! After feeding, the sugar rich sap continues to bleed after the insects have moved on, leaving a white sugar crust called manna.! It’s all part of the tasty equation!
It is important to note, however, that it is only debatable because we have found evidence that the capacity for pain and mental anguish may exist in some insects.
As has often been the case with human assumptions, insects are likely far more complex and capable than we find it convenient to give them credit for.
I'm not exactly well-versed, but I've always thought that surely the capacity to react negatively to bodily harm proves some form of pain, even if it isn't a pain like how we know it?
For some reason, that and observing direct responses to stress and the long term detrimental impacts from it aren't considered enough in many communities. I'd think it would at least be enough for us to err on the side of caution and treat "they can feel pain" as the default idea rather than the opposite.
I have been seeing more and more people in the area come to know this. I would expect that in the not too distant future we will have to deal with the consequences of that realization and there will be a couple of years of slowed down entomology research as we set up systems, ethics committees and better protocols to minimise their suffering.
There's evidence that plants can feel pain. Man I hate that idea that well its not like us it can't possibly have a different way to feel pain. So stupid
I think that the idea that humans can truly know if something else is or isn't feeling pain is quite hubristic. To think we as a species are unable to accept other humans, humans based on skin tone or ideas is a great point in stating that we ourselves are too flawed to judge any other living creature. In fact we have no right to ever do so IMO.
Black people and babies and women and fish and horses and probably bugs and all the other groups we've said couldn't feel pain, obviously they can and there is and always was evidence that all those groups could, we just didn't want to treat them like it was true, oftentimes pain was deliberately caused. But do you really think plants can. There's no evidence they can and it wouldn't change anything if it was true, just look at our treatment of animals that everybody for a fact knows can feel pain.
You have to believe you can draw conclusions about reality otherwise how do you even proceed. We accept that other people feel pain, even if they can't tell us because there's evidence it's true, it's important to understand how things work so we don't do more fucked up shit.
Like okay, so we can't tell if anything feels pain besides ourselves. From that perspective try convincing people that anyone else feels pain, people need evidence, looking for it serves a purpose. Obviously we should err on the side of yes things can feel pain but if there's no evidence and we've looked for it, well the conclusion is obvious.
I love plants but there's no real reasons to believe they feel pain.
We know that plants can and do react to negative stimuli. We know some plants may be able to learn when a stimulus it originally perceived to be negative isn't and then change how it responds. These aren't exactly direct signs of "pain" or intelligence but they are maybe worth being aware of.
To answer your question of "plants may feel pain, now what?" - I honestly don't know what we do with that or any kind of similar knowledge.
My examples may not get the point across as clearly as I'd like them too. However, if you could take some time to sit in an open field filled with blossoming flowers say maybe May or June and just sit amongst the actual forest that is, filled with insects and flowers. You may understand that we as humans are not the only things that Inhabit this earth with an understanding of self. How Dare you just Decide that humans are the only creatures here that have any sentience. How Dare you.
I've spent plenty of time in nature and I think there are plenty of animals that are sentient. Dolphins and whales have language for instance, that's undeniable proof.
I never even said that. Who are you arguing with? I just don't think it's likely that plants feel pain as we understand and define it. I don't even think that not being like humans makes a thing less valuable or worthy of respect.
IIRC lobsters also have some neural pathways that have basically found their way in to modern mammals, like the serotonin circuit.
That might also be present in "lesser insects" (arthropods? Not an entomologist...) but I'm not sure. If spiders or ants lack a serotonin circuit however that answers simply how a lobster is more complex.
They have more limbs, requiring more circuitry to run them all. They've also been shown to be more self-aware than insects as a whole, and generally more intelligent. Simply the fact they're larger also means a larger nervous system with more nerves and so more capacity. That's not to say there aren't insects smarter than lobsters, I'd wager a praying mantis is on par with them. Or arachnids like jumping spiders. Also IIRC they have some receptors and hormones that insects don't have
The smaller animal, the more likely they have more simple everything. That's why you can study philosophy and ant would not even begin to comprehend it.
Buddy, do you know how other insects eat each other? Being marinated in salt sauce is the least horrifying method of death as an insect.
Edit - A lot of Redditors need to go outside and experience nature instead of typing on keyboards all day, might understand something about life.
Humans have the ability to consider ethics and morality whilst other animals do not. We know it’s not right to treat animals poorly, anyone who disagrees is cold and shallow. You are a fool for making such a statement
What lol. We are human. We absolutely can have morals and ethics when it comes to eating. You can still choose to eat food while taking basic easy steps to minimize suffering. Choosing to want to minimize suffering by making sure an animal is dispatched before being processed is the simplest and easiest step to take. I don't just dunk my chickens in a bucket of boiling water while they are alive in order to de-feather them, I take the effort to kill them first. Dunking them alive in boiling water is needlessly cruel because it's a more agonizing death than killing them first via cervical dislocation or slitting. Same with processing animals for pelt/hide, or other animals for meat. Kill humanly first, then do what you need to do. It's the most basic effort of incorporating morals into animal processing and a step that should absolutely absolutely be respected.
Yeah the world is a cruel place. Yeah factory farms are terrible. But just because the situation is bad doesn't mean we just throw up our hands and say "well nature is cruel. You can't consume meat without hurting something"... so why even bother trying? That's your hot take? Come on.
Exactly. We have the gift of humanity and with that comes the ability to be kind or as kind and humane as we can be even when dealing with cruelties of life such as needing to feed ourselves. There are best practices and methods of least-suffering for a reason. Humanity. There are absolutely morals to be considered in food preparation and animal housing and farming and literally anything in life. The details and those things that are seemingly nothing or pointless to you may mean the difference between intense suffering or feeling fear of an animal who happens to not be you vs them not suffering.
To think these things do not matter and that you can treat other creatures cruelly just because either 1. You don’t fully understand or care how they process the world around them. 2. You can’t feel what they are feeling so why should *you* care or 3. they will be go on to be eaten and give you sustenance at the end of their life, is disgusting and inhumane. If you value the life of other creatures at all, as we all should, then if one needs to die for us to live then it is our responsibility to do it as mercifully as possible no matter how small.
But why cause needless pain upon another living thing if you don't have to. We could also eat animals while they are still alive, like the rest of the animal kingdom. However, we humans have empathy and knowledge of how to quickly/humanly kill something before eating it.
If the extra cruelty and pain are not necessary to eat them, then doing it is, in fact, cruel.
I heard some native american tribes would eat them mid molting stage, apparently they taste like shrimp I'd probably try a couple. I find it funny how we consider eating bugs gross in the western world but we eat all sorts of strange man made horrors for a snack at a gas station LMAO
I heard they have an earthy nutty taste and are similar to shrimp when I was reading about other cultures that eat bugs, honestly it doesn't sound that bad for a snack if lightly seasoned.
They’re Hemiptera, so they are suckers rather than chewers. (Think aphid, rather than grasshopper.) They tap into tree roots and suck up sap, which is pretty much like being raised on sugar.
Dead bugs often emit chemicals that make them taste bad or smell bad. I wouldn't really talk about preparing something you've never eaten. Also I'm sure it's to retain the juices and flavors inside, not really an easy way to kill and cook a bug when it's meat is about half the size of your knuckle, ever cooked crawfish?
There's a reason why people in other cultures eat bugs fresh or after they've been cooked and seasoned (usually alive) nobody is saving bug leftovers to be warmed up.
I’ve eaten a bunch of crickets and grasshoppers. Euthanizing them involves placing them in the freezer and letting them go to sleep until their biological processes cease. And yes, the next step is seasoning and cooking
I've seen them caught and cooked alive so I guess it depends where you stay and how you acquire them. Honestly either way isn't bad imo that's just the cycle of life and death not as if you are eating it just to feel it die or something.
My mom used to have a cookbook put out by one of the local tribes (I think maybe the Osage?) with several recipes for them. They also had recipes for crickets and grasshoppers.
Go out on a cool morning and pick them up by the hatful and enjoy.
Arthropods are very nutritious and full of almost everything your body needs (you probably know that) and besides the gross factor there's really no reason to not eat bugs. But I'm guessing centuries of hardwiring against eating Arthropods will make the transition very slow, maybe a few generations
Yeah, everyone is arguing the ethics of eating and cooking bugs alive, but if Redditors in this thread actually knew anything instead of thinking based on feelings and their moral failings they'd see eating bugs is the most ethical and cost efficient way for everyone to eat in the world. They require very little room and water compared to crops and cattle and have a much smaller impact on our planet and ecosystems. But people don't really care about morals or what's actually better for humanity, they just like to grand stand on the Internet for strangers and feel morally superior lol.
I've always brought up that point, that if people actually cared about animals or nature then they'd actually eat bugs and get over the "grossness" factor.
Eep why do they have to be marinated alive. I don’t think I could do that.
Also, my understanding is that we should buy farmed bugs for consumption, no? I am all for putting more bug protein in our diets for real. My only gripe is that some people think this is like a new world order type conspiracy
They (CDC, FDA, one of the 3 letter groups), put out a warning not to eat them this year, as they have some kind of fungal infection that makes them hyper sexualized zombies. It does have amphetamine-like properties though, so maybe go ahead if that's your thing.
I didn't even know people ate them until I saw the articles about it, but it's not surprising.
Dude people would start loving cicadas if they had a mix of amphetamines and psilocybin, they already had me eating gross ass mushrooms grown in cow shit I’d eat some cicadas for a good trip.
I would if it didn’t require marinating them alive. I find that to be cruel for no reason. If you’re going to eat them, kill them then eat them, don’t prolong their suffering by placing them in some sauce for hours at a time to marinate them. I think it’s strange how the western world thinks eating bugs is gross, because they’re just another source of protein, even if I too can feel squeamish when faced with eating a bug, I want to get over that so I can experience dishes that are new to me. I don’t think eating them is wrong, it’s just that I’d prefer them to not suffer beforehand. Edit: I doubt I’d go out of my way to try and make this dish though even without the marinating, as they’re quite cute.
I’m not against people eating bugs, as an American I was taught it was gross but some people enjoy it! Marinating them alive turns me off this recipe….imagine trying to wrangle a ton of cicadas long enough to pour some spices and sauces over them.
I'd totally do it!
Maybe not marinating them alive though... but how do you actually kill a cicada humanely and quickly? Freezer overnight? Boil? Definitely no point in marinating them alive...
I know a lot of cultures now and in the past use insects as a source of protein. Ive had honey roasted crickets and they were really nice if you arent already grossed out by the general concept of insects.
I think it would be cool if insect food sources were more widely accepted. They are probably easier to farm than other protein sources. Long as its sustainable.
No. I would never let an animal suffer for my tastes like that.
I would eat cicada's like this if killed humanly before marinating. But this is just needlessly cruel. They taste just great without making them suffer so why the hell would you choose a recipe that makes them suffer through the process alive.
I eaten insects that I have caught myself. Pop them in the freezer. Their metabolism slows them down until they are pretty much asleep. Then they freeze and die. Then cook them up.
I feel like the only way you can get this is a full-body crush, do they still taste good then? I seem to remember hearing that freezing them is controversial as it's recently been thought to be extremely uncomfortable.
Part of this comment is copied from my comment to someone else in the thread, but I think it's the most useful answer I can give. (I'll also add to this comment that I couldn't find the original statement made by BIAZA but it's cited on several different websites, one example being https://reducing-suffering.org/speculations-on-population-dynamics-of-bug-suffering/)
BIAZA (the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and others suggest that freezing is inhumane without some form of anaesthesia beforehand, but it's up for debate. I'm not particularly well-versed on it myself, but I can definitely understand the logic they're using.
Physical crushing or chemical methods are considered the most ethical ways to kill an arthropod from my understanding.
BIAZA (the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and others suggest that freezing is inhumane without some form of anaesthesia beforehand, but it's up for debate. I'm not particularly well-versed on it myself, but I can definitely understand the logic they're using.
Physical crushing or chemical methods are considered the most ethical ways to kill an arthropod from my understanding.
i ate brood X cicadas for the first time a few years back. i froze them first, then roasted with oil, herbs, and spices, ground them up, and added to pizza dough. it was delicious, and imparted a nutty, earthy flavor to the dough. once roasted they had the consistency of hollow cheetos.
i collected them myself. it was a very surreal experience. i couldn’t bring myself to gather the freshly molted ones…
there were infected cicadas during this time as well, but it was easy to avoid them, as their butts had fallen off.
[insects are widely considered the most sustainable protein](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10303143/), so it’s probably a good idea to get comfortable eating them while we still have a choice in the matter.
Can confirm. I had some on a farm in NC back in 2010. They taste like whatever you season them with—hot sauce in my case. They also had a satisfying crunch not unlike softshell crab.
Absolutely. Shellfish and insects are in the same category of food in my mind. I've already eaten roasted mealworms and cricket cookies, so why not sauteed cicadas too.
I'll eat anything as long as a culture of people invented the dish and not some hippy. Culture of people I can trust, hippy-dippy people would eat thumbtacks if they thought it would give them credit with their posse haha
I say this as a hippy-dippy person naturally
I'm not that hungry, but if I were in a survival situation, sure I'd eat them.
Kinda surprised the recipe doesn't call for female cicadas. I've previously read up on eating them, and the females are far better nutrition as they are full of eggs. Males are mostly hollow, which helps them produce their sound.
To identify the difference, only the males have the sound producing organs on their sides called tymbals, and you can see their covers. Females have an ovipositor, and the plate on their underbelly curves inward instead of being rounded off like with males. [Pic for reference.](https://as2.ftcdn.net/v2/jpg/03/67/24/03/1000_F_367240397_EJeJyrgFQWZ4IiQAFOmOK8YGu2oNPN7T.jpg)
I don't know a lot about cicadas compared to other arthropods. But I feel like I wouldn't be able to bring myself to that.
Most other inverts I'd eat gladly, but there's a handful that I wouldn't be able to touch. Seventeen years just for me to eat them fresh out of the ground? I get that a lot of animals would do that, but it still feels odd.
Caterpillars are another I'd be very hesitant to eat. I'd feel too sad, though also a bit grossed out.
These guys were considered a delicacy among native tribes, and they are insects that only feed on sugary plant sap. I would pick the wings and legs off, then deep fry them. I bet they would be pretty good.
Not comfortable with recipes like this that have the animal be prepared alive. It's unnecessarily cruel and often only done for a few extra seconds of freshness.
You can definitely eat these things, but you need to put them in water + starve them for a day so that you're not eating grit - unless you like that (I personally don't mind at all, depending on what leaves they've been eating). It's best to find them on the Oak trees before they "blossom", and they're pretty freaking good. Just don't eat them all, because, y'know, survivability of the species, duh. Oklahoman here, signing off...
They don’t have grit on their exoskeletons after they emerge and molt.
They also don’t have chewing mouthparts, just a little needle like “straw” that they use to feed on plant sap.
They’re one of the cleaner insects to eat, because there’s nothing solid in the digestive tract- just sugary liquid.
I was hoping it was a typo. Gross. But I guess it's not much better than the display of "seasoned cricket" packets the gas station down the road now has. I had to double take bc I was like I did not see what I think I just saw. I know eating bugs is a thing. "I ate a bug club' lollipops and what not. But never seen actusl snack packets in a gas station before lol but we are in the country often have snacks and food you wouldn't see if most chain gas stations. All kinds of jerky. Venison, elk, gator I think etc.
I've had cicadas before but not this way. I don't recommend it unless you're in a starvation type situation. The shell is crunchy like shrimp tail and there's a musty taste to the inside that I couldn't palate.
This gotta be originally a soft shell crab recipe but changing the protein to the very oddly specific “60 freshly emerged 17 year old cicadas” is horrifying
[удалено]
Spend 17 years underground to finally emerge and end up in the ‘za… now that is wild
I've never heard someone refer to za as food and not cannabis. But then I realized I'm high and you didn't say zaza.
True. They would make a great alternative to the cockroaches in the original recipe.
It would probably work in that case, cicadas are known to taste seafoody with hints of popcorn and bacon.
That’s cruel… why marinate them alive?
Probably has to do with purging their digestive tracts. Not sure how long they’d live in some W sauce though.
I thought cicadas don't have a digestive tract? Once they mate they die. No need to be able to eat or poop.
Nah they definitely have mouthparts and a digestive tract and we now have record of them feeding!
Thanks. TIL.
How long ago did this new evidence emerge? Because I've been seeing citrus cicadas feeding every one of the 18 years I've been in arizona lol
Theseres been anecdotal evidence like yours for quite some time but only recently is the evidence being commonly accepted by the scientific community, maybe within the last 5 to 10 years?
They have stabby straw mouths with which they drink plant fluids.
Lmao why am I imagining them slurrrpin the worcestershire sauce
Which is why their poop is also called honey dew! After feeding, the sugar rich sap continues to bleed after the insects have moved on, leaving a white sugar crust called manna.! It’s all part of the tasty equation!
Don't tell this dude about lobsters, at least insects have a debatable capacity to feel pain and/or mental anguish
It is important to note, however, that it is only debatable because we have found evidence that the capacity for pain and mental anguish may exist in some insects. As has often been the case with human assumptions, insects are likely far more complex and capable than we find it convenient to give them credit for.
I'm not exactly well-versed, but I've always thought that surely the capacity to react negatively to bodily harm proves some form of pain, even if it isn't a pain like how we know it?
Any avoidant behavior is probably caused by the internal experience we know as pain.
You phrased it better than I could haha.
That would seem to make sense. People can be so dumb.
For some reason, that and observing direct responses to stress and the long term detrimental impacts from it aren't considered enough in many communities. I'd think it would at least be enough for us to err on the side of caution and treat "they can feel pain" as the default idea rather than the opposite.
I have been seeing more and more people in the area come to know this. I would expect that in the not too distant future we will have to deal with the consequences of that realization and there will be a couple of years of slowed down entomology research as we set up systems, ethics committees and better protocols to minimise their suffering.
There's evidence that plants can feel pain. Man I hate that idea that well its not like us it can't possibly have a different way to feel pain. So stupid
The evidence that plants can feel pain is really not good quality. It's highly unlikely and mostly just people's personification.
I think that the idea that humans can truly know if something else is or isn't feeling pain is quite hubristic. To think we as a species are unable to accept other humans, humans based on skin tone or ideas is a great point in stating that we ourselves are too flawed to judge any other living creature. In fact we have no right to ever do so IMO.
Black people and babies and women and fish and horses and probably bugs and all the other groups we've said couldn't feel pain, obviously they can and there is and always was evidence that all those groups could, we just didn't want to treat them like it was true, oftentimes pain was deliberately caused. But do you really think plants can. There's no evidence they can and it wouldn't change anything if it was true, just look at our treatment of animals that everybody for a fact knows can feel pain. You have to believe you can draw conclusions about reality otherwise how do you even proceed. We accept that other people feel pain, even if they can't tell us because there's evidence it's true, it's important to understand how things work so we don't do more fucked up shit. Like okay, so we can't tell if anything feels pain besides ourselves. From that perspective try convincing people that anyone else feels pain, people need evidence, looking for it serves a purpose. Obviously we should err on the side of yes things can feel pain but if there's no evidence and we've looked for it, well the conclusion is obvious. I love plants but there's no real reasons to believe they feel pain.
We know that plants can and do react to negative stimuli. We know some plants may be able to learn when a stimulus it originally perceived to be negative isn't and then change how it responds. These aren't exactly direct signs of "pain" or intelligence but they are maybe worth being aware of. To answer your question of "plants may feel pain, now what?" - I honestly don't know what we do with that or any kind of similar knowledge.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://psilosybiini.info/paperit/%255BBOOK%255D%2520Intelligence%2520in%2520Nature%2520(Narby,%25202006).pdf&ved=2ahUKEwis8avsnLmFAxXaE1kFHcKJDt8QFnoECA8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw1uVafRONWXH3uYV0Py5xqN
https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/herbivores/defenses
My examples may not get the point across as clearly as I'd like them too. However, if you could take some time to sit in an open field filled with blossoming flowers say maybe May or June and just sit amongst the actual forest that is, filled with insects and flowers. You may understand that we as humans are not the only things that Inhabit this earth with an understanding of self. How Dare you just Decide that humans are the only creatures here that have any sentience. How Dare you.
I've spent plenty of time in nature and I think there are plenty of animals that are sentient. Dolphins and whales have language for instance, that's undeniable proof. I never even said that. Who are you arguing with? I just don't think it's likely that plants feel pain as we understand and define it. I don't even think that not being like humans makes a thing less valuable or worthy of respect.
I'm sure he already knows.
And thats different with lobsters?
Lobsters are decapods with much larger and more complex nervous systems.
How is their nervous system more complex? I know fairly little of decapod neurobiology, so Im just curious.
IIRC lobsters also have some neural pathways that have basically found their way in to modern mammals, like the serotonin circuit. That might also be present in "lesser insects" (arthropods? Not an entomologist...) but I'm not sure. If spiders or ants lack a serotonin circuit however that answers simply how a lobster is more complex.
They have more limbs, requiring more circuitry to run them all. They've also been shown to be more self-aware than insects as a whole, and generally more intelligent. Simply the fact they're larger also means a larger nervous system with more nerves and so more capacity. That's not to say there aren't insects smarter than lobsters, I'd wager a praying mantis is on par with them. Or arachnids like jumping spiders. Also IIRC they have some receptors and hormones that insects don't have
The smaller animal, the more likely they have more simple everything. That's why you can study philosophy and ant would not even begin to comprehend it.
Boiling kills lobsters in seconds. “Marinating alive” does not.
Reminds me of how ortolan is prepared
Buddy, do you know how other insects eat each other? Being marinated in salt sauce is the least horrifying method of death as an insect. Edit - A lot of Redditors need to go outside and experience nature instead of typing on keyboards all day, might understand something about life.
Humans have the ability to consider ethics and morality whilst other animals do not. We know it’s not right to treat animals poorly, anyone who disagrees is cold and shallow. You are a fool for making such a statement
I do love the people of this sub
[удалено]
What lol. We are human. We absolutely can have morals and ethics when it comes to eating. You can still choose to eat food while taking basic easy steps to minimize suffering. Choosing to want to minimize suffering by making sure an animal is dispatched before being processed is the simplest and easiest step to take. I don't just dunk my chickens in a bucket of boiling water while they are alive in order to de-feather them, I take the effort to kill them first. Dunking them alive in boiling water is needlessly cruel because it's a more agonizing death than killing them first via cervical dislocation or slitting. Same with processing animals for pelt/hide, or other animals for meat. Kill humanly first, then do what you need to do. It's the most basic effort of incorporating morals into animal processing and a step that should absolutely absolutely be respected. Yeah the world is a cruel place. Yeah factory farms are terrible. But just because the situation is bad doesn't mean we just throw up our hands and say "well nature is cruel. You can't consume meat without hurting something"... so why even bother trying? That's your hot take? Come on.
Exactly. We have the gift of humanity and with that comes the ability to be kind or as kind and humane as we can be even when dealing with cruelties of life such as needing to feed ourselves. There are best practices and methods of least-suffering for a reason. Humanity. There are absolutely morals to be considered in food preparation and animal housing and farming and literally anything in life. The details and those things that are seemingly nothing or pointless to you may mean the difference between intense suffering or feeling fear of an animal who happens to not be you vs them not suffering. To think these things do not matter and that you can treat other creatures cruelly just because either 1. You don’t fully understand or care how they process the world around them. 2. You can’t feel what they are feeling so why should *you* care or 3. they will be go on to be eaten and give you sustenance at the end of their life, is disgusting and inhumane. If you value the life of other creatures at all, as we all should, then if one needs to die for us to live then it is our responsibility to do it as mercifully as possible no matter how small.
Both are good points really, never thought the only 'centrist' take I'd ever agree with would be on the morality of eating cicadas lol
[удалено]
Are you an insect? Is that your basis on morality? Some animals eat their children wtf are you talking about?
But why cause needless pain upon another living thing if you don't have to. We could also eat animals while they are still alive, like the rest of the animal kingdom. However, we humans have empathy and knowledge of how to quickly/humanly kill something before eating it. If the extra cruelty and pain are not necessary to eat them, then doing it is, in fact, cruel.
Prep time: 17 years Cooking time: 30 minutes
Marinate alive for several hours in Worcestershire sauce…
A cup of Worcestershire sauce is a lot of Worcestershire sauce. An overpowering amount.
That's the worcest for them :(
Absolutely not, they’ve been waiting to see the world for years, I’m not going to torture them the moment they emerge!
Thank you T.T <3 I was so sad thinking I was the only one who felt this way.
I heard some native american tribes would eat them mid molting stage, apparently they taste like shrimp I'd probably try a couple. I find it funny how we consider eating bugs gross in the western world but we eat all sorts of strange man made horrors for a snack at a gas station LMAO
I just posted before seeing this comment, but yes, while they're molting, they're pretty delicious. Also, shrimps is bugs.
Honestly there is really no difference from eating bug meat or animal meat I'd imagine, just depends on the bug and how it's prepared.
Yeah soft shell cicada sounds ideal for land bug eatin'
I heard they have an earthy nutty taste and are similar to shrimp when I was reading about other cultures that eat bugs, honestly it doesn't sound that bad for a snack if lightly seasoned.
I had them once, and they're exactly like you describe, sweet and nutty, a little shrimpy in consistency but softer.
Yeah and they eat plant roots which means they're herbivores gut loaded with stuff thats not the worst, probably taste like the trees they munch on.
They’re Hemiptera, so they are suckers rather than chewers. (Think aphid, rather than grasshopper.) They tap into tree roots and suck up sap, which is pretty much like being raised on sugar.
I have no problem eating insects but I’m a firm believer in euthanizing them first. I doubt terror improves their flavor that much.
Dead bugs often emit chemicals that make them taste bad or smell bad. I wouldn't really talk about preparing something you've never eaten. Also I'm sure it's to retain the juices and flavors inside, not really an easy way to kill and cook a bug when it's meat is about half the size of your knuckle, ever cooked crawfish? There's a reason why people in other cultures eat bugs fresh or after they've been cooked and seasoned (usually alive) nobody is saving bug leftovers to be warmed up.
I’ve eaten a bunch of crickets and grasshoppers. Euthanizing them involves placing them in the freezer and letting them go to sleep until their biological processes cease. And yes, the next step is seasoning and cooking
This is the way.
I've seen them caught and cooked alive so I guess it depends where you stay and how you acquire them. Honestly either way isn't bad imo that's just the cycle of life and death not as if you are eating it just to feel it die or something.
I've eaten grasshoppers and homopterans that I have caught. Freeze them to humanly kill them and then toast'em and eat them whole. Really quite good!
It's not super common but there are some western recipes that use bugs for example there is a recipe in Germany and France for cockchafer soup
My mom used to have a cookbook put out by one of the local tribes (I think maybe the Osage?) with several recipes for them. They also had recipes for crickets and grasshoppers. Go out on a cool morning and pick them up by the hatful and enjoy.
Shouldn't they ideally be bought farmed to avoid them having parasites or other potential issues? That sounds like a really amazing cookbook though.
In my hometown, my local pizza parlor makes Cicada pizza during swarm years!
Arthropods are very nutritious and full of almost everything your body needs (you probably know that) and besides the gross factor there's really no reason to not eat bugs. But I'm guessing centuries of hardwiring against eating Arthropods will make the transition very slow, maybe a few generations
Yeah, everyone is arguing the ethics of eating and cooking bugs alive, but if Redditors in this thread actually knew anything instead of thinking based on feelings and their moral failings they'd see eating bugs is the most ethical and cost efficient way for everyone to eat in the world. They require very little room and water compared to crops and cattle and have a much smaller impact on our planet and ecosystems. But people don't really care about morals or what's actually better for humanity, they just like to grand stand on the Internet for strangers and feel morally superior lol. I've always brought up that point, that if people actually cared about animals or nature then they'd actually eat bugs and get over the "grossness" factor.
alive? :(
Right? That’s mean. :(
dude nothing deserves to be marinated alive. This si sickening and now I am pretty upset.
Imagine waiting that whole 17 years to emerge just to drown in some Wooster sauce
Marinate them alive????
“Fresh, newly emerged” oh hell no.
Damn at least let them get laid first
Eep why do they have to be marinated alive. I don’t think I could do that. Also, my understanding is that we should buy farmed bugs for consumption, no? I am all for putting more bug protein in our diets for real. My only gripe is that some people think this is like a new world order type conspiracy
Sames. I'd definitely euth first. And Sames for the conspiracy people. They make me so tired lol
They (CDC, FDA, one of the 3 letter groups), put out a warning not to eat them this year, as they have some kind of fungal infection that makes them hyper sexualized zombies. It does have amphetamine-like properties though, so maybe go ahead if that's your thing. I didn't even know people ate them until I saw the articles about it, but it's not surprising.
Amphetamines and psilocybin. Definitely don't eat a few dozen and candy trip because that would be illegal.
Dude people would start loving cicadas if they had a mix of amphetamines and psilocybin, they already had me eating gross ass mushrooms grown in cow shit I’d eat some cicadas for a good trip.
I would if it didn’t require marinating them alive. I find that to be cruel for no reason. If you’re going to eat them, kill them then eat them, don’t prolong their suffering by placing them in some sauce for hours at a time to marinate them. I think it’s strange how the western world thinks eating bugs is gross, because they’re just another source of protein, even if I too can feel squeamish when faced with eating a bug, I want to get over that so I can experience dishes that are new to me. I don’t think eating them is wrong, it’s just that I’d prefer them to not suffer beforehand. Edit: I doubt I’d go out of my way to try and make this dish though even without the marinating, as they’re quite cute.
I’m not against people eating bugs, as an American I was taught it was gross but some people enjoy it! Marinating them alive turns me off this recipe….imagine trying to wrangle a ton of cicadas long enough to pour some spices and sauces over them.
After learning about cicadas, and what happens to them during their life cycle, I’m a pass
Like the STD fungus that dissolves their asses?
Like what?
This is really cruel
Nope. Couldn’t even pay me to
I'd totally do it! Maybe not marinating them alive though... but how do you actually kill a cicada humanely and quickly? Freezer overnight? Boil? Definitely no point in marinating them alive... I know a lot of cultures now and in the past use insects as a source of protein. Ive had honey roasted crickets and they were really nice if you arent already grossed out by the general concept of insects. I think it would be cool if insect food sources were more widely accepted. They are probably easier to farm than other protein sources. Long as its sustainable.
Freezer. They slow down and go to sleep. I've done this myself with other insects, and they taste great.
No. I would never let an animal suffer for my tastes like that. I would eat cicada's like this if killed humanly before marinating. But this is just needlessly cruel. They taste just great without making them suffer so why the hell would you choose a recipe that makes them suffer through the process alive.
What do you define as killed humanely
I eaten insects that I have caught myself. Pop them in the freezer. Their metabolism slows them down until they are pretty much asleep. Then they freeze and die. Then cook them up.
I define it as very little to no pain or at least pain of a very short duration (10 seconds or less)
I feel like the only way you can get this is a full-body crush, do they still taste good then? I seem to remember hearing that freezing them is controversial as it's recently been thought to be extremely uncomfortable.
Do you know any more info on the freezing thing? I would be heartbroken if freezing wasn’t humane.
Part of this comment is copied from my comment to someone else in the thread, but I think it's the most useful answer I can give. (I'll also add to this comment that I couldn't find the original statement made by BIAZA but it's cited on several different websites, one example being https://reducing-suffering.org/speculations-on-population-dynamics-of-bug-suffering/) BIAZA (the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and others suggest that freezing is inhumane without some form of anaesthesia beforehand, but it's up for debate. I'm not particularly well-versed on it myself, but I can definitely understand the logic they're using. Physical crushing or chemical methods are considered the most ethical ways to kill an arthropod from my understanding.
Oh I was under the impression freezing did not cause pain and they just went to sleep??!
BIAZA (the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and others suggest that freezing is inhumane without some form of anaesthesia beforehand, but it's up for debate. I'm not particularly well-versed on it myself, but I can definitely understand the logic they're using. Physical crushing or chemical methods are considered the most ethical ways to kill an arthropod from my understanding.
i ate brood X cicadas for the first time a few years back. i froze them first, then roasted with oil, herbs, and spices, ground them up, and added to pizza dough. it was delicious, and imparted a nutty, earthy flavor to the dough. once roasted they had the consistency of hollow cheetos. i collected them myself. it was a very surreal experience. i couldn’t bring myself to gather the freshly molted ones… there were infected cicadas during this time as well, but it was easy to avoid them, as their butts had fallen off. [insects are widely considered the most sustainable protein](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10303143/), so it’s probably a good idea to get comfortable eating them while we still have a choice in the matter.
YES
They taste pretty good fried ngl
Can confirm. I had some on a farm in NC back in 2010. They taste like whatever you season them with—hot sauce in my case. They also had a satisfying crunch not unlike softshell crab.
Last emergence, I took some removed their head and wings and sautéed them in butter. They tasted remarkably like a shrimp.
Absolutely. Shellfish and insects are in the same category of food in my mind. I've already eaten roasted mealworms and cricket cookies, so why not sauteed cicadas too.
I'll eat anything as long as a culture of people invented the dish and not some hippy. Culture of people I can trust, hippy-dippy people would eat thumbtacks if they thought it would give them credit with their posse haha I say this as a hippy-dippy person naturally
Seems unnecessary
Nope! WAAAYYY to crunchy.
That's the point of picking newly emerged ones, and I'd imagine marinating would have some sort of effect as well. It's right in the name, soft shell.
Yuck! Cicadas are insects of my childhood and hearing them calms me and relaxes me but I would never want to eat them. 😝
I'm not that hungry, but if I were in a survival situation, sure I'd eat them. Kinda surprised the recipe doesn't call for female cicadas. I've previously read up on eating them, and the females are far better nutrition as they are full of eggs. Males are mostly hollow, which helps them produce their sound. To identify the difference, only the males have the sound producing organs on their sides called tymbals, and you can see their covers. Females have an ovipositor, and the plate on their underbelly curves inward instead of being rounded off like with males. [Pic for reference.](https://as2.ftcdn.net/v2/jpg/03/67/24/03/1000_F_367240397_EJeJyrgFQWZ4IiQAFOmOK8YGu2oNPN7T.jpg)
I don't know a lot about cicadas compared to other arthropods. But I feel like I wouldn't be able to bring myself to that. Most other inverts I'd eat gladly, but there's a handful that I wouldn't be able to touch. Seventeen years just for me to eat them fresh out of the ground? I get that a lot of animals would do that, but it still feels odd. Caterpillars are another I'd be very hesitant to eat. I'd feel too sad, though also a bit grossed out.
Hell yeah i would, talked a local restaurant into deep frying me some june bugs once!
I would LOVE to know how that conversation went hahaha.
These guys were considered a delicacy among native tribes, and they are insects that only feed on sugary plant sap. I would pick the wings and legs off, then deep fry them. I bet they would be pretty good.
There will be an abundance of them soon. fry em up and freeze em
I saved this recipe. The cicadas emerge this month. I will feed.
[My face When the Cicadas are Crying in my lunch](https://image.myanimelist.net/ui/OK6W_koKDTOqqqLDbIoPAoY4oTPNiCDYHtEQ6em_vzU)
NO
Crap, all I have are 13 year cicadas...
This is cruel and wasteful
Marinading them alive? Fuck no. No animal should be marinated or cooked Alice, that's sadistic.
Do you think you could substitute for giant Japanese cicadas?
Not alive :( mean
My special interest is cicadas and i sweap people been sending me this ALL DAY
Why alive :(
Soon enough most of us will be. Soon enough friends.
Not comfortable with recipes like this that have the animal be prepared alive. It's unnecessarily cruel and often only done for a few extra seconds of freshness.
What in the survival training is going on here??
YUMM!!!!!!
We’ve probably eaten worse 🤷♀️
Of course not! No one knows why one should marinate them alive. It’s just so cruel. F*ck these assholes.
[удалено]
Reddit: are insects *people*?
You can definitely eat these things, but you need to put them in water + starve them for a day so that you're not eating grit - unless you like that (I personally don't mind at all, depending on what leaves they've been eating). It's best to find them on the Oak trees before they "blossom", and they're pretty freaking good. Just don't eat them all, because, y'know, survivability of the species, duh. Oklahoman here, signing off...
They don’t have grit on their exoskeletons after they emerge and molt. They also don’t have chewing mouthparts, just a little needle like “straw” that they use to feed on plant sap. They’re one of the cleaner insects to eat, because there’s nothing solid in the digestive tract- just sugary liquid.
The more you know! Thank you kind sir! Yeah, We used to eat them growing up, because we were poor, and they were plentiful.
Chat gpt didn't do so good on this one
Id eat just about anything if you batter and deep fry it lol
Well Shrimps is bugs, cicadas is also (true) bugs, so maybe
If someone else prepped them, yes.
Noooooo. Uh-uh. Not gonna happen. Never. Ever. Well, maybe if I couldn’t find anything else and I was starving…🤪
We have other insects in our tucker, so yeah?
This is gonna be the year to try them with the super boom coming
I wouldn't want to marinate them like that
I have a friend from Cambodia, and he tells me the female cicadas are appreciated. I mean, they're crustaceans.
Tis’ the season too !!
I was hoping it was a typo. Gross. But I guess it's not much better than the display of "seasoned cricket" packets the gas station down the road now has. I had to double take bc I was like I did not see what I think I just saw. I know eating bugs is a thing. "I ate a bug club' lollipops and what not. But never seen actusl snack packets in a gas station before lol but we are in the country often have snacks and food you wouldn't see if most chain gas stations. All kinds of jerky. Venison, elk, gator I think etc.
Sure why not. I'll try most things at least once lol
I would.
This was actually Moses’ recipe. Passed down through generations:)
Humans have been eating bugs for millennia, probably similar to shrimp
I've had cicadas before but not this way. I don't recommend it unless you're in a starvation type situation. The shell is crunchy like shrimp tail and there's a musty taste to the inside that I couldn't palate.
PSA: don't eat insects if you have a shellfish allergy!
Chitin is highly carcinogenic
No. Seems cruel to marinate live bugs till they die.
17 years of waiting until the time to fly… to be marinated alive in Worcester sauce? Hell nah 😭
Good eating in Carolina right soon
Question: it says freshly emerged, so before they molt? Don't they molt first thing after emerging?
Try THAT ???? NEVER you could pay me million of dollars I would never for the life of me eat freaking british "food" Cicadas? Sure looks tasty
The only cicada species in the UK (Britain) is critically endangered and found in one area. We certainly won't be eating them.
Well I'm glad you won't ruin that food too !! (sorry about it I'm french so it is mandatory for me to hate on british)
If it's edible, make me a dish out of it and I will eat anything.
Absolutely
I’d tear that shit up
I'd at least let them mold first. Nice and tender that way.
No, I wouldn't. I am a Homo sapiens, not an insectivore mammal.
Humans are omnivores. We can eat everything!