Unlimited Source of Protein

I was crafting a letter on the computer today, picking at the sandwich my husband kindly brought up for me hours earlier. We had been impressed with our first homemade rye bread; the last of which remained on my plate. While technically I could see the bits of crust that remained from the corner of my eye, I mostly just felt for the crunchy bits with my fingers aimlessly, popping each piece in my mouth. They were delicious.

I felt around for the last piece that felt extra crispy, popped this in my mouth and bit down hard.

But....this wasn't crust....or even bread. There was an intense flavour of what I first though was cardamon, then gin, then something extremely sour. We had made Tikki Masala for dinner the night before, and my first thought was that Brandon had mixed the leftovers into the egg and I had picked up a piece of cinnamon stick, but this was just weird. Then I noticed the feeling of something moving against my tongue.

What followed next was a spitting, gagging reflex that only worsened when a thoroughly crunched stink bug landed back on my plate. Stink bugs - which I used to call a beetle, but they are from the order Hemiptera and are known as being a "true version" of a bug - are insects that are invasive in the Pacific Northwest and often find their way into the house for the winter. They are actually quite pretty and surprisingly quick, which was to their advantage during hours of intense entertainment for our cats. Oh how I laughed at the expression on the cats' faces when they bit down. Well, I'm not laughing now.

After rinsing my mouth out with water, coffee, and even mouthwash to no avail, I really had no choice but to sit back and analyze exactly what it was I was tasting (Brandon did nothing but laugh after he came running to check what was going on). Wikipedia tells me that the chemical fluid and odour of a stink bug, emitted through its thorax as a defense mechanism evolved to protect it against birds and lizards (and cats and humans) is pungent and smells like coriander. These fluids are toxic and irritating to the human skin and eyes and may cause stomach upset if ingested. I feel that I'm likely safe from 'death by stink bug' due to my quick reaction, but the left-over taste in my mouth is clearly not coriander, which I love.

This takes me back to an interesting discussion on "bugs" as one of the most prolific protein sources on the planet after the "surf and turf" special was offered to world renown oceanographer and explorer, Sylvia Earle, who sat at my table. Sylvia toyed with our server asking why they weren't featuring the "bug du jour" as an alternative to any type of fish from the sea. She was smiling, but she wasn't joking as there aren't any species that are truly protected from the demand of the growing human population. The poor server tried sheepishly to say that the fish on the menu were sustainable, but he had no idea who he was up against. He received an important lesson that included there being 1 Gigatons of insect carbon biomass compared to 0.06 Gigatons of human carbon biomass on Earth, and if chefs could use their imaginations to dish up bugs rather than fish, we would be gaining far more in the fight for sustainability than if we just keep fishing.

Long story short, I agree with Sylvia 100%. However, of all the bugs available for potential consumption on this planet, I'm not sure stink bugs will be on the top of my list. I'm not even sure ketchup would help.

Image provided by Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pentatomidae_-_Halyomorpha_halys-001.JPG