If you've ever been curious about eating bugs for nutrition and pleasure, we have the dining event for you. For a mere $55 to 60, you'll be able to wash down the likes of scorpions, crickets and silk worms with wine especially paired to each crunchy course.
Bug eating is often seen as our future, either for sustainability reasons, or in a Snowpiercer-esque dystopia. Aly Moore of Bugible, however, is hoping that this dinner will introduce Angelenos, gently, into the world of fine insect dining. She is teaming up with Michael Consbruck of V Wine Room for the seasonally appropriate event Scary Delicious: Wine + Bug Pairing.
According to event organizers, 80 percent of the world already eats bugs, though Americans have been somewhat slow to adapt. There are places where you can eat bugs in L.A. already, of course: you can order up a plate of chapulines, or sautéed grasshoppers, at Guelaguetza in Koreatown, for instance, and crickets are being farmed in the Valley by those who consider bugs to be a sustainable protein source. After all, they require fewer resources to raise than livestock. Still, a lot of folks still cringe when they think about eating insects.
In a post on Bugible potential courses of the upcoming meal are revealed: a Sauvignon Blanc with dehydrated scorpion, for instance, and an insect-infused chocolate accompanied by a Zinfandel blend. The silk worm pupae was described as tasting like walnuts.
I asked Moore what she might say to the nervous diner who is willing, but skittish, about expanding their palate.
"I love challenging the way people think about food. Sometimes, it's scary to try something new, like insects, so it's important to frame them in a familiar form. If someone is nervous about trying a cricket, I'll remind them that it tastes like a peanut. If they're nervous about a scorpion I'll tell them it tastes like a land lobster," she said.
The dinner will include six boutique wines and the bugs are safe to eat, though those with shellfish allergies should be aware that they may also be allergic insects.
Scary Delicious takes place on Sunday, October 23 at 4 p.m. or Wednesday, October 26 at 8 p.m. at V Wine Room at 903 Westbourne Drive in West Hollywood. Tickets are $55-60, and are available here.
