Morning:
20°c
Secret deal hatched by News of the World to hush up details of phone-tapping was sealed in a tiny room at the Royal Courts of Justice
More...
I'm eating bugs in Selfridges, get me out of here
Sri Carmichael05.12.08
Edible tarantulas are on sale in Selfridges where customers are being offered the chance to put themselves through their own DIY bushtucker trial like those in ITV's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! The spider, a non-poisonous haplopelma species, tastes like "a slightly earthy pork scratching" and "a bit like biltong", according to customers brave enough to try it.
Oven-baked, not fried, and packed full of protein, it is apparently extremely healthy. Student Ailsa Duncan, 21, from Bermondsey, said: "It's not as bad as it looks, once you get past the thought of it and the funny texture."
But a group of sixth-form students were not impressed.
Alisha Cranstoun, 16, from Northamptom, said: "I screamed when I even touched it. Urgh! There's no way I'd eat that. If someone gave that to me for Christmas I'd run out of the room."
Diners are instructed to pull the fangs out of the head before eating because they are "a little hard". The £15.99 tarantulas are from Cambodia, where they are a delicacy and were eaten to stave off hunger during the Khmer Rouge regime.
Other bugs for sale at Selfridges include chocolate covered giant ants, Thai green curry crickets and worm crisps.
Reader views (6)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
I already tried insects from edible before. Everything from a cooked scorpion to giant chocolate covered ants. Once you realise its food you get past the "Bahh, disgusting !" stage easily. I would love to try the oven baked tarantula and might consider ordering it online.
- Christian Radeloff, Berlin, Germany
YOUVE ALL LOST UR FRIGGIN MINDS
- Clara Carter, NOTTINGHAM
hey thats me on the left
i was eating a wiggity grub when this photo was being taken
they are the worst things ive ever tried in my life, it makes your mouth all dry.
x
- Alisha Cranstoun, Northampton
That's what I call "surviving food". If're starving to death, you'll have to eat anything. Even those disgusting (ugh...)worms or whatever. And you'll never forget it. They call this "trauma"!
- Eduardo Klein, Sao Paulo - Brazil
I'm not sure I would be able to do that...
- Frankie, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sounds delicious.
Monty Python - crunchy frog.
- Richard, Tottenham, Ontario
