TASTE 'EM ONCE! MOPANI WORMS!!
65TRY THEM ONCE! MOPANI WORMS!!
Everywhere in the world, there is an interest to taste new dishes and delicacies. Some food stuffs are interesting to taste as well. Crickets, ants, scorpions etc. have been tried by many around the world. If somebody went to Africa, always ask them this question - " Have you tried Mopani worms ?"
African ladies sell them :
Mopani worms - these worms are either cooked or dried. Ladies in Africa sell these worms which look like live Caterpillars or Maggots. If you ask one of them, they'll tell it is not cooked, but just sun dried and eaten. But if someone want to cook, they can do that also.
Source of Protien :
Africans like to eat these worms because they are highly nutritious and are a good source of protien.
Mopane worms are often hand-picked by children and women. When a caterpillar is picked, it is pinched at the tail end to rupture the inwards. The picker then squeezes it like a tube of toothpaste or lengthwise like a concertina, and whips it to expel the slimy, green contents of the gut.
Preservation technique :
The traditional method of preserving these worms is to dry them in the sun or smoke them, giving additional flavour. The industrial method is to can these caterpillars (usually in brine), and tins of mopane worms can be found in rural supermarkets and markets around southern Africa.
Mopani trees :
Mopani worms are harvested from Mopane or Mopani trees. Mopani trees grow in hot, dry, low-lying areas, 200 to 1,150 m, in the far northern parts of southern Africa,into South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Angola and Malawi. Mopani wood, one of South Africa's heaviest timbers, is very tough to work because it is very hard. This automatically makes this tree termite resistant.
Apart from timber, the tree is traditionally used to provide twigs to chew as tooth brushes, bark to make twine and for tanning, and leaves for healing wounds. The tree is a major food source for the mopane worm, the
caterpillar of the moth Imbrasia belina.
Contribution to rural economy :
The sale of these roasted or dried mopane worms can contribute significantly to rural economies.
Anyway, don't forget to try them once if you go to Africa.
African recipe in the News
- A heavenly taste for allNorthern Star12 hours ago
BEV CRETHAR knows how to make a tasty pudding. As factory manager at Father Mac’s Heavenly Puddings she has used a secret 30-year-old traditional recipe to create puddings at the Alstonville factory.
- Salt central to a healthy Mediterranean dietToday's News-Herald1 second ago
(ARA) - In the diet craze that has captured our attention over the last four decades, the one plan that stands out from the rest is the Mediterranean Diet. Since the Mediterranean embraces more than 20 countries, each with its own cuisine, the diet is really a fusion of the many foods consumed by the nations bordering the sea.
- Three cheers for eggnogNorth Island MidWeek5 hours ago
By Angela Shelf Medearis
- Blu-Ray/DVD Holiday Gift Guide- Part 3Teen Hollywood36 hours ago
Okay, it's down-to-the-wire time to snag those gifties for loved ones or that weird uncle! To help you make a choice, we've scoped out the latest Harry Potter Blu-Ray, a couple of cute comedies and a thoughtful yet kick-butt sci-fi thriller...
- Time to face down vested interestsThe Age2 days ago
Debacle in Copenhagen grim testimony to priority governments of industrialised countries give to short-term financial interests of powerful corporations over long-term future of humanity.
- Many cultures combine for North African cuisinePalm Beach Daily News5 days ago
If you were looking for something different in the way of entertaining this holiday season, consider taking your friends and family on a culinary adventure with an exotic North African menu. If you have ever been to the Medinas in the fabled cities of Tunisia's Sidi bou Said or Marrakech in Morocco, you know how opulent the settings are and how refreshingly different the food is. The Medinas ...
- Annual Christmas party kicks off Schwartz & Son’s centennial celebrationMacon Telegraph2 days ago
When Louis Erwin Schwartz arrived in Macon from Hungary, he had little more than a soldering pot.
- PAUL KRUGMAN: PASS THE BILLThe Indiana Gazette2 days ago
A message to progressives: By all means, hang Sen. Joe Lieberman in effigy. Declare that you're disappointed in and/or disgusted with President Barack Obama.
PrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
Interesting. I have witnessed this on some TV shows. I would have no problem as a chicken, but I'm an old rooster, don't do worms as I leave those morsels for the ladies. We roosters have our pride you know?
Ralwus....as you mentioned here, we do have better and more tastier things to eat. So most of us don't like to eat it. But people in some parts of Africa are used to this kind of food.
In my country but different island also have unique food by eating kind of this worm. For me, Thanks I always choose my rice.
prasetio30..Environment and food habits change from place to place. Getting adjusted to it is a great thing. I have got used to the Veg food diet since 10-11 yrs. Eventhough my home members eat fish and egg sitting with me, i never get tempted to eat it. I am a pure vegetarian.
radhikamaji says:
9 months ago
Oh! i can't believe it. These Africans will eat of course anything..god save them. Amazing topic this one.