11 Of The Most Delicious Ways To Eat Bugs Around The World

Atlanta's NBA team, the Hawks, have made a head-turning addition to their concession stands this season. Along with the standard gameday foods, one stand will now be offering cricket tacos. The crickets are supplied by Texas company Aketta, who provide flavors such as Texas BBQ and Sweet-n-Spicy Cajun. The tacos are three for $12, and include sliced avocado, onion, queso fresco, cilantro, and Cajun-spiced crickets. The Hawks hope to be the first sports team to serve crickets at their games, though the Mariners are already serving toasted grasshoppers. 

New Orleans boasts the largest free-standing insectarium in the country, so it isn't surprising that they've come up with some pretty innovative ideas to get guests even closer to the bugs. At their Bug Appetit cafe, insects are baked into cookies (chocolate "chirp," with crickets), folded into fudge, and placed on skewers to be dipped into a chocolate fountain. The cafe is a huge hit with kids, since it turns once-icky bugs into sweet treats. 

The culinary industry has seen its fair share of trendy new ways of replacing traditional ingredients. The latest craze is cricket flour. The flour consists of crickets that have been dried and sent through two rounds of grinding: after the first coarse grind, legs, wings, and other bits are sifted out. If you don't want to grind your own, of course, cricket flour is available online as well.

The resulting powder can be used to make all kinds of baked goods like cake and muffins. The flavor supposedly varies depending on the diet and type of the crickets used, with different producers favoring different species. For people who have dietary restrictions (like gluten), cricket flour can serve as a protein-packed alternative.

In Mexico, ant are delicately collected and turned into a delicacy known as "ant caviar." The large, white eggs are cleaned and added to a frying pan with onions, garlic, peppers, and some herbs to gently cook. The mixture is served with lemon, guacamole, and warm tortillas to create a truly Mexican dish. The flavor is described as delicious and fresh, and similar to a "fresh vegetable." 

Walk through the night markets in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and you'll see vendors with carts of fried tarantulas and scorpions on sticks, frogs, and piles of crickets. You'll also see a sign that says photos of the cart cost up to $1, since many curious tourists would rather gawk than buy anything.

Many visitors know that bugs are a traditional food in Cambodia, but are scared to try them. Thankfully, Bugs Cafe (just down the street from the markets) has solved that problem- the little Western-style restaurant offers a menu of tapas that feature local creepy crawlers, presented in a way that appeals to tourists.

There are spring rolls with red ants inside, a "Bug Mac" burger, even sweet potato soup with honey bee larvae. Their unique twists on traditional Cambodian snacks really give tourists a "local" experience, and one that is less intimidating than a fried bug on the side of the road. 

There is plenty of fabulous street food in Vietnam, but one dish that tourists might get hung up on is the coconut worm. Served in a bowl of fish sauce and chilies, the worms are very much alive. They squirm and wiggle around the bowl, and are large enough to be easily off-putting. However, once you manage to get one in your mouth (avoiding the worm's head since they can bite you), the little guys are apparently really tasty. 

Tasting notes from brave Vietnam explorer The Food Ranger: "Extremely spicy and salty and it pops in your mouth like a balloon. Slight earthy river flavor."