Althouse: "A 22-year-old passenger caught carrying 207 pounds of dried caterpillars at London's Gatwick Airport on Saturday..."

March 1, 2013

"A 22-year-old passenger caught carrying 207 pounds of dried caterpillars at London's Gatwick Airport on Saturday..."

"... told customs agents that the insects were meant for personal consumption...."

And: "Caterpillar Stew Found Cooking In Shop In Aubervilliers, France; Police Shut Down Location."

21 comments:

edutcher said...: I know the term, British cuisine, is an oxymoron, but that's going to extremes.; 3/1/13, 4:20 PM
George M. Spencer said...: If this had happened to a tourist from Louisiana in Burkina Faso, the story would have been:

Someone's very hungry for "mud bugs."

A 22-year-old passenger caught carrying 207 pounds of "smoked" crayfish at Ouagadougou Airport on Saturday told customs agents that the tiny eight-legged creatures were meant for personal consumption, the Associated Press reported.

The passenger, who was traveling from New Orleans via Paris, had to give up the of this Southern American treat, the BBC reported.

"You suck they heads," said Paul Thibodeaux of Back Ditch, Louisiana.; 3/1/13, 4:23 PM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Eating caterpillars keeps them from turning into beautiful swans.; 3/1/13, 4:26 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: He shouldn't flout the law like that and go over his 200 LB dried caterpillar limit.

[flaunt the law] About 3,480,000 results (0.13 seconds)

[flout the law] About 1,470,000 results (0.33 seconds)

I'm going with the minority opinion on flout the law because I want that la la la quality of 7 extra pounds of dried caterpillars.

A little blond boy appeared at my parents back patio door. A neighbor. He held his cupped hands forward, "Lookie, I have a callerpitter."; 3/1/13, 4:31 PM
Paco Wové said...: Without reading the story, I assumed they were talking about these guys, but I don't think they're found as far north as Burkina Faso.

I guess the Brits are a bit touchy about non-mainstream foods these days, what with all the horsemeat popping up everywhere.; 3/1/13, 4:41 PM
Cedarford said...: Ahhhh, the blessings of immigrant diversity!!

What was that old motto of the builders of the Tower of Babel, again??

Something like:
Diversity is our greatest strength!???

Of course, diversity is vital for our ability to compete in the global marketplace.
Look at how badly mono-race or monoethnic nations like Japan, China, S Korea, and until the Muslims came ...Germany and Scandanavia fared!!; 3/1/13, 5:04 PM
Cedarford said...: Ahhhh, the blessings of immigrant diversity!!

What was that old motto of the builders of the Tower of Babel, again??

Something like:
Diversity is our greatest strength!???

Of course, diversity is vital for our ability to compete in the global marketplace.
Look at how badly mono-race or monoethnic nations like Japan, China, S Korea, and until the Muslims came ...Germany and Scandanavia fared!!; 3/1/13, 5:04 PM
The Godfather said...: De gustibus non disputandam est.; 3/1/13, 5:04 PM
David said...: New Film: Snacks on a Plane.; 3/1/13, 5:14 PM
coketown said...: Eww, gross. Caterpillars are considered disgusting and unsavory to the British palate. If he's going to assimilate, he'll need to adopt British culinary standards.

Now eat your horse meat.; 3/1/13, 6:08 PM
Leon said...: I don't know how much 200 pounds looks liked but growing up in Zambia in the 80s in caterpillar season people used to haul this things around by the gunny sack full. If you like them you like them. I always said no thanks till my last year there when I decided to give them a try, wouldn't you know it, there was a shortage and no one could find any for me.; 3/1/13, 6:10 PM
coketown said...: How would you even eat 207 lbs of caterpillars before they went bad?

Or was it £207 of caterpillars? They must be some high quality caterpillars.

I would eat the squishy green ones--the platonic ideal of a caterpillar. But not the fuzzy or spindly kind. That's gross.; 3/1/13, 6:10 PM
Anonymous said...: "Mon Dieu, the escargot taste furry today."

Eating caterpillars does not appeal to me, but I'm not sure why it's considered more disgusting than coffee made from civet poop:

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/05/22/kopi-luwak-the-most.html; 3/1/13, 6:25 PM
Methadras said...: I wonder if he's asian since if he's going to eat them for personal consumption, I would assume he's going for the aphrodisiac effect. Asians believe all kinds of stupid shit, but hey, I'd rather see 200 pounds of caterpillar instead of seeing Rhino's get killed for their horns to get ground into powder so a little yellow man can get his little ching-ching up for about 20 seconds to add to the already 1.25 billion people he belongs to.; 3/1/13, 7:11 PM
Basta! said...: "You suck they heads," said Paul Thibodeaux of Back Ditch, Louisiana.

Uh-oh. I got a Thibodeaux in my ancestry. Just one, I swear!; 3/1/13, 7:42 PM
BaltoHvar said...: "Mr. Zimmern, Mr. Andrew Zimmern please pick up the white courtesy telephone..."; 3/1/13, 7:45 PM
BaltoHvar said...: Not quite my cut of steak, but when I DO see people I am DIRECTLY related to PLOT ways to abscond with cooked innards of dead fowl near the end of November, I think to myself "who are these people??!!"; 3/1/13, 7:48 PM
Leon said...: @cooktown they are dried
@Methadras nope just food...he was probably stocking up or going to sell them to friends...a not locally available food; 3/1/13, 9:16 PM
coketown said...: @cooktown they are dried

That's important. 207 pounds of dried caterpillars weighs more than 207 pounds of live ones, right? And the absurdity of the story pivots on the weight of the young bands cargo. Right?

In a sense it's none of my business. But someone needed to defend poor cooktown.; 3/1/13, 11:12 PM
Clyde said...: Societies that can't afford meat eat insects for protein. I am delighted to live in a country where I can eat beef, pork and chicken on a frequent basis, and where insects are most definitely not on the menu. Hopefully our president's economic policies won't reduce us to a nation of bug-noshers.; 3/2/13, 3:59 AM
Paco Wové said...: "That's important. 207 pounds of dried caterpillars weighs more than 207 pounds of live ones, right?"

But less than 207 pounds of feathers...

I think Lem's point was that dried caterpillars keep indefinitely, like natures' Cheetos.; 3/2/13, 7:08 AM