People who need pupa are the pluckiest people

by Tracy

Or, do I really have to warn queasy people not to read this? Video in post!

Pupa

I bought this can of silkworm pupa at the Winchester Farmer’s Market. Of course, I’m not the first blogger to try silkworm pupa but it’s 2009 there’s not much that hasn’t been eaten and blogged about at this point. I’m not sure that anyone reads the words to my Museum of Snack Food Posts so we’ll get straight to the pictures.

Pupa

The first thing you’ll notice is that it says “Fish Bate”. At first I was worried that this was because it couldn’t be legally imported into the United States as people food and they misspelled bait, but I thought I’d look up the word bate in case there was another meaning as I was only familiar with “bated breath”.

From Wordnet:

bate (soak in a special solution to soften and remove chemicals used in previous treatments) “bate hides and skins”

That’s not much better, is it? And still doesn’t explain the fish part of it. I was conflicted but decided to carry on with the test since I asked my mom about eating pupa and she said she used to eat it as a child in Korea. I asked her how they served it, thinking perhaps it might be more appealing if it was traditionally served on a bibimbap but she said no, they just boiled it in salt water. She also said she liked it then but wouldn’t eat it now. I guess kind of like I used to really love Vienna sausages rolled up in Wonder Bread slathered in mayo but wouldn’t eat it now unless you paid me cash money.

The good news is that there are no artificial ingredients, flavors or colors!

Pupa

$1.49 – a bargain! I don’t know what the rest of that says, but I was really glad when I pasted in this picture that the expiration date hadn’t passed because I didn’t think to check before the taste test.

Pupa

Yeah, I started to lose heart here. It wasn’t just that it looked grody, but the smell! You know how some people (sorry to say, but it’s mostly Americans) smell like that processed square lunch meat ham? Do they still make that? I’m not talking about how the ham smells, but how people who smell like that ham smell, that smell. Not good, not good at all.

Pupa

I put it on some lettuce leaves to look like in the can. Seriously, is it just me or does that look like folded up little pupa arms on the upside down ones? I bet that’s what it is, folded up little arms under some sort of shell. By the way they didn’t feel all mushy and squishy like I feared; they were rather firm.

Pupa

See what I mean? Shudder, ew. Yeah, I know I eat plenty of other things with legs, but these look like arms. BIG DIFFERENCE. It just doesn’t seem decent  to eat something that looks like it has folded up mummy arms.

Pupa

What can I say? It’s silkworm pupa on a spoon.

Pupa

I got this idea from the IHMMB Forums. I didn’t have any parasols, so I just used firework skewer thingies for a fourth of July theme. Sandra Lee ain’t got nothing on me!

Pupa

See kids, see what happens when you don’t use sunscreen and/or sit under a parasol to protect yourself from the sun?!

Pupa

Take me to your leader!

Pupa

By this time I was starting to have fun posing the pupa so I took them back outside to make some tableaux.

Pupa

What? Me stalling? Never! Don’t they look so at home on the ferns?

Pupa

One of the criticisms I got for Chicken in a Can was that I wasn’t creative enough, so I decided to try and make some appetizers. I call this one Beelzebub on a Donkey because I thought chicken livers and water chestnuts wrapped in bacon was called devils on horseback but then I looked it up and remembered that was really called rumaki. Eh, I’m sticking with Beelzebub on a Donkey and when I am old I shall say that as one would say Jumping Jehosophat because I aspire to be known as an old coot.

Pupa

I also made some hush puppies with pupa center and deep fried some plain.

Pupa

The thing is, I’m not very photogenic but luckily my brother was here visiting and so I talked him into being my on camera taste tester.

And I’ll let him tell you himself what they tasted like:

So basically they taste like dirt. I really don’t know, because after we taped this, I tried to try one myself, but I got it into my mouth and bit down just a teensy bit when the smell hit me and I remembered Ron saying that the water they were packed in tasted like hot dog water. Now, I have a serious aversion to boiled hot dogs and the water and yes, the surface of it tasted like that and together with the smell of lunch meat ham people it was too much and I started gagging and spit it out. I always thought it was the texture that made foods grody, but the smell has a lot to do with it, too.

Be sure to check out the rest of the pupa photos on my Flickr stream. If you’re new here, you might also enjoy taking a peek at my Museum of Snack Foods.

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  • http://thezeninyou.com/ Caroline

    I think I just threw up a little in my mouth… That goes beyond gross. Congratulations on opening a big can of worms!

    Caroline´s last blog post..Wow…I said that?

  • http://thezeninyou.com Caroline

    I think I just threw up a little in my mouth… That goes beyond gross. Congratulations on opening a big can of worms!

    Caroline´s last blog post..Wow…I said that?

  • http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/ Kristin T. (@kt_writes)

    I’ve been really busy lately, so I have no choice but to multi-task. Today this involved catching up on blog posts while eating lunch. I opened your post knowing at least partially what to expect. And I wasn’t too worried—I don’t tend to get grossed out by things. But as I scrolled, and the photos became increasingly graphic (and funny, I might add), I found myself fighting the gag reflex. With my innocent hummus on toast! How’s a girl supposed to get more than one thing done at a time, if she’s gagging, I ask you? Geez!

    Kristin T. (@kt_writes)´s last blog post..Jesus scrapes wallpaper, too

  • http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/ Kristin T. (@kt_writes)

    I’ve been really busy lately, so I have no choice but to multi-task. Today this involved catching up on blog posts while eating lunch. I opened your post knowing at least partially what to expect. And I wasn’t too worried—I don’t tend to get grossed out by things. But as I scrolled, and the photos became increasingly graphic (and funny, I might add), I found myself fighting the gag reflex. With my innocent hummus on toast! How’s a girl supposed to get more than one thing done at a time, if she’s gagging, I ask you? Geez!

    Kristin T. (@kt_writes)´s last blog post..Jesus scrapes wallpaper, too

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  • http://kitchen.amoores.com/ JMom

    OMG, I don’t know how you find these things! Good for you for attempting to eat it though. You deserve a medal or something. lol! and I thought anything wrapped in bacon would be edible. :D

  • http://kitchen.amoores.com JMom

    OMG, I don’t know how you find these things! Good for you for attempting to eat it though. You deserve a medal or something. lol! and I thought anything wrapped in bacon would be edible. :D

  • http://bloggingwithoutablog.com/ Barbara Swafford

    Hi Tracy,

    I’m so glad you’re the one doing the taste tasting (and your brother, too), as just looking at these would stop me from even buying them, aAnd your post confirms that, as well.

    I do love your creativeness. That should eliminate any future comments about your lack thereof. :)

    Barbara Swafford´s last blog post..Living Happily Now

  • http://bloggingwithoutablog.com Barbara Swafford

    Hi Tracy,

    I’m so glad you’re the one doing the taste tasting (and your brother, too), as just looking at these would stop me from even buying them, aAnd your post confirms that, as well.

    I do love your creativeness. That should eliminate any future comments about your lack thereof. :)

    Barbara Swafford´s last blog post..Living Happily Now

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  • NordicMamma

    Your brother is a true hero! :)

  • NordicMamma

    Your brother is a true hero! :)

  • http://ihatemymessageboard.com/ Tracy

    Hey BloggerDad, Steve at The Sneeze did a Pupa post and he cut his in half. He is such an inspiration. Check it out here: http://su.pr/2Nx17b

    And I’m sorry I made everyone paranoid that they smell of ham. My readers all smell of green tea and peppermint!

    Sym, I don’t think their figures add up but that’s understandable since it’s labeled fish bate.

    Tracy´s last blog post..Money Money Money, MONEY!

  • http://ihatemymessageboard.com Tracy

    Hey BloggerDad, Steve at The Sneeze did a Pupa post and he cut his in half. He is such an inspiration. Check it out here: http://su.pr/2Nx17b

    And I’m sorry I made everyone paranoid that they smell of ham. My readers all smell of green tea and peppermint!

    Sym, I don’t think their figures add up but that’s understandable since it’s labeled fish bate.

    Tracy´s last blog post..Money Money Money, MONEY!

  • Rena

    This is a true test of family ties! Glad to see Ronnie rose to the challenge with appropriate Irish bravado and aplomb.

  • Rena

    This is a true test of family ties! Glad to see Ronnie rose to the challenge with appropriate Irish bravado and aplomb.

  • d

    ripoff of steve don’t eat it from thesneeze.com

  • d

    ripoff of steve don’t eat it from thesneeze.com

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  • http://www.rachel-and-pias-cottage.blogspot.com/ Lori Bei-Durst

    OK, this was just hilarious…thanks for the laugh! I found you thru grist.org.
    Your brother is a good sport.
    .-= Lori Bei-Durst´s last blog ..HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY ! =-.

  • http://www.rachel-and-pias-cottage.blogspot.com Lori Bei-Durst

    OK, this was just hilarious…thanks for the laugh! I found you thru grist.org.
    Your brother is a good sport.
    .-= Lori Bei-Durst´s last blog ..HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY ! =-.

  • Donsie

    You brother is very game! Also, he’s adorable.

  • Donsie

    You brother is very game! Also, he’s adorable.

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  • GB

    I know this is an old post but I just wanted to comment it.
    I actually think silkworms are good. I was born and raised in Texas but I’m full Korean. I find it a bit disappointing that you were so easy to reject the food before even trying it. Being able to experiment with food is to actually try it without already judging it. That’s how you find out whats good or not. Sure it doesn’t have to be worms but I just hope your posts aren’t about foods of a culture and lead the idea that its gross because people tend to always base their opinions on food from other people without even trying it. I know your blog is based upon your opinions but i just hate when people always talk about how Koreans eat weird food when actually its all normal to me.

  • Akimbojoe

    Oh you suck. What a coward. Having your brother try them is not the same as trying them yourself!

    On that note, kudos to Ron.

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  • Rob_greenvalley

    This is Korean “ahnju” or stuff they would eat while drinking… usually with soju. Which makes sense… soju will clean the flavor of anything out of your mouth… including mud! lol I’ve tried this before with my ex who is Korean.

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