Bug chef whips up feast at Science City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- David George Gordon started eating bugs eight years ago after writing a book about cockroaches.

On Saturday, he was encouraging crowds at Science City in Union Station to expand their culinary horizons and chomp into an insect or two. His requests brought mixed reactions.

The bug chef dished up the bugs at three shows, egging spectators on as they looked at the bugs, thought about eating the bugs, and either took a bite of the critters or tossed them into the trash.

Eleven-year-old Nick Hill thought hard, then stuffed a 1 1/2-inch batter-fried mealworm into his mouth. Encouraged by the slightly sadistic crowd, other taste testers at the bug buffet downed theirs.

Nick, a freckle-faced Clinton boy, got half of his worm down before jumping off the stage, worm in hand.

"At first it tasted like a French fry," he said. "But it had a seafood aftertaste. ... Maybe I'd eat it again if I had some Tabasco sauce."

He didn't bother to eat the rest, though, and neither did his father.

Volunteers helped Gordon cook up such dishes as "Superworm Tempura," "Orthopteran Orzo" and "Sheesh-kabobs!"

Gordon's book, "The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook," provides 33 recipes, nutritional information and a helpful wine guide for adventurous eaters.

"I started finding recipes for cooking with cockroaches from the 1800s," he said. "Then I started looking around, and once you look around for something, it's everywhere."

He published the book five years ago and now travels the country cooking up his feasts. Saturday's buffet drew throngs of onlookers.

Varies by region

Gordon said squeamishness varies by region. Southern California doesn't have a problem munching on bugs, but people in the Midwest are a bit more conservative, he said.

He whipped up enough orzo with crickets to give everybody at his shows a sample. Jill Raines and Kavion Martin stood near the stage holding souffle cups of pasta and daring each other to gulp them.

"There's a whole antenna," said Raines, 31, of Overland Park. "I need water to wash it down so I don't have an antenna in my teeth."

Kavion, 9, of Kansas City, tasted the tip of a cricket, then both he and Raines tossed the cups into a nearby trash can.

"Our culture is really not used to seeing whole animals," Gordon said. "Even the idea of a whole grasshopper is hard for people to grasp."