THE CALL OF THE WILD FOODS
By David Hochman
Published on January 13, 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/13/travel/the-call-of-the-wild-foods.html
Published on January 13, 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/13/travel/the-call-of-the-wild-foods.html
In this article, David Hochman visited the Wild Foods festival on New Zealand's South Island. The Festival, which opened in 1990, featured over 90 food booths, While there, the author ate many unusual foods such as chocolate covered worms, huhu grubs, and earthworm sushi. After the experience, Mr. Hochman stated that it "felt as if we were acting out a scene from the Lord of the Rings."
I was digusted by the variety of insect-based foods at the Wild Foods Festival. Huhu grubs look utterly disgusting, and it is a mystery to me that they are still so popular, and considered delicious, in the modern age. While the author liked the grubs, he admits they do not taste like chicken in the slightest. In fact, his description, that they had a "toasted wasp-larva flavor," convinced me that I never want to go near them. However, I was impressed that he managed to use a Lord of the Rings reference in the article.
Food is central to many cultures in New Zealand, including Maori and Pacific Islander tribes and is a source of pride and pleasure. Many vendors worked for days, even weeks, to gather and prepare the traditional and wild foods being served at the festival. In fact, at the end of the article, the author relates the story of two women from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who were not bothered by the excessive consumption of such a wide variety of animals. One woman commented, "Oh, you know us New Zealanders, you just can't stop us from having a good feed."
I was digusted by the variety of insect-based foods at the Wild Foods Festival. Huhu grubs look utterly disgusting, and it is a mystery to me that they are still so popular, and considered delicious, in the modern age. While the author liked the grubs, he admits they do not taste like chicken in the slightest. In fact, his description, that they had a "toasted wasp-larva flavor," convinced me that I never want to go near them. However, I was impressed that he managed to use a Lord of the Rings reference in the article.
Food is central to many cultures in New Zealand, including Maori and Pacific Islander tribes and is a source of pride and pleasure. Many vendors worked for days, even weeks, to gather and prepare the traditional and wild foods being served at the festival. In fact, at the end of the article, the author relates the story of two women from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who were not bothered by the excessive consumption of such a wide variety of animals. One woman commented, "Oh, you know us New Zealanders, you just can't stop us from having a good feed."