Food from Animals
Some important edible caterpillar species in Kongo Central, Part 2
In former articles on this website, we already discussed two edible caterpillar species from Kongo Central. One species was ‘Bisu’ Nudaurelia petiveri, which was described here. And the other species was ‘Kaba’ Lobobunaea phaedusa, described at this article there. Additionally,…
Some important edible caterpillar species in Kongo Central, Part 1
In former articles on this website, two edible caterpillar species from Kongo Central were already discussed. One species was ‘Bisu’ Nudaurelia petiveri, which was described here. And the other species was ‘Kaba’ Lobobunaea phaedusa, described at this article there. In…
Utilizing Horseshoe Crabs as a Food Source
Foreword Horseshoe crabs are a not protected species in Thailand and are experiencing a significant decline. Their primary habitats, particularly the mudflats around mangrove forests, where they live and reproduce, are diminishing, and there is a growing demand for edible…
Eating centipedes in Yunnan Province, China
Eating insects and centipedes is a longstanding tradition in Lijiang City, located in Yunnan Province, P.R. China. In addition to centipedes, other insects such as bamboo worms, silkworm pupae, and locusts are also consumed. While they are high in protein…
Semi-Dried Fish in Thailand
In Thailand, both sea and freshwater fish are dried to increase their shelf life for later consumption by humans. Before the advent of refrigeration, the primary method for preventing spoilage was to salt the fish and then leave it in…
Squid bamboo soup from Vietnam
Bamboo is a popular ingredient in traditional Vietnamese cuisine, especially during the year-end meal on the 30th day of the last lunar month of the year. One of the most famous and delicious bamboo soups is the squid bamboo soup…
Weaver ants got interesting traits
Weaver ants of the genus Oecophylla consist of two different species. One species is Oecophylla longinoda, which occurs in equatorial, tropical African regions. The other species is Oecophylla smaragdina, which is distributed in tropical Asia and Australia. Both of them…
Mopane worms – high protein food in Africa
Mopane worms (Instars of Gonimbrasia (Imbrasia) belina) are mainly found on Mopane trees (Colophosperma mopane), but also on Wild Syringa (Burkea africana), on Zebrawood (Microberlinia Brazzavillensis) and others. As however Mopane trees are a highly dominant species in climates and…
Field dressing and cooking a puff adder
Puff adders (Bitis arietans) are widely distributed over whole Sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of dense rainforest areas and Madagascar. A puff adder got a tell-tale flat head with a straight line between the eyes, thick body with chevron markings…
African termite alates for food
In Southern Africa, both Harvester termite alates (Hodotermes spp.) and Mound-building termite alates (Macrotermes spp.) swarm within a certain area usually once a year. These alates are winged termites, which are kept by termite workers within certain chambers in the…
Beekeeping in Congo, Central province
Beekeeping is only done since the 1980’s Honey hunting has been a traditional activity in Bas-Congo, as in much of Africa. But beekeeping in Congo has only been practiced in the area since the early 1980’s. The beehive in common…
Skinning and processing of dormice in Slovenia
Before dormice can be skinned, processed and cooked – they have to be caught. That is an art of its own and is described in an article you can find under this Link here. Skinning and processing of dormice is…
Green caterpillars, called ‘Kaba’ in D.R. Congo
The name Kaba is used for several large green caterpillars. Lobobunaea phaedusa can be up to 10 cm long and is usually found singly between October and May. When disturbed the caterpillar contracts in defence. They are sometimes very difficult…
Edible caterpillars Nudaurelia petiveri
This species is widespread throughout west, central, and southeastern Africa. It appears in Kongo Central in December and January. Up to 200 eggs are laid in clusters on the undersides of young leaves. They hatch after about two weeks. Larvae…
Collection of edible caterpillars in D.R. Congo
Children are the main caterpillar collectors, though most people, while walking in the bush, keep a constant watch for them. Frequently people will bring back young caterpillars and place them on trees near their homes where they can keep an…
Edible Caterpillars for food in Congo
Rural families in Kongo Central find it very difficult to get sufficient protein to eat. Hunting has cleared out most of the larger animals and even many of the smaller animals, such as the cane rat, are now difficult to…
Edible caterpillars in D.R. Congo – an introduction
My first experience with edible caterpillars took place in 1985 when my wife and I lived at Kavwaya near Kisantu in what was then the Bas-Congo province of D.R. Congo. On one occasion I was shown how to hunt for…
Pla Ra – Thailand’s fermented fish condiment
Pla Ra (Thai: ปลาร้า, pronounced [plāː ráː]), is fermented fish. It is the traditional way, Thais in central provinces and in the North-East (Isan province) are eating fish and rice. In these rather poor provinces, there is only one rice…
Drying meat in Shanghai at wintertime
It is an at least 2000-year-old tradition in many provinces in China to cure and preserve meat in wintertime. Pigs were slaughtered after the ‘Light Snowfall’-date (around Nov 22nd/23rd), when the temperatures were plummeting, and this meat had to be…
Taste of Gaur meat at Kaeng Krachan rainforest
We were on a weeklong trail through the Kaeng Krachan rainforest, near Hua Hin in Thailand, when we tasted Gaur meat. Together with two National Park (NP) rangers, we came across a freshly died Gaur heifer. This Gaur (Bos gaurus)…
Spit roasted mid-sized fish in Thailand
Fish longer than about 20 cm and not having a snake-like shape, are typically spit roasted in Thailand. As seen in the photos below, these are mainly Pla Dabian (Barbonymus gonionotus), Pla Chon (Channa striata) and Pla Sawai (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus)…
Grill spit for small fish
Grill spit for small fish outdoor cooking on a spit Smaller fish of up to about 20 cm length are typically put on to a grill spit, which is just a split stick. Often in Thailand this will be Pla…
Freshwater snails for food
In Thailand, there are two types of freshwater snails that are commonly consumed. The first group is comprised of the larger Apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata), while the other group is simply referred to as Freshwater snails (Sinotaia sp. & Filopaludina…
Jellyfish for food and its preparation
Edible jellyfish (Aurelia sp.) is called ‘Maeng krapun jarn’ (Gulf of Siam) or ‘Lodchong’ (Andaman sea) in Thailand. Normally there is a period of about three months a year, were these jellyfish for food preferable appear. During this Jellyfish-run, sea…
Ricefield shrimps for food
Freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium lanchesteri), also called ‘Ricefield shrimps’ or ‘Goong foi’ in Thai language, are living in every permanent water body in Thailand in big numbers. They are the main food source for a variety of fish and other predators,…
Mudskippers for food
In Thailand live a variety of mudskipper species, notably Giant mudskippers (Periophthalmodon schlosseri), Blue-spotted mudskippers (Boleophthalmus boddarti), and others. All of them are amphibious fish, which live on muddy estuary- and tidal brackish river zones all around Asia-Pacific. They live…
Spotting a magnificent sand monitor (Goanna)
Description of Goannas The Australian sand monitor (Varanus gouldii) is also called Gould’s monitor or colloquially ‘Goanna’. There are two different subspecies: Varanus gouldii gouldii and Varanus gouldii flavirufus (which is a smaller sized subspecies). V. gouldii gouldii is distributed…
Eating a sand monitor lizard (Goanna)
In the former blog I described seeing a majestic sand monitor lizard very close by on my drive from Menzies to Sandstone on a side road. Driving further on I was surprised to see many more Goannas left and right…