Edible British Insects and alike

Jamin-84 · #1 (**permalink**) 30-12-2009, 10:20 PM

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Hey Guys and Gals,

I am planning to undertake an epic journey in April 2010. Myself and a friend are going to cycle from lands end to John o’Groats, taking in the 3 peaks (Snowdon, Ben Nevis and Scaffel Pike) en route! We will be camping for the most part and living off of the land as much as feasibly possible (or at least buying locally). We have a fair bit of knowledge on coastal and forest foraging for edible fungi, plants and animals etc but have found very little information on the edible insects, invertebrates and alike found in Britain! Does anyone here have any ideas on:

What to eat and what to avoid?

Any good recipes ideas?

Or any good sources of information?

Bearing in mind this is going to be very basic camp fire cooking! Any help with this would greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Ben

fairplay · #2 (**permalink**) 31-12-2009, 07:50 AM

Sounds to me like you've been watching too much TV - I would leave our native wildlife alone, and are you really sure you know your wild fungi ?
I doubt it very much.

Neil.

loripo · #3 (**permalink**) 31-12-2009, 08:16 AM

Get yourselves a copy of Richard Mabey's 'Food for Free' and the best of luck

epops · #4 (**permalink**) 31-12-2009, 09:29 AM

Dunno if this if any help Wild Man Wild Food - Fergus Drennan the Forager

dunlin · #5 (**permalink**) 31-12-2009, 12:34 PM

Good luck on what sounds like a mammoth expedition. Your going to have to consume a fair amount of carbs to cycle that distance, not sure if you will get enough by foraging.
As for edible insects you could try approaching an outdoor survival centre, there are quite a few up and down the country.
Get back in touch it would be nice to know how you get on.
regards mark.........

fairplay · #6 (**permalink**) 31-12-2009, 05:02 PM

Apologies if my first post was a bit harsh, but it is the fact you have made no mention of your awareness of certain protected species of plant, fungi and animal that you have no intention of eating that worries me, and is there a charitable reason you are doing this or is it just a personal challenge ?

Neil.

Jamin-84 · #7 (**permalink**) 31-12-2009, 09:20 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, I shall definitely be getting in contact with a few of the survival centres and I’ve already had a good look over Furgus’s site: some interesting stuff but still not much on insects! And I also have several books, including ‘Food For Free’, on their way to me as we speak so thanks again and please keep it coming.

As for some of the other guys who seem to be troubled by my plans:

My original post was a simple light-hearted note in an attempt to get some information and I didn’t want to place a long post reeling off all of our plans for the expedition and my current knowledge base of native flora and fauna. I am well aware of the status of a large number of our species and have no intention of running off into the woods shooting barn owls and chopping at blue bells or anything else that might be edible! Any wild food that we are able to obtain will be done with sensitivity and sustainably and well within the confines of our law and yes, my knowledge of wild fungi is definitely adequate for me to avoid illness or death! This expedition will also have one or more very worthy charities in mind and hopefully we will find some support here in Wild About Britain, although yes, it is indeed a big personal challenge and we hope to find out a little more about ourselves and the beauty of our country during the course of our journey. In an age when so many people sit at home with their TVs, computers, and central heating using up electricity, driving to and from work or the local supermarket, consuming food that has travelled thousands of miles to reach our table only to be thrown away because our stomachs are already full, I will effectively be ‘off of the grid’ for a month and producing a very small carbon footprint... is this not a good thing?

And not to mention the fact that when it all goes wrong in 2012, I will be in a much better position to survive!!!!!

Thanks again though, and keep the good info coming, specifically about the invertebrates.... I now know how to cook sand-hoppers and ‘prepare’ worms and snails before cooking.

Ben

fairplay · #8 (**permalink**) 31-12-2009, 10:18 PM

All the best Ben,

Neil.

sunnydale · #9 (**permalink**) 01-01-2010, 07:52 AM

Good luck with your journey!!

I used to eat worms (apparently) when I was about 4 years old......and I'm still here!

Tracey

tomomoto17370 · #10 (**permalink**) 05-08-2010, 09:31 PM

I recommend hugh fearnly-Whittingstall's ' A Cook On The Wildside ' and ' The River Cottage Cookbook ', excellent source of information and recipes to make your foraged food more pallatable, apparantely, woodlice taste like prawns and you would be doing our streams a helping and native population of crayfish if you were to gorge yourselfs on the invasive signal crayfish. What about garden snails, purge them, boil them, then fry them in garlic and finely chopped shallots, you'll have gourmet french cuisine on the trail. Also, ' The River Cottage book on wild mushrooms ', ' The Edible Coastline ' and soon to be released by the River Cottage Franchise, ' Edible hedgerow '. These are the books I would aquaint myself with, amongst others, as preparation for your journey. i hope they are of use, all the best, hope you pull it off.

Tomo