Housefly larvae taste test

I tried eating two larvae, or maggots, from a housefly, I believe it was Musca domestica but am not certain. I have been unable to find a description of what they are like to eat anywhere in any book or on the net so decided to investigate. I could also find no detail on how they are prepared, or cooked, in regions where they are traditionally consumed by humans (apparently only rural China and Mexico).  

I boiled them for twenty minutes, considerably longer than the amount of time reportedly necessary to kill or neutralize the many pathogens Musca domestica can carry.

I was surprised how good they tasted, even excellent I would say, somewhere between pork and cheese, there is a report online they are called "cheese worms" in Mexico, where several indigenous groups raise and eat them (1). The skin is a bit problematic, slightly tough, requiring deliberate chewing. It would be worth testing if frying or putting them in a blender or other techniques eliminates this toughness. The consistency of the flesh is very soft, like cream or puss. Various cooking techniques such as making patties or fritters out of them to see if they are as satisfying as common meat seem worth investigating.

I think they deserve further investigation as possible meat substitutes or alternatives, however they do not contain vitamin B12 according to one analysis* (2).  

Despite the very deep, and partly justified, taboo against eating housefly maggots I think they may deserve attention as a simple way for anyone to produce meat, or animal protein, in a small area as well as as an apparently environmentally friendly way to produce meat (black soldier fly larvae reportedly reduce greenhouse gas emissions) (3), the opposite of common commercial meats. So a realistic view may be that beef is more repulsive than maggots, in the big picture.

A number of other fly larvae have been used as food and probably deserve investigation, such as the New Zealand native blowfly, Calliphora quadimaculata, once eaten by Maori, which is not reported to carry diseases and eats rotting plant matter, does not require rotting meat (4). 

* Tiger worms may be the easiest livestock for a small area that contains B12, not quite as simple as maggots, see my earlier post "Cooking tiger worms so not tough and rubbery"

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2006780035499549072/1585908280519215466?hl=en

References.

1)  Edible Insects of the World. Jun Mitsuhashi. 2017.

2) Vitamin B12 level in selected insects. 1984. Wakayama et al.

3) Black soldier fly larvae mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from domestic biodegradable waste by recycling carbon and nitrogen and reconstructing microbial communites. FangMing Xiang et al. 2024. 

4) Which New Zealand Insect? Andrew Crowe. 2002.

  

Dahlia tubers as food

I tried eating the tubers of a Dahlia I found growing wild in a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. I am not sure what species or variety it is, Dahlia coccinea x pinnata is reported to grow wild in New Zealand (1), it seems most likely to be this, photos below, let me know if you know. Both Dahlia coccinea and pinnata are edible cooked (2)  so it is safe to assume any cross between them is too.

The tubers are available in winter, I had to leave a marker in summer to find them as it goes dormant for winter so tubers can be hard to find. The plant produces an abundance of good sized tubers.

I tried them raw, they are crunchy like an apple with a slight taste of uncooked potato, but basically bland in flavor. I also boiled them. They remain crunchy after boiling with very little flavor, much like potato in taste but very different in texture. After prolonged boiling they get a bit softer but are still crunchy. I would say they have a slightly coarse texture, they also leave the mouth slightly dry I find, but they are basically okay.

I found them better roasted for 20-30 minutes, luscious in texture and more tasty, though still hard to describe.

Based on eating them once I would say they are not quite as good as more well known root crops, though a taste could possibly be acquired for them, they have been a traditional part of the diet in parts of South America (2). The fact that they are perennial, compete with weeds and require little or no care may still make them a worthwhile crop overall.    

The skin is sometimes reported to taste bad, I did not find this but it is a bit tough and can be slightly fibrous. 

The flowers of some Dahlias are also reported edible (3) these ones had little flavor but are colorful and good to eat.  

References.

1) New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. 

https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/dahlia-coccinea-d-pinnata/

2) Food Plants in the Americas: A Survey of the Domesicated, Cultivated and Wild Plants Used for Human Food In the Americas. Brian Kermath. 2018.

https://www.academia.edu/1139225/Food_Plants_in_the_Americas_A_Survey_of_the_Domesticated_Cultivated_and_Wild_Plants_Used_for_Human_Food_in_North_Central_and_South_America_and_the_Caribbean

3)The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America. Francis Couplan. 1998.

Green Auto-family Stop on Road-river. Painting by David Nicholls.

Green Auto-family Stop on Road-river. By David Nicholls. 2024. Acrylic on Canvas.

 

Conscious Flow (art).

"Conscious Flow" by David Nicholls.

Painting completed 12/23. Acrylic on canvas.

 

Nymphaea alba petioles productive edible

 

The book Cross-cultural ethnobotany of Northeast India (Saklani & Jain 1994) states the petioles (leaf stalks) of Nymphaea alba (the white waterlily) are edible and are sold in markets, which suggests high food value and quality.

I find chopped and boiled very briefly the leaf stalks taste mildly of beans and have a pleasant, asparagus like texture. Not spectacular but good, I eat them often in stir fry or "stir boil".

Harvested leaves and leaf stalks are quickly replaced by new ones over spring, summer and autumn so it is a particularly reliable and productive crop (I have only been harvesting continuously like this for about 6 months, I'm not certain the plant can take this over many years but I expect it can. I also leave most of the leaves/leaf stalks alone at any one time so as not to put too much strain on the plant).

I grow it in a black plastic flexi-tub 55 cm wide. I find I can harvest the amount pictured above at least once a week from one tub which is pretty good. The black plastic raises the temperature of the water when sun is on it which may increase productivity, perhaps to subtropical levels in this temperate climate.

I have also eaten the petioles of Nymphaea odorata, probably not quite as good. Flowers, leaves rhizomes and seeds of this waterlily are considered edible (Edible & Medicinal Plants of Canada. MacKinnon et al. 2009) so I am sure the petioles are too. It is possible any Nymphaea petiole can be eaten but some may be slightly unsafe or require lengthy cooking to break down the mild toxin nupharine. I find they tend to break apart with lengthy cooking.

Hedychium coccinium shoots tasty

The book Cross-cultural Ethnobotany of North East India (1) says the tender shoot of Hedychium coccineum (orange gingerlily) is eaten raw or cooked by the Anals of Chandel District and is cultivated in kitchen gardens for this purpose. There are also a few brief mentions of this use online (2,3). There seem to be no record of this use in the West even though the plant is grown in gardens as an ornamental.

 

I've tried the shoots, they have a mild ginger flavor, not at all overpowering, good chopped up added to a stir fry. They have no fibers and a pleasant crisp texture. You have to peel away the inedible outer layer, this is pretty easy and quick. 

 

I tried what I think is the large variety Hedychium coccinium var angustifolium (narrow leaf ginger), purchased from Coast Palms and Cycads (New Zealand), sold as Hedychium coccinium "Lizzie". They have used the same photo on their website for this plant as used by the Pacific Bulb Society for var angustifolium. It also matches the description of angustifolium given by Branney (4). Mine have not flowered yet so I can't compare them to the photos directly.

It is not clear it is this large variety that is eaten in Asia but it tastes fine. I read somewhere there is no known toxicity in Zingiberaceae but can't find that reference now. Angustifolium is now considered a synonym of coccinium.

 

The plant grows well in Wellington, NZ, (zone 9). It got very tatty in winter, basically deciduous, but grew back fine in spring. It does not mind heavy clay soil and is fine in part shade. Angustifolium is probably too big for small gardens, about 2 m tall.

I'm not yet sure how productive it is, presumably it is reasonably productive if cultivated in kitchen gardens in India for food.

 References.

1)  Cross-cultural Ethnobotany of North East India. A Saklani. S K Jain 1994. 

2) An ethnobotanical note on wild edible plants of Upper Eastern Himalaya, India.

G. Murtem¹ and Pradeep Chaudhry

 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305112551_An_ethnobotanical_note_on_wild_edible_plants_of_Upper_Eastern_Himalaya_India

3) Monpa, memory, and change: an ethnobotanical study of plant use in Mêdog County, South-east Tibet, China

Shan Li et al Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine volume 16, Article number: 5 (2020)

   

https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13002-020-0355-7

 

4) Hardy Gingers. T.M.E Branney. Royal Horticultural Society. 2005.

Erythronium revolutum pods taste good

 

The boiled green seed pods of Erythronium revolutum taste a lot like beans or peas, very good. They are also of good consistency, like beans or cucumber, and are a respectable size. It seems a little strange to me they are not more popular as a vegetable. 

I could only find one reference to these pods being edible (1) which says the pods of Erythronium species in general were "said" to taste of string beans once cooked. They do list this species specifically amongst others but other than this recent book there only seem to be two older written references to Erythronium pods being eaten, specifically those of  Erythronium grandiflorum (2). I only have access to one of these (3) it simply mentions the flavor of string beans after boiling. It is also a little strange there seem to be no reports of Native Americans eating the pods of any Erythronium, they apparently only ate the underground corms or bulbs, (including those of revolutum)(4). 

American edible plant guru Euell Gibbons says all parts of all Erythronium species are edible, but goes on to mention all parts except the pods(5). There are no confirmed reports of toxicity in any Erythronium (6) but there there is a report Erythronium americanum and Erythronium grandiflorum may be emetic (makes you vomit) despite being used as food (7), very widely in the case of grandiflorum (4). Apparently the supposed emetic effect is at high doses and only in some species (8). It is probably unknown if this effect applies to the pods, I will find out eventually probably.  

 This may be the only perennial shade loving/understory bean substitute, quite valuable in my view. I have not tried the pods of any other Erythronium.

References.

1) Edible & Medicinal Plants of Canada. MacKinnon. Kershaw. Arnason. Owen. Karst. Hamersley. Chambers. 2009.

(Couplan also mentions the seed pods of Erythronium species "reportedly" being eaten without mentioning revolutum (The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America. 1998.) )

2)   https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Erythronium+grandiflorum

3)  A field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers. Craighead, Craighead, Davis. 1963. 

4) Native American Food Plants. Moerman. 2010. 

5) Euell Gibbons' Handbook of Edible Wild Plants. Gibbons. Tucker. 1979.

6) International Poisonous Plants Checklist. An Evidence-based Reference. Dr J Wagstaff. 2008.

7) https://www.academia.edu/1139225/Food_Plants_in_the_Americas_A_Survey_of_the_Domesticated_Cultivated_and_Wild_Plants_Used_for_Human_Food_in_North_Central_and_South_America_and_the_Caribbean

8) https://www.cultivariable.com/instructions/root-crops/trout-lily-erythronium-spp/