More on Fried Tarantula Eating

I received quite a few questions and reactions in response to my fried tarantula posting. To address some of them: Yes I really ate it, no it wasn’t that gross, it was in fact fried and not cooked with an aerosol can and lighter, it cost me about three cents, and the legs tasted like a combination of sweet and sour chicken (it must have been marinated in something) and soft shell crab.

It’s actually a very common snack in certain parts of Cambodia. When you sit down in restaurants, people come around before you order with a stack of them in a bowl. As I observed this, at least half the tables in the restaurant  purchased a few. I was with a local Cambodian who ordered two for us, ate his in one bite, and then probably enjoyed watching me struggle with mine.

In response to someone who said they once had a pet tarantula (possibly implying that eating it was immoral?): I used to have a bunch of pet fish and a fresh water crab. I eat fish and crab all the time. I never would have eaten my own pet, but I don’t think that “someone keeps this animal as a pet” is a good test of morality when choosing your food. In fact, I’m even here with a classmate who’s a vegetarian, and he ate a fried tarantula his first time in Cambodia because, well – why not?

And I’m sure at least somebody would like another picture: