I just ate what??!?

I have eaten my share of unusual foods. I love goose gizzards, I think the texture of rabbit’s brains is quite delicate, I have enjoyed the pig ear salad, I’ve had bugs and worms at the Calgary zoo cafeteria, I drank the silk worm poop tea in Laos, I recently tried a grilled scorpion in Thailand, I am always up for new culinary experiences. But one visit at a local market in Laos clearly indicated that even for me there is a limit. Seeing that our little traveling group showed cultural curiosity and wanted to try many new things, our lovely guide took us on another cool outing to a local market in Luang Prabang in Laos. We got up early that morning, as we participated in the food offering for the monks at 6:30am, and then we headed to the market, already bustling with activity, colourful, exciting. As we walked through the market, Puna, the guide, would get for us different foods and fruits to try. I loved that. The fresh mangosteen was delicious, the spicy sausage excellent, and we welcomed every opportunity to explore new flavours. We stopped at another stand, and I was so taken by all the stimuli that surrounded me that I lost my focus and did not listen with full attention to what Puna was saying. I did hear “bees” and “honeycomb” but that was pretty much it before I tasted what did indeed look like a honeycomb. But it certainly didn’t taste like it. I was surprised by the meaty texture and non-sweet flavour. As I chewed whatever-it-was, I checked with the other group members, and it turned out that they had not been paying attention either and were surprised by the taste and texture. We asked Puna for some more clarification, and we found out that we just ate bee larvae! And the gross index went up for all of us. At the next stand, Puna wanted to buy for us some samples of the hornet larvae, a real local delicacy, but one look at our faces told her that the tasting session was done. I washed my mouth with a double espresso at a nearby café.