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Now you’ve got me curious… are parasites part of any culture’s diet? I’m assuming human parasites are a hard no since it’d be like mainlining the eggs, but are
by throwup238 2y ago
Now you’ve got me curious… are parasites part of any culture’s diet? I’m assuming human parasites are a hard no since it’d be like mainlining the eggs, but are there any parasitic species that we eat? There’s probably more plant ones like huitlacoche but I can’t think of any edible animal parasite.
I know there’s Ophiocordyceps sinensis which attacks caterpillars but that’s more traditional medicine than food.
- xyzzy_plugh 2y agoI think you mean parasites that we purposefully eat, but there are parasites everywhere. If you eat raw, or cooked fish, there's a reasonable chance you've eaten (hopefully dead) parasites. But not all parasites are harmful to humans, so you tend to hear less about those.
- philshem 2y agoHere are some examples of parasites that are purposely eaten by humans: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-parasitic-species-some-people-love-eat-180951340/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-parasitic-spe...
- Pompidou 2y agoBécasse paté with tapeworms in France ??? I m french and never Heard of this. And I can't find anything in french about this on internet. I'm sceptical...
- WillyF 2y agoI asked a French friend who comes from a long line of hunters. He'd never heard of it either. There are quite a few French woodcock preparations that include eating the guts, but I've never heard anything about tapeworms. I've also cleaned quite a few American woodcock, and I have never seen a tapeworm in the innards.
- rwmj 2y agoThere's an excellent answer already, but I would like to add mushrooms, since some of them are parasitic (eg ones that grow on trees). So I think: shiitake mushrooms.