'Bug chef' turns tarantulas and scorpions into culinary masterpieces

Where most people see nightmare-spawning creepy-crawlers, David George Gordon sees tasty opportunities.

The world-famous "Bug Chef," Gordon, was recently in Seattle to promote "The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook" and to demonstrate to onlookers just how yummy tarantulas and scorpions can taste.

"I kept finding articles in science journals about other cultures where people eat insects," Gordon said. "The light bulb went off in my head, and (it) was the time to do a cookbook."

The cookbook, which has 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon, features "33 ways to cook grasshoppers, ants, water bugs, spiders, centipedes, and their kin."

"When I cook with bugs, I like to be sure that you can taste the ingredients … the bugs themselves," Gordon said. "So I'm going to season everything a little less so people can go 'oh, yeah, that's what a scorpion tastes like.' "

So if you are out at a haunted house this Halloween season and see any spooky bugs meant to fill you with terror, just imagine them filling your belly and maybe it wont' be so scary.

"Of all the different dishes I make, I think the tarantula is actually the tastiest," Gordon said.

—Video and images from KIRO-TV's SeattleInsider Michael Fox

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