Bug Lunch: Snacking on 6-Legged Creatures at the Brookfield Zoo

There tends to be a brief moment of hesitation before you eat your first waxworm.

You think to yourself, do I really want to put this in my mouth? Will it move? But then in it goes, on a little slice of crisp green apple drizzled with honey. And you know what? It's not half bad.

"Tastes like honey, right?" asked John Lee Fitchett, bug chef at the as I munched. His face was all raised eyebrows and a beaming, satisfied smiled.

And yup, it tastes like honey. And Crispy Cajun Crickets taste like Cajun-flavored sunflower seeds, and six-legged salsa (made with mealworms) tastes like salsa. Who'd have thought?

Downing handfuls of crickets, chips and dip with mealworms, and pajun (think pancake) with mealworms, shallots and sweet peppers were all in the name of good journalism at my recent trip to .

The exhibit exists in two parts, the first being a display of larger than life animatronic insects that tower over spectators along a walking path. Visitors can learn bug facts and get a really up close look that most people don't get to see with live bugs (or want to).

The second part is Harry's Big Adventure: My Bug World, which is really the most fun part of the exhibit. Harry's tent is open all week long, but to really get into the action, it's best to check it out on the weekend. Featuring six areas that show how insects impact our environment and our homes, it's full of fun stuff for parents and kids alike. A Bug Zoo section allows visitors the chance to get up close and personal with hissing cockroaches, giant millipedes and other really cool looking bugs. Kids can also make bug art, become bug detectives and take a picture with Harry—the mascot praying mantis.

The Roach Race is also a lot of fun. A Harry's emcee calls the race at a rapid fire pace like you were watching the Kentucky Derby. Kids get to cheer on their favorite Madagascar Hissing Cockroach as they speed down a track towards the finish line.

Bug Appétit

But something that everyone can get into is the Bug Chef. Centered on edibles, for most visitors, it's their first chance to try a culinary treat with six legs.

"Moms are usually the first ones to go for it," said Fitchett. "Then kids second, and then dads—if the dads even try it at all."

While it might make you squeamish at first, it's really not bad—even tasty. According to Fitchett, mealworms are high in protein and low in fat. They tend to have a flavor like soy nuts or sunflower seeds, but mostly, they're just crunchy. Waxworms, which are the caterpillar larvae of wax moths, generally spend their time eating bee’s wax (they're considered a pest by beekeepers), and so, they taste mostly like beeswax. 

Most likely though, you've already eaten a decent share of bugs, Fitchett tells wary visitors to his kitchen. According to federal guidelines, he said, 60 insect parts per pound of chocolate are just fine for human consumption— just don't ask about peanut butter if you want to enjoy it again. For a whole list of what's allowed in tons of everyday food, click on this link to the Food and Drug Administration website. It's enlightening.

For Fitchett, people's fears are mostly unfounded.

"People all over the world eat bugs," he told visitors nonchalantly. But even he won't eat everything. "Big water bugs are a little fishy," he admitted.

Surprisingly, the majority of visitors to the bug chef station do take a bite, though it usually comes after a bit of peer pressure and group pacts to all do it together. The Chocolate Chirp Cricket Cookies are the easiest to take down. It tastes just like a cookie, only with a little bit of extra crunch like it was made with crisped rice.

In every group that came by, at least one was brave enough to take the first bite.

"Do you have any tequila worms?" Hector Torrez asked jokingly as he approached the chef's table. "It's no big deal. I'll usually try everything anyways."

Torrez was visiting the zoo for the day from Chicago with his family, and was completely unfazed by the items on display, but he couldn't get the kids to bite.

"It's pretty good," he said after a tortilla chip loaded with mealworm salsa. "Tastes like salsa, but a little crunchy."

Others took a little bit more convincing.

"I tend to freak out when there's a bug in the house," Noel Dvorak of Naperville said with a look on her face that basically read that not in her lifetime would she put a cricket in her mouth—even in a cookie.

But still, even Noel took down a cookie after a little needling from her husband, Danny.

"Now you can leave me alone," she told him triumphantly. "There I did it."

Her final judgment: "I did it. Let's leave it there."

Brookfield Zoo's Xtreme BUGS exhibit runs through the summer to September 7. Entrance to Xtreme BUGS is $5 for adults and $3 for kids ages 3-11 and seniors over 65 in addition to regular zoo admission. Zoo members get in half price. You have to go on the weekend to catch the Roach Race, Bug Zoo and Bug Chef. All bugs are dead and cooked. Just think of it like a really tiny cow.