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Jumping Plant Lice in South Africa and Australia

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The Insect Cookbook
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166 on the future and sustainability Shellac from IndiaFirst, we eat with our eyes. When shopping, we select fruits and other foods that look unblemished and glossy. Just take a look in a store at how many foods sparkle at us. Shiny things are attractive; the implication is that they are pure and wholesome. The food and candy industry makes clever use of this. Fruits are usually treated to make them shine, and candies and choc-olates are often coated with a special fin-ish as well.Shellac (food additive number E904) is an important glazing agent used in the food industry. It is a natural product that comes from the lac scale insect (Laccifer lacca) from India. This insect feeds on tree sap and is related to aphids and the cochi-neal scale insect. Shellac is a substance secreted by the lac scales, and these insects use it to make a protective shell. Branches are often completely covered with shellac. It can be scraped off, then dried and purified.Shellac is used not only as a glazing agent on fruits and candy, but also as a coating on timed-release medications because it is resistant to gastric acids. In the past, shellac was also one of the components of 78-rpm phonograph records, before the advent of vinyl.Jumping Plant Lice in South Africa and AustraliaBoth the Bible and the Qur’an refer to manna: the heavenly bread that would rain down from the sky, and that could be gathered up from the ground but not kept for very long. Manna was perceived as a gift from God. Biologically speaking, manna is the sweet substance also known as honeydew, which comes from plants and is exuded as a sticky resi-due by aphids, and also by jumping plant lice.There are examples of this honeydew manna in South Africa and in Australia. It is called mopane bread in South Africa, because the honeydew is produced by jumping plant lice, also called psyllids, living on mopane trees. The sweet secretion dries up into small, hard, coni-cal, and transparent structures also known as lerp. This term actually Shellac. (Ivory)

166 on the future and sustainability Shellac from IndiaFirst, we eat with our eyes. When shopping, we select fruits and other foods that look unblemished and glossy. Just take a look in a store at how many foods sparkle at us. Shiny things are attractive; the implication is that they are pure and wholesome. The food and candy industry makes clever use of this. Fruits are usually treated to make them shine, and candies and choc-olates are often coated with a special fin-ish as well.Shellac (food additive number E904) is an important glazing agent used in the food industry. It is a natural product that comes from the lac scale insect (Laccifer lacca) from India. This insect feeds on tree sap and is related to aphids and the cochi-neal scale insect. Shellac is a substance secreted by the lac scales, and these insects use it to make a protective shell. Branches are often completely covered with shellac. It can be scraped off, then dried and purified.Shellac is used not only as a glazing agent on fruits and candy, but also as a coating on timed-release medications because it is resistant to gastric acids. In the past, shellac was also one of the components of 78-rpm phonograph records, before the advent of vinyl.Jumping Plant Lice in South Africa and AustraliaBoth the Bible and the Qur’an refer to manna: the heavenly bread that would rain down from the sky, and that could be gathered up from the ground but not kept for very long. Manna was perceived as a gift from God. Biologically speaking, manna is the sweet substance also known as honeydew, which comes from plants and is exuded as a sticky resi-due by aphids, and also by jumping plant lice.There are examples of this honeydew manna in South Africa and in Australia. It is called mopane bread in South Africa, because the honeydew is produced by jumping plant lice, also called psyllids, living on mopane trees. The sweet secretion dries up into small, hard, coni-cal, and transparent structures also known as lerp. This term actually Shellac. (Ivory)

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Foreword xi
  4. Preface xv
  5. Acknowledgments xvii
  6. 1. Insects: Essential and Delicious
  7. Six legs and other features 2
  8. Eating insects: “A Question of education” 6
  9. Cooking with Edible Insects 12
  10. “You Have to eat away the Fear” 15
  11. Everyone Eats Insects 19
  12. Shrimp or Grasshopper? 19
  13. “I could eat insects anytime, day or night” 21
  14. Weaver Ants in Asia 26
  15. Wasp larvae in Japan 26
  16. Termites: A royal Meal 28
  17. Lake Flies in East Africa 31
  18. “The tortillas from Way back When” 32
  19. Spirited Caterpillars in Mexico 35
  20. Long-Horned Grasshoppers in East Africa 35
  21. “Insects Are buzzing All Around Me” 38
  22. Recipes: Five Snacks 42
  23. 2. Is It Healthy?
  24. Fish Friday, Meat Loaf Wednesday, Insect Tuesday 54
  25. “A World That Works” 58
  26. Eating Insects Safely 64
  27. What Kinds of Insects Can Be Eaten? 65
  28. Insect Consumption and Health 66
  29. Recipes: Five Appetizers 70
  30. 3. Eating Insects: Naturally!
  31. “Some People Won’t Try Anything New” 82
  32. Recipes: Eleven Main Dishes 86
  33. “Valuable, Abundant, and Available to Everybody” 108
  34. “Bonbon Sauterelle” 113
  35. Cochineal from Peru 116
  36. Maggot Cheese in Sardinia 117
  37. Palm Beetles in the Tropics 118
  38. Dragonfly Larvae in China 119
  39. Recipes: Five Festive Dishes 122
  40. “An Exploration of Deliciousness” 132
  41. “The Next Generation’s Shrimp Cocktail” 138
  42. Spiders in Cambodia 141
  43. Moths in Italy and Australia 142
  44. Recipes: Six Desserts 144
  45. 4. On the Future and Sustainability
  46. Mopane Caterpillars in Southern Africa 156
  47. Silk Moth Pupae in China 158
  48. Food for Astronauts 160
  49. “I’ve Always Put Everything in my Mouth” 162
  50. Shellac from India 166
  51. Jumping Plant Lice in South Africa and Australia 166
  52. Insects: A Sustainable Alternative to Meat 168
  53. “A New Episode in the History of our Civilization” 171
  54. Insect Consumption: A Global Perspective 175
  55. Insect Consumption: The Future 177
  56. Resources and Suppliers 179
  57. Index 183
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.7312/vanh16684-044

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Foreword xi
  4. Preface xv
  5. Acknowledgments xvii
  6. 1. Insects: Essential and Delicious
  7. Six legs and other features 2
  8. Eating insects: “A Question of education” 6
  9. Cooking with Edible Insects 12
  10. “You Have to eat away the Fear” 15
  11. Everyone Eats Insects 19
  12. Shrimp or Grasshopper? 19
  13. “I could eat insects anytime, day or night” 21
  14. Weaver Ants in Asia 26
  15. Wasp larvae in Japan 26
  16. Termites: A royal Meal 28
  17. Lake Flies in East Africa 31
  18. “The tortillas from Way back When” 32
  19. Spirited Caterpillars in Mexico 35
  20. Long-Horned Grasshoppers in East Africa 35
  21. “Insects Are buzzing All Around Me” 38
  22. Recipes: Five Snacks 42
  23. 2. Is It Healthy?
  24. Fish Friday, Meat Loaf Wednesday, Insect Tuesday 54
  25. “A World That Works” 58
  26. Eating Insects Safely 64
  27. What Kinds of Insects Can Be Eaten? 65
  28. Insect Consumption and Health 66
  29. Recipes: Five Appetizers 70
  30. 3. Eating Insects: Naturally!
  31. “Some People Won’t Try Anything New” 82
  32. Recipes: Eleven Main Dishes 86
  33. “Valuable, Abundant, and Available to Everybody” 108
  34. “Bonbon Sauterelle” 113
  35. Cochineal from Peru 116
  36. Maggot Cheese in Sardinia 117
  37. Palm Beetles in the Tropics 118
  38. Dragonfly Larvae in China 119
  39. Recipes: Five Festive Dishes 122
  40. “An Exploration of Deliciousness” 132
  41. “The Next Generation’s Shrimp Cocktail” 138
  42. Spiders in Cambodia 141
  43. Moths in Italy and Australia 142
  44. Recipes: Six Desserts 144
  45. 4. On the Future and Sustainability
  46. Mopane Caterpillars in Southern Africa 156
  47. Silk Moth Pupae in China 158
  48. Food for Astronauts 160
  49. “I’ve Always Put Everything in my Mouth” 162
  50. Shellac from India 166
  51. Jumping Plant Lice in South Africa and Australia 166
  52. Insects: A Sustainable Alternative to Meat 168
  53. “A New Episode in the History of our Civilization” 171
  54. Insect Consumption: A Global Perspective 175
  55. Insect Consumption: The Future 177
  56. Resources and Suppliers 179
  57. Index 183
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