ArggggH! Worms in My Goulash

[sequim]

I do wonder why everybody is getting so grossed out by a few bugs. It's not like they're poisonous or harmful to eat, are they? Especially once they get cooked and camouflaged into the stew. Why waste all that food? Why be so removed from our natural world that we consider these so horrible?

[Knicke]

I'm with you, sequim. Unless I'm eating a raw vegetable and come across a worm-y (in which case I'll just eat around), it seems like the logical plan would be to cook the hell out of 'em and chow down. Then again, I was one of those children who got a kick out of chocolate covered ants, etc.

[KateW]

To me, bugs indicate a sign of rotting, or past-expiration. Yes, bugs grow on stuff that grew outside and I suppose cows, or whatever meat was used in the goulash, techically "grow outside" too. Paprika "grows outside". So heck, I'm gonna eat everything that has bugs on it because hey, it all grew outside. It's only bugs, right? Remember that next time you get a hair in your food. It's not icky, you've got that stuff growing and dying all over you RIGHT NOW! Or a cockroach in your soup...those are fine! Tell them to take it back and incorporate that roach properly!

Where are we going to draw the line? Really, I want to know.

[Stone]

Worms

[Callipygos]

Up until this moment I was a little embarrassed to have purchased McCormack's paprika from the grocery store, rather than the good paprika.

No more.

[sequim]

To me, bugs indicate a sign of rotting, or past-expiration. Yes, bugs grow on stuff that grew outside and I suppose cows, or whatever meat was used in the goulash, techically "grow outside" too. Paprika "grows outside". So heck, I'm gonna eat everything that has bugs on it because hey, it all grew outside. It's only bugs, right? Remember that next time you get a hair in your food. It's not icky, you've got that stuff growing and dying all over you RIGHT NOW! Or a cockroach in your soup...those are fine! Tell them to take it back and incorporate that roach properly!

Where are we going to draw the line? Really, I want to know.

And a sign of rotting is terribly bad? All I'm saying is you don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water. Maybe control your ick factor and just scoop the offensive paprika/bug mixture out. I'm hardly advocating that one eat anything just because it grew outside. Actually I have a stronger ick response to a hair in my food as I don't like it twining round my teeth.

[Tracy K.]

The pest you found in your paprika is called an Indian Meal Moth. You can read about it from the Ohio State University Extension:

Indian Meal Mothhttp://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2089.html

Warning for the squeamish: That link will contain bug pictures!

One point I noticed in the information was that spices are highly susceptible to infestations by the moth/larvae.

Often these items become infested because of storage issues--usually stored too long--before you buy them.

[ludja]

The pest you found in your paprika is called an Indian Meal Moth. You can read about it from the Ohio State University Extension:

Indian Meal Mothhttp://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2089.html

Thanks for the link Tracy K. and welcome!

[sparrowgrass]

I love wild oyster mushrooms, which are often infested with little white beetle larvae. If the infestation is not too bad, I rinse/pick off any of the little buggers I can see, and try not to think of the rest as I enjoy my mushrooms. If the shroom is riddled with worm holes, it tastes bad, so I discard those.

I quit growing broccoli in my garden for a long time, because of the green cabbage looper worms--I hated making a nice broccoli dish and finding one of those dudes on my plate after I finished. Now I use bT (bacillus Thuringiensis, aka Dipel) on the plants and don't find them any more.

I guess I don't mind em if I can't see em.

[KateW]

And a sign of rotting is terribly bad?

Are you serious?

If rotting isn't a bad thing, then what is? What tells us when to throw out food, or at the very least, reheat it to screaming hot? What makes us sick? What makes something smell awful and therefore naturally keeps us from eating it? (Besides cilantro and other things that smell awful even when fresh.)

[Placebo]

I fought a pitched battle with meal moths for a couple of months last spring. Every once in a while if my kitchen is too messy for too long a few will return but I can generally get them under control pretty quickly. Moved a lot of products to glass jars. Apparently bay leaf keeps them away as well. Irritating little bastards though.