Cockroaches have long been on their traditional menus. More than 100 farms supply the market, with the biggest in Xichang in the north of the country, where six billion cockroaches a year are bred in dimly lit concrete bunkers at 30°C. They’re fed on garbage and are proving a waste-disposal weapon for the country.
The ideal food species is the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana. Twice fried in hot oil in a wok, it offers a crispy shell and soft, succulent innards said to resemble cottage cheese, with an earthy taste and a hint of ammonia. Volumes go to pharmaceuticals to treat stomach and respiratory problems and cockroach preparations are prescribed as a vitamin supplement and for fighting cancer, AIDS and baldness. For medicinal purposes, 40 million Chinese patients consume a crushed cockroach potion said to taste vaguely sweet and smell of fish, yet it’s cockroaches as finger food and on street-food skewers that really make the tourist blink.
Mercifully, none of Britain’s three cockroach species is thought suitable for harvesting. The Oriental likes the cool, damp conditions of basements, drains and outside bins. The brown-banded is adaptable. The third and most familiar, the German, seeks the warmth and humidity of kitchens and bathrooms. It’s ubiquitous and prolific, the one you tread on when you crunch your way to the fridge in the dark across the floor of an infested kitchen in an old house, the one crawling on every bit of furniture, every piece of hanging washing, every hanging towel when you switch on the light. Smooth surfaces present no barrier, as its feet have tacky patches. Come the daylight and not an antenna is to be seen. Blattella germanica has retreated behind the cooker range, the old fireplace, the wainscot and anywhere to which a crack or gap gives access (blatta is Latin for an insect that shuns light).
Denne historien er fra October 16, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 16, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
