Many of the diners in this crowd first tried the
meat in one of the giant water-bugs. They agreed with my assessment
of it: like salty fruit; it seemed to make them feel good that an
insect can have an actual and 'predictable' taste. Emboldened, they
went forward to the whole cricket. I had assumed it would be the
other way around because the cricket was the more familiar item.
But it does make sense that eating a whole insect
body, including the crunchy and even very slightly spiky cricket body,
would be a real challenge. This would explain, for example, both the
squinched-up eyes and the hand-clenching.
No,
this isn't just for show. She enjoyed her crickets.
This
on the other hand is enthusiasm, and that's what we want to see!