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Because the worm beds in the basement laboratory are still being reserved for the growth of existing worms and propagation of new ones, all worms used in the first 7 Trials were freshly dug from the property of Ms. Nancy Lieder.
The vast majority of worms used for these Trials were small Night Crawlers.
The rules set down by the Project Manager, Ms. Nancy Lieder, were that only worms and produce which could be produced in the basement could be used in formulating recipes. Such items as salt, which would require a stockpile, were prohibited. The reason for this restriction was the desire to produce recipes which could be prepared by someone on foot without the benefit of a stockpile. There will be further recipes developed by Mr. Ron Darby which will adhere to these rules.
These rules presented a great dilemma for Ichi, as he felt that such things as salt, soy sauce, flour, etc were absolutely necessary.
Because Ichi would only agree to produce Trial 1 under the restrictions of these rules, Trials 2 through 7 did include ingredients which would have to be stockpiled.
As will be seen, when each of these Trials are presented, two major themes will be apparent from the taste tests.
The worms MUST be absolutely purged (cleaned of intestinal matter - especially sand, which an earth worm uses to "grind" it's food much like a chicken gizzard)
As virtually all the worms used in the first 5 Trials utilized small worms it became quite obvious that adequate purging was next to impossible
The dish must not have visible worms or worm parts. The psychological affect of seeing worms or worm parts was distressing to some taste testers.
In absolutely NONE of the Trials was any hint of a "worm" taste. Like most insects, worms are totally tasteless.
NOTE: In late afternoon of the day Trials 6 and 7 were conducted, an individual repairing the roof was presented of a cup each of Trials 6 and 7. He was quite leery, as word was around town that "we" ate worms. After carefully looking and smelling the two samples, he tasted Trial 6 and with great relief concluded it was a good vegetable soup. He then sampled Trial 7, stating it tasted like chicken soup but without any visible chicken. When informed that it was, indeed, worm soup he was rather shocked and surprised, asking why there wasn't a "wormy taste."
Further Trials are yet to be conducted. Most will be prepared by Mr. Ron Darby. Building upon "lessons learned", only large mature worms will be used. A method of cutting the worm "down the middle" along it's full length will allow total removal of the intestinal system. This, in turn, will remove the issue of sand.
To
be continued ...
This page was produced by Ron Darby.