If you have ever seen a grub before, you probably didn’t think to yourself ‘yum!’  However, the aborigines in the Australian Outback would beg to differ.  Aboriginal people consider the witchetty grub a delicacy, and are happy to eat them as often as possible.

Witchetty Grub Australia

Fresh Witchetty Grubs

If you wish to try one for yourself, you can harvest your own by finding a witchetty tree, and digging beneath the root system to expose the roots.  Once you can see the roots of the tree, you must locate a burrow hole.  After you have located such a hole, you will need to use a shovel or other hard object to split the root in two, to find a witchetty grub deep within the root.

The taste of the witchetty grub has been compared to scrambled eggs.  They are cold and slippery to the touch.  If you are brave enough, you can just eat it right then and there by biting off the bottom portion of the grub and discarding the head.  After that you simply chew the grub until only the skin remains, and then you will also discard the skin.  If you’re not brave enough to try them raw, they can also be skewered and cooked over a fire.

If you will be traveling in Australia and wish to try an unusual local food, there is no better choice than the witchetty grub.  They are an excellent source of protein and are definitely a food to include on your list of foods to try at least once in a lifetime.  Who knows, you might just like it so much that you ask for a second helping!