The town of Skun in Cambodia is famous for serving up fried tarantula with garlic and salt as a crispy delicacy. But locals are now worried that spider numbers are decreasing due to deforestation, threatening much of Skun’s economy
“KUN, Cambodia (AFP) – As Tith Phalla gets off a bus in this bustling market town, she is immediately besieged by a cluster of excited food vendors proffering fried black and hairy eight-legged creatures.
The 26-year-old has come from Phnom Penh in pursuit of the tastiest “a-ping”, or Cambodia tarantula, and this dusty town some 75 kilometres (45 miles) from the capital is renowned for the beastly treat, which Tith Phalla says is tastier than any western fast food.
“Comparing the spider with hamburger, each one has its own taste, but when we eat too much hamburger, it is boring,” she tells AFP.
“Some Cambodians and foreigners are so scared when they see these spiders, but for me, they are so tasty,” she says, eyeing up a plate with hundreds of tarantulas piled high.
Travellers and traders from around Cambodia flock to Skun buy its renowned arachnids fresh from the vendors, while tourists come to gawp and take pictures of the creepy treats.
According to connoisseurs, the best way to enjoy a spider is fried — cooking destroys a taranatula’s deadly venom — and then dipping in garlic and salt.
They are also turned into a popular tipple, their ghoulish bodies squeezed into bottles of rice wine.
But vendors in Skun are worried that the destruction of the surrounding forest may soon rid the area of the spiders’ habitat, and thus these peculiar but tasty treats may disappear too.”
Read the full story at Yahoo! News.
And if you’re mad enough to actually want to go and try some spiders (said the arachnophobic writer), getting to Skun is well documented in the Lonely Planet Cambodia.
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