長野県は海がない。そのせいか、たんぱく質に関しては長野県で変わった食材があります。一番知られているのは馬刺し。私のアメリカのロデオをやる友達に内緒ですが、何度も食べています。最初は｢？！｣と思ったけど、食べてみたら、かなり美味しいです。次にあるのは飛蝗の佃煮、｢イナゴ｣。見た目はグロテスクですが、甘露煮ですから甘くて食べやすい。もっと珍しいのは｢蜂の子｣。来れは今までうわさでしか聞いていなくて、しかし先日、乗鞍に行った時に、夜の宴会のある子皿を見たら、虫の幼虫の様な・・・ ｢もしかしたら、蜂の子？」
周りの皆はあまりにも何もないように食べているけど、聞いたら、やはり、蜂の子だった。まあ、お酒をぎゅうっと飲んで、生まれてから始めて蜂の子を食べた。
今は段々と珍しくなってきていますが、その地元の人と話したら、｢子供のころは蜂の子がおやつだった。自然に甘いので、自分で蜂の巣を見つけて、手で開けて、そのまま幼虫を食べた。まだ生きているから喉を通りながら動くってよろしくなかったけど、他にはおやつがなかったから｣と。中に、｢蜂の子取りで蜂に刺されて、3回ぐらい入院した｣と言う人もいた。1回目でやめなかったと言う事はそれだけ甘くて美味しいと言う事かいな？
皆様は信州にお越しになる際、興味のある方は是非、蜂の子を食べてみてください。メニューに載せている居酒屋などは意外に多いです。良いたんぱく質の食材！
Here in Nagano, there is no ocean. Perhaps because of that, people here have historically had issues with getting sources of protein in their diets. One of the better known local foods is "basashi" which is horse meat. Served, err, raw. Don't tell my rodeo buddies back home, but I've tried it many times -- it's actually really good!
Another slightly less common traditional source of protein here is "inago", which is basically grasshoppers marinated in a sweet syrup. A little crunchy, and the legs tend to get stuck in your teeth, but thanks to the sweet marinate, inago actually tastes pretty good.
There's another peculiar source of protein, that is (fortunately?) becoming rarer and rarer, and that is "hachi-no-ko", bee larvae. I had only heard rumors about it but the other day at the banquet in Norikura, one of the small dishes had what looked like some sort of baby bugs. All the people around seemed to be eating it without thinking twice, but I had to ask: "Is this hachi-no-ko?" They said it was, and proceeded to regale me with stories from their youth about this delicacy (?!). One guy said that he used to go look for bees nests and pop them open with his hands, grab the larvae and eat them for his afternoon snack. Not only did he not have anything else to eat for a snack, but the larvae are naturally sweet, so for him they were a delicacy. The fact that they were still alive and wriggled down his throat wasn't pleasant, but they tasted so good he didn't mind. Another guy said he got stung so bad going after hachi-no-ko that he was hospitalized -- three separate times! Wouldn't most people stop after just one time?
Anyways, after a gulp of sake, I tried the larvae. Not bad! If I can do it, so can you! Next time you go to an izakaya pub in Nagano, look to see if hachi-no-ko is on the menu, and get your protein Nagano-style!
More on Nagano's insect cuisine here.
