Instructions: The jambalaya was crunchy, the cookies "nutty" and the mushrooms meaty. The buzz was that these dishes were just loaded with protein. Best of all, they tasted good, everybody was saying.

Chelsea Martin agreed, as she munched down on a Toffee Surprize. Surprize was right! There was a cricket inside. The toffee and six other dishes all contained insects, but that didnt stop young Chelsea. "It tastes kind of like peanut butter and chocolate," she said. "But is it good?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, they taste good," she answered. So there you have it: That

"something special" for Valentines Day: chocolate covered, tasty and good for you, too. Welcome to the brave new world of eating bugs. Chelsea and many others stepped right up to the table and dug in at the New Orleans Nature Centers "Incredible Edible Insect" party where a bountiful buffet of bugs was sampled heartily. and if awakening people to one of the last unexploited food sources on Earth was one of the goals, about 1,000 New Orleanians bit. "The American culture is odd in that we dont eat bugs," said Zack Lemann, entomologist for the Audubon Institute. "But its nice to know there is an alternative should the environmental boom ever fall," he said, mentioning other unexpected consequences such as nuclear war or being lost without food. "Theres no harm in knowing all your alternatives." Termites, caterpillars, ants, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets and various worms are to other cultures what steak and chicken are to Americans. The mopane worm, or larva of the emperor moth, is found in huge numbers throughout southern Africas savanna. A mother, baby strapped to her back, can collect 40 pounds of the 4 inch-long larvae in just one hour, gutting and feeding one to her baby if she cries. Once the secret of rural residents, the nutritious larvae are now marketed to urbanites in both dried and canned form. In fact, it has become a favorite snack in Africa, according to International Wildlife, a magazine published by the National Wildlife Federation. A meal of 20 dried caterpillars fulfills an adult males daily requirement for calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin and iron, the publication reports, and a (3-ounce) bag of about 60 dried caterpillars sells for 50 cents.

Fluker Farms in Port Allen, La., is a source for two live edible insects: crickets and mealworms. Granted, most are sold to zoos, pet shops and snake and bird owners, but anyone wanting to sample can order 1,000 crickets for $13.50 or 1,000 mealworms for about $6. Or you might prefer the $24 box of 24 foil-wrapped chocolate-covered crickets, each the size of a quarter, that come with a button Americans may see insects as experimental snacks, but much of the world - particularly Africa, Asia and South America - relies on them for food.

early history, locusts were relished in the Middle East. Termites are eaten raw

In africa as are midges, a type of fly that swarms in black clouds and is cooked in patties. In South America, Lemann said, a certain kind of tarantula is wrapped in a large leaf and cooked over coals. Wiry hairs are blown off the stomach before eating. And some evidence points to Native Americans eating a type of cricket, salted and sun-dried, when the Great Salt Lake receded and left it to dry under the sun. Its called entomophagy, this eating of insects, and although Westerners usually turn up their noses at the idea, bugs have been a primary source of protein to much of the world. Consider that 100 grams of crickets contain 12.9 grams of protein, 5.5 grams of fat, 5.1 grams amount of edible giant water beetles have 19.8 grams of protein, 8.3 grams of fat, 2.1 grams of carbohydrate. Lemann said a Mexican scientific journal reported a study showing that 94 different insects consumed in that country had 50 percent higher caloric value than soy beans, 87 percent higher than corn, 63 percent higher than beef and 70 percent higher than fish, lentils and beans. In developing countries, this nutritional value is significant, he added.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.