Thanks to a friend of mine who brought back this joyful box of crunchy insect larva from America and the fact that Australian border security didn’t detect this coming through customs meant I got to savour these deliciously crunchy Californian BBQ-flavoured ‘Larvets’…

I asked Google and found out that these are actually mealworms, or larva from a type of grain beetle of sorts. These worms also resemble the live wriggly ones an old friend of mine used to feed his Arowana fish with. Funnily enough, you can even buy these Larvet snacks in bulk from Amazon.com! But whether it will make it past customs or not is another question…

Besides being a tasty novelty item, the packaging indicates that these Larvet Worm Snax have practically zero nutritional value. However, it would probably be a beneficial source of protein if consumed in large quantities!

After opening the plastic wrapping, a waft of wormy, wheaty, smokey, nutty goodness creeped up my nostrils. The BBQ flavouring actually complimented the worms in a strange way. I mean, the last thing you’d consider for a snack would be BBQ-flavoured worms right? To be honest I don’t think they would have tasted any worse or different without any flavouring because the worms were dehydrated and hollow, and tasted like crunchy chicken skin without the grease.

If they sold snack Larvets here, I would definitely be filling up my party bowl with them. I actually liked the taste and crunchy texture of the Larvets, and didn’t find it offensive at all. A good way to get a kick out of these is to eat a large handful and crunch away…nom nom nom…