The traditional Thanksgiving feast includes turkey, gravy and sweet potatoes, but not for the Audubon Insectarium's "Bug Appetit" kitchen in New Orleans.
According to The New York Daily News, the menu included turkey with cornbread and mealworm stuffing and pumpkin pie with a crispy cricket topping. Waxworms are stirred into cranberry sauce.
The week-long feast is being served at the 23,000-square-foot bug museum, the largest museum in the United States dedicated to insects, the Daily News reported.
Other treats included chocolate "chirp" cookies, six-legged salsa made with tomatoes and chunks of crickets, sugared wax worms and spicy Cajun crickets. The chocolate "chirp" cookies was reportedly a crowd favorite.
Chef Jayme Necaise, said the chirps were an alternative to nuts for those who suffer allergies and an good source of protein. Live bugs and insects can be sampled anytime during the year.
"I tried everything," said Amelia Babin, 61, of Duplessis, La., told the Daily News. "I don't know that I'll ever fix it myself, but it was interesting."
Babin's daughter-in-law, Amanda, 32, had a family member shoot a video of her taking a bit of her first time eating a bug. Amanda ate the six-legged salsa on a chip.
"I surprised myself," Amanda said. "I watch 'Fear Factor' and 'Survivor' and I'm the one sitting on the couch gagging. But I had to do it to say I did it."
The event was closed Thanksgiving day but reopened Friday. The Daily News reported many of the children did not want to take part of the bug eating event.
"The museum includes thousands of live insects, including beetles, cockroaches, ants and termites," the Daily News reported. "It also has a butterfly exhibit created to resemble a Japanese garden."
