Some senbei crackers without wasps. - Photo courtesy of Drypot (CC BY 2.5)
EVERYONE has a favourite biscuit, cookie or cracker. Unfortunately, your favourite baked treat also tends to be the favourite baked treat of many a type of bug (I'm looking at you, ants!), and people have come up with numerous ways to keep the tiny critters away from their crackers. However, some people tend to be more 'inclusive' with their cookies.
Is it true that in Japan, some have started making crackers with wasps?
Verdict:
TRUE
Back in 2006, a Japanese fan club for wasps decided to prove their dedication to their favourite vespid by making and selling senbei (a traditional Japanese rice cracker) with the digger wasps added for extra 'flavour'.
The 'jibachi senbei' are made in Omachi, Nagano Prefecture which is a small town about 200km from Tokyo.
Fans of the cracker say the addition of the insect to the treat gives it a 'waspish' scent.
“Young people see the bugs and refuse to eat the senbei," president of the Omachi Digger Wasp Lovers Club Torao Kayatsu told Reuters in 2006 as he was handing out sample crackers around town.
"But seniors, they love them. We even have an order from a nursing home."
Aside from its waspish scent, the senbei were said to be slightly more oily than the traditional soy-sauce flavoured ones.
References:
1. https://www.reuters.com/article/oukoe-uk-japan-wasps-idUKT23684320070830
