How weird can one be?
Chocolate covered scorpion: roasted for 20-30 minutes at 180-200C, cooled and dipped in dark chocolate. Served on its own rock.
My scorpion, I am assured, enjoyed a happy life – they are ethically farmed in China, with plenty of stones to hide under.
It just doesn’t seem that happy as I raise it to my mouth, tail curled as if to sting, pincers open ready to nip.
Presentation somewhat unsettling then, especially as it comes with a warning to chew thoroughly. Otherwise the sting can stick in the oesophagus, “which can hurt”.
At least the venom has been removed to comply with UK safety rules. Elsewhere, says Graham Belcher, the restaurant manager, they keep the venom and when the sting nips your throat “that’s when you die. Bon appétit.”
As I crunch in, I’m not getting much taste, just a quick lick of chocolate. But I am getting texture, a lot of texture. I am getting thin, spindly legs (eight of them, since scorpions are arachnids, not insects), hard, unidentifiable fragments of exoskeleton.
I am getting so much texture that hours later, I am still finding scorpion ‘bits’ in my mouth. (But perhaps that’s because I had three extra helpings to get the chocolate.)
At least the warning to chew seems unnecessary – how else could you get the thing down?
A nice dessert wine would go well with this. Because you’ll need something to wash the ‘bits’ from your mouth. God knows where the pincers went. Slightly worried they’re still stuck under my tongue.