I saw this chest of draws with all sorts of herbs and insects listed.
One draw included a label for "Cockroach".
I asked innocently:
Do you have cockroaches in there?
The lady behind the counter responds in broken English:
Oh yes, there are roaches in there.
Again, not understanding the relationship to the herbs for sale, I inquire:
What are the roaches used for?
The lady looks at me a little more intently and says:
It is for tea--cockroach tea!
My eyes literally bugged out and I go for a third round:
Do people drink that for health reasons?
She responds:
Yes, and it is good for managing pain.
Hesitatingly, I asked her to take out the bag and open it so I could see for myself.
I don't know about you, but growing up in NYC, we definitely didn't value cockroaches as part of our diet--in fact, we did everything we could to try and rid ourselves of these disgusting insects--but usually to no avail.
The roaches survived everything we could throw at them!
If they are so resilient, maybe they can provide some health benefits to people (who knows--you've got to respect ancient alternative medicines), but I will only say this, you won't get me anywhere near this roach tea--and not for all the tea in China! ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
