[Sca-cooks] cochineal

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I don't have a problem with scale insects, but then, i'm not a
vegetarian... They are in things like health food toothpaste (Weleda
- or at least they were), definitely still in one of the SOBE drinks
(mango i think - i told a vegetarian friend, but i think he *liked*
the idea of eating bugs), etc.

As for being squeamish... have you seen them? They look like little
red-purple seeds. Just think of them that way and you won't have any
trouble. Just chant this mantra: "They're only seeds, they're only
seeds, they're only seeds..."

If somehow you can't convince yourself that they're seeds, i think
you can buy cochineal already ground to a powder.

Anahita

Anne wrote:
>  >>I think a cochineal derivative is used in food, but... they're bugs. I
>  >>admit I sort of don't care if they are toxic, I'm not eating them...

Margali responded:
>  >Hope you plan on giving up most every red drink known to man, INCLUDING pink
>  >grapefruit juice, most bottled juices, red sodas and cranberry juice. All
>  >contain cochineal.
SNIP
>  >Then we get into the makeup industry, and the rest of the food industry. If
>  >you do any shopping at places that use 'all natural products' and products
>  >with no artificial ingredients, yep - buggses!

And Anne replied
>Actually, I do know that, so I was sort of joking - I did start by
>saying I know it is used, and so presumably non-toxic.  This is a big
>issue with vegetarians, who get quite annoyed when they discover all the
>hidden animal products they consume...
>
>I guess I just mean I can't quite face grinding them up and  then eating
>them myself! *G* Squeamish, I guess... and silly, I agree. (And I'd love
>to give them a try in a dyepot, one of these days... I don't eat that!)
>More to the point, that might be the reaction of whoever she is serving,
>who may not know about the other  uses...