I was shopping for my favorite oolong tea recently and noticed the phrase “bug-bitten,” which I’d never seen before.
“Before the harvest, this tea was bitten by green leaf hoppers, setting off a chain reaction that ultimately created a unique honey-like flavor within the leaves. This bug-bitten Tung Ting Formosa oolong has the aroma of orange blossom honey, with a rich, thick body redolent of tropical mango and passion fruit, and the finish of buttered rum.”
Besides, honey and obvious pollination requirements, is this a thing? Are there any other foods that are known to taste better because of bug interaction?
Photo from Tea Mountains.
Insect (and other herbivore) bites cause all sorts of fun chemical reactions in plants. So this probably really is a thing, although I haven’t studied it myself. Here’s an article: http://theconversation.com/plants-release-chemical-weapons-and-deploy-insect-armies-in-their-defence-24853
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On a completely mid-western level,
While shucking corn with my grandpa when I ewwww’d at a worm, he’d say, “That means it’s going to be really good. If it ain’t good enough for the worms, it ain’t good enough for me!”
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It’s a thing! http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/08/02/157606554/thank-the-simple-wasp-for-that-complex-glass-of-wine
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I knew it!
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