Ranking 12 More of Good Mythical Morning’s Grossest Pest Dishes 

After several weeks away from thinking about eating disgusting pest dishes, we are back with another discussion and ranking of insect eats from the popular YouTube channel Good Mythical Morning. This professionally-produced show, hosted by lifelong best friends Rhett and Link, has plenty of pest-themed content within its impressive 21-plus seasons. The pest dishes are more so for entertainment at the expense of Rhett and Link’s taste buds, but there is still plenty to learn about these ectothermic creatures. For example, did you know that dung beetles do in fact smell and taste like dung (allegedly)? Fun fact! Even though we spent two blogs ranking some of the most infamous insect-and-arachnid dishes on GMM – you can read them here and here if you want to experience some stomach-turning foods – there is still more to cover in the world of pest-eating on this channel.

This installment is a bit more random than the last two, as the episodes and dishes range from back in 2014 to just a couple of weeks ago. There is even an episode with two features on this ranking, but more on that later. As always, we are subjectively ranking the meals from 12 (not too bad) to 1 (a literal nightmare). The spots of the dishes on the list are purely based on the reactions of Rhett and Link as well as visual cues. Every video is linked in the Citations section at the end, so you are welcome to watch and create your own ranking list, which we recommend not doing while eating. Let’s begin!

12. Seasoned Bugs Paired with Wine – “Bug and Wine Pairing Taste Test”

If you read the other random blog about eating random pests on this show, you may remember the feature of entomophagist Aly Moore on an episode. She was also in this episode all about pairing seasoned insects with wine, which is right up her alley as she works to normalize the consumption of edible insects. The first course featured termites and crickets, both toasted and lightly seasoned. Rhett noted that the termites smelled exactly like wood, which Aly explained is due to their tiny size making the smell of their diet more noticeable. This made Rhett more interested in consuming them, as he has previously established his love for the smell of wood. Link said the crickets smelled more like soybeans, which is not a commonly-referenced smell. The crickets apparently tasted better, a big step in the world of insect-eating as crickets also have a lot of protein. The last pairing was even better: roasted grasshoppers seasoned with chili lime. As big as these pests are, both hosts agreed they were not bad-tasting and the seasoning really helped. The idea of willingly consuming insects is still off-putting to the general public in the Western parts of the world, but this episode definitely helped its case with the use of seasonings.

11. Escargot Jerky – “Will It Jerky?”

We’re taking a real sharp turn into a truly unpleasant idea here. The “Will It…” series on Good Mythical Morning is arguably their most famous, and definitely their longest-running. This is when they spend an episode dedicated to answering the specific question at hand, like “Will It Jerky?” The macaroni and cheese jerky earlier in the video sounds good, but we’re not sure about the escargot jerky. Every strip consisted of 4-5 blended snails seasoned with butter, parsley, and garlic, then dehydrated for 15 hours. The seasonings are for the actual escargot portion of it, which is great because blended snails sound inedible on their own. Both hosts noted how dark the jerky was and how much it smelled like snail (predictably), but it got much worse when they took a bite. The jerky started out okay with being seasoning-forward, but then just turned into a taste that Link described as soil mixed with excrement. Rhett kept his humor in-tact through the experience by saying how much the taste “camped out” in his mouth after referencing the stereotype of eating jerky while camping. Although the buttery garlic taste helped its case a little, this jerky did not pass the “Will It” test and therefore will likely not be mass-produced as a fun outdoorsy snack.

10. Spider Chips & Salsa – “Will It Chips & Salsa”

For the next “Will It” on this list, we somehow get worse than snail jerky. The question of this episode is a great idea and produced some delectable creations like root beer float chips & salsa, but the last one is, of course, truly terrifying. The whole dish featured zebra tarantulas, as they were blended into both the homemade chips & salsa. The Mythical Kitchen even included whole ones on top, one for each of the hosts to enjoy. Rhett and Link had immediate reactions to the dish once they actually ate it, as Link started yelling and Rhett clapped like he was at a baseball game. Although they described the dish as “awful,” which we would not argue with, Link pointed out that the crunchiness of the chips helped the case. Between that and Rhett noting how the spices in the salsa helped to damper the spider-taste, they agreed that this concept is the best way to eat any kind of insect or spider. We don’t know if this would still be true with smellier and larger insects, but the fact that they concluded with saying spider chips & salsa does actually pass the test says a lot about the beauty of this delicious appetizer in its regular form. 

9. Sautéed Earthworms – “Alien Food Taste Test”

We have arrived at the special episode that has two features on this ranking. This one is slightly less traumatizing than the next, but only slightly. Actress Felicia Day was a guest on this episode, and she luckily got to enjoy the more enjoyable versions of these dishes. But Rhett and Link ate edible “Gagh” from Star Trek, which appropriately has the word “gag” in the title. The earthly version of this dish was a plate of sautéed earthworms with Pop Rocks candy and Szechuan peppercorns to represent the spicy, live dish that is in the science-fiction series. While Felicia enjoyed her plate of gummy worms, the hosts choked down a bite each of this dish. The peppercorn actually helped them a lot, but that may be because it numbed their mouths to the actual food, according to Rhett. They both got it down without too much trouble or gagging. But, as they told an impressed Felicia, this was definitely not the first time they ate worms on the show and it was far from their worst experience with the creature. This “Gagh” was not a good time by any means, but it is still far from the worst of this ranking due to the hardworking peppercorns. 

8. Insect Slime Balls – “Alien Food Taste Test”

This dish from the same episode is not saved by any kind of seasoning or cooking method, which is why it is deemed to be worse, according to us who have never eaten either one. Rhett and Link had their very own Slime Balls from the beloved show Alf, while Felicia enjoyed the normal wild cherry flavor that the alien puppet referenced in his show. The Slime Balls that the best friends got were a strange green color due to unknown ingredients, but the worst part was in the core of each: a whole roach for Rhett and a slimy slug for Link. They each bit into the ball to get a little of everything, which resulted in Rhett biting the roach in half and Felicia gagging just from witnessing this experience. We don’t blame her one bit, seeing as how roaches are some of the dirtiest creatures on this planet. Rhett and Link seemed to be doing alright as they discussed how awful it was, but Rhett showing off the cross-section of his roach caused Link to immediately use the paper sack as a spit bucket as he also gagged. Rhett spit his out too, which tells us that Slime Balls are not a creation we want to consume anytime soon. The majority of the ball looked like green Jell-O, which sounds great, but a whole insect in the middle is too much for those of us with sensitive stomachs to handle. 

7. Dung Beetles with Pumpkin Spice – “Will It Pumpkin Spice?”

This is one of the earlier editions of the beloved “Will It” series, which means it does not have the culinary expertise of the Mythical Kitchen team to help any dish along. The fall-themed episode consisted of Rhett and Link pouring pumpkin spice on the ingredient in each round to see if the classic concoction helps any of them. And what better to test the limits of pumpkin spice than the dreaded dung beetle that has been a feature on multiple episodes? The beetle already caused the area to smell like dung, which is a bad start to any dining experience. But no matter how much pumpkin spice the hosts dumped on their beetles, it did not eliminate the disgusting smell or taste. The taste surprisingly wasn’t too bad in the beginning, but the pumpkin spice then disappeared and left them to try and consume dung beetles on their own. The crunch of the beetles is enough to make us happy we are not relying on them for sustenance, but the added dung-ness is just too much. The best friends agreed that the pumpkin spice made the beetles slightly better, but the experience was still awful overall. Unsurprisingly, dung beetles do not pass the “Will It” test and therefore will not be a new Fall treat for the public. 

6. Scorpion Pieces – “Who has to Eat the Scorpion?”

This “dish” is part of a trend on this channel, where eating insects and similar creatures is a punishment for losing a game rather than an actual taste test. Rhett and Link played an altered version of Pictionary, where they competed against each other to speed-draw a written prompt and show them to executive producer Stevie for her to guess. The loser of each round had to eat a designated part of a cooked scorpion, and the overall winner would receive a poster of the lesser-known movie Scorpion King starring everyone’s favorite wrestler-turned-actor, Dwayne Johnson. Both hosts lost the first round and had to eat a claw, but the later rounds resulted in Link eating the tail and head and Rhett eating the thorax. The final score was tied and left them having to share the prize poster, but at least they could also share the title of “Scorpion King.” They both understandably hated each taste of the scorpion, which apparently tastes very bitter and rotten. There did not appear to be any seasoning to help them get it down, so we think we’ll pass on trying to consume this nightmare-pest and its pointy tail. 

5. Earthworms on a Cracker – “Gross Cracker Taste Test”

Seasoning and other ingredients do wonders for a disgusting pest, which is why some repeat-pests on this list rank higher depending on their lack of better ingredients. This episode was another competition between Rhett and Link, where they had to guess the correct numerical answer to a trivia question and use that number to open a safe containing a delicious cracker creation inside. The loser of each round had to eat a whole cracker with its disturbing toppings, so you know that pests had to be involved at some point. Rhett was the loser of this round, and he had to eat a plain cracker topped with two earthworms that looked much larger than normal, for some reason. Link enjoyed his bacon and bacon jam-topped cracker while watching Rhett struggle with this creation that seems more like a cruel dare than a snack. The worms were apparently “smoky” like the bacon, but not nearly as good. Rhett was still chewing when the transition for the next round appeared, so we’re guessing that he had to chew like never before just to get these soil-eating earthworms down. They also looked unseasoned, so the only redeeming quality of this dish was the flavorless cracker beneath the pile of earthworms.

4. Dung Beetle with Whipped Cream – “Is Everything Better With Whipped Cream?”

If pumpkin spice couldn’t save the feces-themed beetle, it’s doubtful that whipped cream can. The premise of this episode is similar to the “Will It” series, in that Rhett and Link put whipped cream on various foods and determine if the item is improved because of it. But the last two rounds were different, since the loser of a new board game where you try to fling whipped cream in the temporarily-blocked face of your opponent (Pie Face Cannon may be one of the messiest games ever) had to eat a gross food covered in whipped cream. The round that Link lost featured, of course, the dung beetle. Even though he piled on the whipped cream, it was not enough to salvage the disgusting insect. This also looked like the largest dung beetle ever, so Link tried to bite it in half with the hopes of actually getting it down. The real trouble started when he eventually ripped the beetle in half and then left it between his teeth, not wanting to move. Rhett tried to help and tear off the excess, but this just caused Link to gag and spit it out in his trash can. The nightmare continued as Link noted the dung-taste in his mouth and Rhett said his hands smelled like dung just from that brief moment, resulting in us being thankful that we have never tried to eat this monstrous beetle. Link did say that the whipped cream made it a little better at the end, so do with that information what you will. 

3. 50+ Year Old Canned Caterpillars – “Discontinued Snacks Taste Test”

This episode taught us a valuable lesson: insects do not get better with age. In their entertaining series dedicated to tasting discontinued foods and deciding if they should be reintroduced to the store shelves, Rhett and Link usually end each episode by tasting (or being afraid to taste) a super old food. This episode ended with canned caterpillars from the 1960s, which is already a questionable snack if it was fresh. Link opened the can and revealed that the caterpillars were still moist, the sign of a great can. But this revealed another fact of these caterpillars: despite the can saying it was Reese brand roasted caterpillars, they looked more like grubs than full caterpillars. Rhett’s jokes about a butterfly flying out of the can may have been all for nothing. The smell of the insects was awful to the hosts, which was not a good sign for their future dining experience. They agreed to just put one on their tongues and see what happens, which resulted in Rhett’s falling off his tongue when trying to show Link. But that was likely for the best because they quickly starting spitting out whatever was left in their mouths and rinsing with water to eliminate the taste. Apparently, that little spot on their tongues that held an old caterpillar was now tainted with the terrible taste, so we can see why they voted to never bring this discontinued snack back.

2. Whole Tarantula – “Nasty Food Jenga”

As far as insect-food punishments go, we can’t think of much worse than having to eat a whole tarantula. That is exactly what Link had to do while playing a game of giant Jenga, where he and Rhett took turns removing a colored block from the tower and placing it on top. The color of the block corresponded to a colored bucket that housed an undesirable food creation, which the owner of the bucket had to eat if they used that color. The red bucket was the worst food punishment, which is exactly where the tarantula was for Link. He hyped himself up first by singing an improvised song, as he often does with scary foods, and impulsively put the spider in his mouth and started chewing while Rhett continued the song in support. The crunchy sounds coming from the tarantula are bad enough as a viewer, so the fact that Rhett said he could smell the tarantula from ten feet away makes the whole experience even worse. Link impressively got the tarantula down with a little bit of gagging and a drink of water, but he did not seem to want a repeat of that snack, and we don’t blame him one bit. 

1. Live Wax Worms – “Smell-Tasting Experiment #2”

As with previous GMM rankings, any pest that is still alive is definitely near the top of the list. It is in the number one spot of this list for a couple of reasons. The largest one is that Rhett and Link did not know what they were eating while crew members put the live worms in their mouths, and that just sounds like the definition of a nightmare. The whole episode was centered on the question of whether the smell of a distinct item influences the taste of a different food, especially when the hosts can’t see what food they are eating. In this round, Rhett and Link smelled a tiny squid while blind-tasting live wax worms, the larvae of wax moths. After a lot of screaming and movement when the worms started moving, including a panic-induced moment when Rhett’s squid fell of his visor-contraption, the hosts finally swallowed and tried to guess what they tasted. Link said they just tasted like grubs, but Rhett argued that the experiment worked and he only tasted the squid he was smelling. The taste did not seem to compare to stronger ones from before, like scorpions or tarantulas. Even though they both ate the worms and didn’t seem to have too many deeper troubles with them, the fact that Link described the experience as “traumatizing” and neither host seemed to be okay afterward says a lot about the unexplainable experience of eating a group of moving worms. 

Pest Control Eliminates All Pests, Edible or Not!

No matter how you feel about eating common pests (we prefer not to, in general), having them invade your home or business is never a fun time. Pests can cause all kinds of damage to a building or room if left long enough, as well as contaminate any food and drink they touch. Our pest control technicians are experienced in handling all kinds of pest infestations, and are happy to provide treatments personalized to solve your specific pest issues. Contact us for more information on our eco-friendly services and how we can provide you with a pest-free home, since we’ll just leave the pest-eating to Rhett and Link. 

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Citations

Good Mythical Morning. (2014, October 23). Will it pumpkin spice? Taste test. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk3NNzEhZ7U&t=680s (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2016, June 17). Smell-tasting experiment #2. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0BTVwkVMbA (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2017, May 2). Nasty food Jenga. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fzbgAglKRQ (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2017, October 6). Will it jerky? Taste test. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVWxAL9QJRM&t=689s (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2017, November 24). Bug and wine pairing taste test. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAmLzm4bb2I (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2018, August 30). Gross cracker taste test. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs6W2zMaZpg&t=660s (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2018, September 20). Is everything better with whipped cream? Taste test ft. Pie Face Cannon. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwFOPp3y8Ks (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2019, March 13). Alien food taste test. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLscS8MpP3g (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2019, September 3). Nasty jelly bean vs. real food challenge. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JULKTln3SCI (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2020, July 9). Who has to eat the scorpion? (Game). Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJCTDL8k64s (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2021, October 18). Discontinued snacks taste test. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcSs1LQwQac (Accessed on August 24, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2022, August 15). Will it chips & salsa? Taste test. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJY0oV3SZUY (Accessed on August 24, 2022).