The Explorers Clubs annual dinner is not for the faint of stomach Tarantulas, roaches and worms are on the bill of fare for the event at the Waldorf-Astoria BY Stephen Rex Brown NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, March 10, 2014, 2:00 AM For photos: nydailynews/life-style/explorers-club-annual-dinner-faint-stomach-article-1.1713763 He has conducted more spacewalks than any other American astronaut — but such courage doesn’t necessarily translate to the dinner table. NASA legend Michael Lopez-Alegria will take the stage at the Explorers Club dinner on Saturday — the annual Academy Awards for men and women who venture into uncharted territory — but he won’t be venturing far from his culinary comfort zone. “I’d have to be pretty hungry before I attempted eating some of those things — some of them look kind of gnarly,” says Lopez-Alegria, referring to a menu of “exotics” such as goat eyeballs, tarantulas, cockroaches and earthworms. “I ate some ants — they were pretty good,” adds the 55-year-old skywalker. “But noshing on a big tarantula is a little more than I’m ready to bite off.” Tickets to the club’s 110th annual feast, held at the Waldorf-Astoria, range from $375 to $1,200, and 1,400 people are expected to dive in with relish. Diners typically arrive in groups and plot a strategy to make sure they get a taste of all the stomach-churning eats, says Gene Rurka, the club member in charge of the funky hors d’oeurves. “They come in and say, ‘You’re getting the tarantulas, you’re getting the maggots, you’re getting the eyeballs, and I’m getting the cocktails!” says Rurka, whose goat-eyeball martini gives new meaning to “Here’s looking at you.” Rurka, 66, expects to spend roughly $600 on exotic food and drink for each diner, who will taste roughly 15 freaky dishes during a cocktail hour. The exotic food will weigh more than a ton, including several 7-foot alligators, “a lot” of fungus and kelp and 15,000 insects, Rurka says. Many invasive species will be served, suggesting that diners will actually be doing America a service. Rurka hasn’t finalized his menu, because he’s waiting to find out what will be fresh. But he has trained his fellow chefs in proper tarantula butchering techniques. All told, 40 people are involved in preparing the meal. Dishes from previous years — maple-glazed hog mask (face), applewood-barbecued bull “rods” and testicles, turtle cakes with caper remoulade, python patties with bacon, and jellyfish slivers in white soy marinade — give an idea of whats in store. For dessert, there’ll be mouthwatering chocolate-dipped strawberries with larvae and pupae “sprinkles,” and cheesecake ice pops topped with mealworms and crickets. After the cocktail hour, guests will be treated to a less edgy meal, prepared by the Waldorf, and giants of the exploration world — this year, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and edge-of-space skydiver Felix Baumgartner — will receive awards. The club, founded in 1904, has an invitation-only membership that has included Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Sir Edmund Hillary, Matthew Henson and James Cameron. Its landmarked building on E. 70th St. has served as a gathering place for the globetrotters as well as a headquarters where explorers could seek sponsors. The building, packed with massive taxidermied animals and other artifacts from around the globe and outer space, is so stylish that director Wes Anderson filmed much of “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” there. The dinner became a tradition after explorers trekking through Siberia in the 1930s came upon woolly mammoths preserved in the permafrost, Rurka says. They brought the meat back to New York and served it up. “Explore through the palate!” he exclaims, adding that one of the most challenging dishes will be durian, a Southeast Asian fruit that has the odor of vomit. He says it reminds of something else. “It smells like a--!” he exclaims. “Then when you put it in your mouth you go, ‘This is delicious!’ ” The Explorers Club annual dinner will be held Saturday at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Ave., between 49th and 50th Sts. , starting at 6 p.m. For tickets, see the calendar of events at explorers.org or call (212) 628-8383.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 17:12:43 +0000