Photo: Joel Sartore

Bugs are things we normally try to keep OUT of our soups and salads.

Maybe that’s the wrong attitude.

In many parts of the world, insects and worms have long been a cheap source of protein. North American and European cultures are really the only ones that have abstained. ”Insects are a vast and varied food resource,” says professor emeritus Gene DeFoliart of the University of Wisconsin, who for years kept up a website on entomophagy –the art of insect eating. With our planet packed with people, and limited land space for agriculture, he says, “we in the West should stop laughing at the idea of consuming termites and mealworms and crickets.”

So I decided it was time to try some insect edibles. A small brave group of writers and editors, all curious but admittedly icked-out, reserved a table at a favorite Mexican joint, Oyamel in Washington, D.C. The chef whipped us up a batch of grasshopper tacos (and a pitcher of something with triple sec and lime to wash them down, just in case).

The buggy bits, scooped over a nice guacamole in the taco shell, were orangish brown and chopped very small. They come that way in plastic baggies from a Mexican supplier—already cut up and seasoned. Here and there I could make out a leg joint, but mostly the stuff was unidentifiable—except for the head of a hopper that poked up through the carnage. It seemed to be watching me. I bit before I could think about how grasshopper eyes and brains might taste.

The bugs were a little bitter, a tad greasy. Not very meaty. It was like biting down on a soft-shelled crab and getting just a squirt of oil and spice. I wanted to like it. But I didn’t. Others in the group responded similarly. Perhaps it was the seasoning, or perhaps grasshopper tacos weren’t the best first insect meal. “It’s an acquired taste,” one waiter told me.

But that was just one critter, one recipe. For the insect-curious among you, you can head to a restaurant or store that does the work for you (check out this candy shop in California).

Or you can buy the “ingredients” yourself—from websites or, ideally, from African, Asian, or South American grocery stores. You might find canned, dried, or even live critters at these international shops.

On that note, I’d like to include a few recipes from a fun book called Creepy Crawly Cuisine by Julieta Ramos-Elorduy. She’s a Ph.D. who for years studied the use of insects as food in the Mexican countryside, and has calculated the nutrients in various critters. (It’s true: They’re good for you!) There are lots of other intriguing options if my choices don’t suit your palette: try mealworm spaghetti, wasp salad, or batter-fried dragonflies.

Be careful, though. If you are allergic to shellfish, don’t eat insects. You’re likely to have the same nasty reaction.

—Jennifer S. Holland

Photo: Stefan Sollfors/Alamy

Ant Brood with Beer

3 bottles good beer
aromatic herbs, as desired, to taste (bay leaves, oregano, thyme, marjoram)
1 pound ant larvae and pupae
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Place the beer and the aromatic herbs in a deep bowl, and allow to sit for two days at room temperature. Add the larvae and pupae and continue to marinate for one day. Serve with salt and pepper, to taste. Accompany with toast spread with cream cheese. Delicious!

Leaf-Footed Bug Pizza

½ pound wheat flour
4 eggs
1 pinch bread yeast
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 pound leaf-footed bugs, frozen or live [our note: leaf-footed bugs, genus Leptoglossus, common in U.S. gardens from Florida to New York, are agricultural pests. All the more reason to eat them!]
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ pound mozzarella cheese
¾ pound tomatoes
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
herbs (thyme, marjoram, bay leaves, oregano), to taste

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place the flour in a mixing bowl and stir in the eggs, one at a time, to form dough. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of bread yeast and knead the dough thoroughly. Dough should rise minimally while preparing other ingredients. Roll out pizza dough to the desired thickness. Grease a baking sheet or pizza pan with the butter and sprinkle with flour. Place the pizza dough on the greased cookie sheet. If using frozen bugs, thaw ahead of time. If using live bugs, fry them in oil. Shred cheese and spread generously over the dough. Boil some water and blanch the tomatoes for 1 minute. Take the tomatoes out and remove the skin, which should separate easily. Place the skinned tomatoes in a bowl and mash with a fork, adding salt and pepper. Spread over top of the cheese. Lay the bugs evenly over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the pizza with the aromatic herbs and bake in the oven until cheese and crust are brown.

Photo: Joel Sartore

Crickets a la Papouasie

These garlicky crickets are exquisite, with a superior flavor to shrimp. You will be delighted when you try them.

8 tablespoons butter
1 head garlic, cloves peeled
½ pound live crickets
1/8 teaspoon salt
parsley, chopped, to taste
powdered bouillon, to taste

The crickets should have one day of fasting so they will be cleansed internally. Mince the peeled garlic cloves. Place the butter in a frying pan and add the chopped garlic. When garlic is browned, add the crickets and salt and fry over low heat until crickets are slightly crunchy, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and powdered bouillon and serve with white rice.

Photo: Joel Sartore

Mango Grasshopper Chutney

½ pound grasshoppers
¾ cup peanut oil
¼ medium onion, minced
5 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon curry powder
pinch of ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon salt
juice of 3 lemons
1 jar mango chutney
3 cumin seeds, ground

Boil the grasshoppers in salted water until they turn pink, approximately 10 minutes. Spread on paper towel and let dry. Heat the oil over low heat, add the onion and garlic, and sauté. Add the grasshoppers and fry until crisp. Sprinkle with the curry, cloves, and salt. Add the lemon juice, the cumin, and finally the mango chutney.

Bee Delights

½ pound larvae and pupae of bees or wasps
1 stick butter
½ cup bee honey or wasp honey
cinnamon, to taste
cardamom, to taste
pinch of nutmeg

Heat the butter in a frying pan and fry the larvae and pupae. Place in a serving dish. Cover with the honey and sprinkle with cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg, to taste. This makes for a delicious and nutritious dessert.

Recipes reprinted with permission from Creepy Crawly Cuisine: The Gourmet Guide to Edible Insects by Julieta Ramos-Elorduy, Ph.D., Inner Traditions, Bear & Co., Rochester, Vt. Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Julieta Ramos-Elorduy www.InnerTraditions.com

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