Do They Really Eat Bugs in Africa

There are things we do; well some of us do, when living in a foreign country that we would never consider doing at home. Having landed in Uganda in the midst of a boom year for grasshoppers my wife and I have been working on the title for our Ugandan cookbook. We have thought of calling it Matoke Madness and filling it with recipes such as Greasy Grasshoppers Greet the Pallet with Garlicky Crunch. In the States the same plague of grasshoppers we are witnessing here would cause farmers to say that it is a bad year, but here it is a good year for grasshoppers in that there are more than usual. November in central Uganda is apparently always grasshopper season and a time that children and adults delight in.

The fact that they are a delicacy around here makes a certain amount of historical sense. Apparently, unlike the Mormons of Utah who were saved from a plague of locust by seagulls sent by God, Ugandans have had to count on themselves. Thus, when a plague of grasshoppers arrive there are two choices, allow them to eat the crops and starve yourself, or eat them and the crops and thank God for the extra protein.There are two children who live next door to us, a boy about age seven and a girl around age five.

These two were the first people we saw gathering grasshoppers and until we went to the weekly market we thought they were just playing. It turns out that children all over are collecting grasshoppers, but they are not they primary harvesters. In certain places, soccer fields seem to be especially coveted, entrepreneurs have set up big outdoor lights to attract the hoppers at night. The unsuspecting insects pile up around the lights and make for easy harvesting.

They are then carted off to markets. Here in Entebbe at the Tuesday market there are huge piles of them. Many people buy them whole and in bulk and take them home to cook, but they are also sold legs and wings off and hot from the skillet for those who want to snack as they do their weekly shopping. We have been told that if grasshopper season goes by, and you haven't eaten any, it is very bad year if you are Ugandan. When cooked they turn a translucent yellow color.

In some ways they are similar in character and appearance to shrimp, but the ones we ate at the market were a bit too oily for our taste; however, with spice and more time to get used to local customs, we may look forward to next years harvest with the anticipation a child has for birthday cake.

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By: Hank Snow