Locusts Anyone?

On my first trip to Uganda, my friend Muhamad spoke about eating grasshoppers. These are a seasonal delicacy that are only available during the rainy season, when the grasshoppers come to the city. Because we always travelled in July, grasshoppers were not available. One year, Muhamad said he had tried to save some for me but they had spoilt so he had to throw them away.

When we knew we were coming for a full year, Muhamad and I made a deal about eating grasshoppers: I would eat them if he ate octopus. I brought a can of Spanish octopus in tomato sauce for us to eat at Christmas and Muhamad graciously tried it. Not sure how much he enjoyed it but he did indeed try it. So that left me with the task of eating grasshoppers.

But Corey as my witness, I kept asking people to help me get grasshoppers but despite their promises to provide me with these tasty snacks, no-one came through.

Yesterday, Muhamad, Hanifah and Zainab came for supper. I texted Muhamad and asked him to bring grasshoppers. I knew that if they were still available, he would get them for me.

"A small small amount please," I texted.
"We will get many and help you eat them," was the reply.

Muhamad arrived with a 3x5 container stuffed full of grasshoppers. They don't take up much space so there were hundreds. This is how they are sold at Nakasero market. Fresh fried and stuffed into these convenient travel containers so that you can eat them on the go.

Harvesting and preparing grasshoppers goes like this: very large metal sheets are set up at an angle with barrels underneath. At night, spotlights shine on the metal sheets and the grasshoppers are attracted to the light however, they can't get purchase on the metal and slide down into the barrels. Before cooking, the hind legs are removed because they get caught in your throat as they have little hooks on them. The grasshoppers are thrown into a hot pan for frying but there is no oil in the pan because, as Muhamad said, "they make their own oil when you fry them."

The first one was hard as are all new strange culinary experiences but really, they only taste of crispy oil. I hesitated a bit before eating it and joked about Muhamad hesitating when he took his first bite of octopus. I think the taste sensation would have been much stronger for Muahamd than it was for me. These tasted like tiny chips. I had expected a slightly fishy flavour but there isn't any flavour. They are supposed to be a great source of protein though and scientists speculate that as the population grows, we will all have to resort to eating insects.

These were my third insect experience having eaten bamboo worms in China with Mum and cricket tortillas in Mexico with Corey.

I split the container of grasshoppers with Muhamad so that I could eat more today. I have to reheat them though so that they get crispy again. Anyone care to join me? I have lots to share!

Thanks Muhamad!