IN A previous entry, a male reader boasted of eating a cicada with beer. Judging from his description, this was mainly bravado, not a civilized way to consume this large, sap-feeding insect. Here a reader offers her own intriguing recipe.

A Grateful Reader writes:

A lady never behaves like a “real man.” The lady of the kitchen ventures out at dawn, when the cicadas are emerging from their shells, all white and soft with red eyes. As they bend backwards waiting for their wings to dry, she plucks several dozen from their shells and stores them in the freezer until dinnertime. As an appetizer for the main meal of the day, she gently fries them with a bit of olive oil and garlic and salt. All the family enjoy the tasty and nutritious treat. When eaten raw, these dainty creatures are appropriate on fast days; indeed, John the Baptist probably ate his locusts fresh from their shells in the morning, without the benefit of cooking. Bon Appetit.

                                         — Comments —

Youngfogey writes:

Some of your recent blog entries raise a couple of interesting questions. Would you rather live in a culture whose most popular food choice was bugs or pizza? What do you think of combining the two into something like a cricket and pepperoni number?

Laura writes:

I seem to remember that it is possible to buy edible insects by the bag in some parts of the world. I guess one could get used to it, but I have to humbly say I’d rather eat Papa John’s.

Cicadas would not work on pizza. Crickets, because of their smaller size, would. But crickets are cute and I would rather not consume them.

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