A Buzz For Hunger

Ah, yes the 17-year cicadas are upon us. There is not much buzzing here at the church but if you take a short walk down to my house the forest preserve has quite the ruckus of cicada song. My wife and I took our dog, Nike, for a bit of a walk on Sunday and every tree and bush was covered with the crimson-eyed bugs.

The last time the cicadas invaded I was working VBS and us leaders thought it would be funny (and gross) to pretend to eat a cicada for the kids. We all had a great laugh as the kids screamed and yelled in disgust.

This time around I was reading a National Geographic article on the crunchy critters and came across this paragraph:

Cicadas are said to make good eating because they are low in fat and high in protein. They are considered a delicacy by many people around the world. The European settlers in North America observed the Indians eating them. During the emergence of Brood X cicadas in 1987, a number of people in Cincinnati and Illinois were reported to have tried deep-fried and stir-fried cicadas. There was also talk of cicada pizzas and cicada candy, and local newspapers printed cicada recipes.

Just as I was thinking how that was some really good information to have, I clicked to the next page and read the next paragraph:

Experts say that the best way to eat cicadas is to collect them in the middle of the night as they emerge from their burrows and before their skins harden. When they are in this condition—like softshell crabs—they can be boiled for about a minute. It is said they taste like asparagus or clam-flavored potato.

Hey, how about that, boiled cicadas! I think I will have to try that recipe and cook a special dinner for my wife. So if you are looking for a tasty and nutritious snack take a walk to your nearest buzzing tree and grab a handful of creepy-crawly chow while it lasts.