The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1908-03-20
Insects That Are Eaten.
By Percy Collins.


that insects, as group, constitute a
source of food supply for the races of
mankind. Yet insects have been
eaten from time immemorial, some
| times figuring as luxuries, at others
as a staple article of diet. Perhaps
J the chief food insect-and very i'm
| portaes one, too-is the locust. 1t
furnishes the favorlte food of many
numerous African tribes, some ma
tions living almost exclusively upon
! its teeming hordes. Locusts have
been regarded as Injuries from the
earliest times of which any records
! remain to us. In the British Museum
there is Ninevah sculpture showing
/ men carrying different kinds of meat
! to some festival, and among them
are some who carry long sticks to
which locusts are tied. In Athens of
old, locusts and grasshoppers were
sold in the markets, and they were
then preferred as dainties above the
most succulent quails or the best figs.
In the law of Moses, as set forth in
the book of Leviticus, we find locusts
permitted as food to the Jews; and
to the present day, in Palestine, these
insects are fried in sesame oil and
! eaten. In Arabia Petrea locusts are
dried in the sun and ground into
kind of -four for cake-making. In
/ Central Africa certain tribes make
them into thick brown soup. In
Madagascar they are baked in huge
jars, then fried in grease and mixed
with rice. In Algeria they are SIM
| ply boiled in water and sailed to
taste. The Arabs grind and bake
them as cakes, roast them in butter,
or crush them with camels cheese
and dates; but it is said that they
only resort to this fare in years of
famine. In Southern Russia, where
! locusts are still extensively eaten by
! the serfs, the insects are usually
smoked in the first instance like fish.
When required for consumption, the
legs and wings are broken off, and
/ the bodies are then boiled, roasted,
! stewed, fried or broiled.
According to Mr.. P. L. Simmond5,
who made an exhaustive study of
strange kinds of animal food, the
flavor of locusts, while strong and
disagreeable when raw, becomes mild
and readily disguised when cooked.
In fact, from his own experience, and
that of several of his friends whom
he induced to partake of the fare, he
assures us that broth made by boil
ing the unf1edged Calopteri Ca Rocky
Mountain species) for two hours in
the proper quantity of water, and
seasoned only with pepper and salt, is
quite palatable and scarcely to be
distinguished from beef broth. From
the same authority we learn that To-
Gusts, fried in their own oil, and with
the addition of a little salt, have
quite a nutty flavor, and are by no
means unpleasant eating. Indeed, the
flavor very quickly becomes an "ac-
quired TASTE" and the experienced %
Gust eater grows very fond of it. That
a judicious course of locust fare is
wholesome and nourishing cannot be
doubted, for locust-eating tribes in
variably grow fat when the food is
plentiful. Moreover. 1t has been sug-
gested that these insects, nicely
cooked and served, would prove bene-
fetal in cases of wasting disease.
Apart from locusts, the most pop
ular insect food consists of grubs and
caterpillars, of which many species
are eaten with avidity in different
countries of the civilized world. Few
people realize that the grub of the
common cockchafer (Melolontha),
! when properly dressed, forms a nu-
tritious and actually dainty food. Yet
such is unquestionably the case
Twenty years or so ago. a banquet
was given at the Cafe Custoza in
Paris for the special purpose of DEM
onstrating the excellent qualities of
the yer blanc, as this grub is called.
The insects were fried to a golden
brown color in a paste of -four, milk
and eggs; and of the fifty guests pres
ent, the majority called for second
helping. A recipe for cooking these
grubs, which is still extensively en-
ployed in certain parts of France, is
as follows: Roll the vers blancs,
which are short and fat, in -four and
bread crumbs. with little salt and
pepper, and wrap them in stout
piece of paper, well buttered inside.
Place it in the hot embers, and leave
it to cook for twenty minutes, more
or less, according to the degree of
heat. On opening the envelope very
appetizing odor exhales, which dis
poses one favorably to taste the deli
cacy, which will be more appetizing
than snails, and will be declared one
of the finest delicacies ever tasted"
That the ancient Romans were
very partial to large wood-boring
grub as dainty is certain, but exact
ly what this insect was has never yet
been satisfactorily explained. The
Romans called it "Cossus;" but the
Cossus of our day is the grub of the
large goat moth, at times so destruc-
tive to fruit trees. This insect pos
sesses a very Objectionable odor,
which seems to indicate an equally