When it comes to strange food, Mexico is has its own share of interesting dishes to offer. Sure, it all depends what one considers weird and unusual. Since North Americans generally tend to be less fond of innards, such as tripe, brains, liver, or blood, these delicacies already fall into the weird category, while for many other cultures they are nothing out of the ordinary. Even among the vegetarian options one might consider the slimy nopal cactus or the black corn-mold huitlacoche strange local foods. On the other hand, the enormous diversity of edible fruits and vegetables word-wide puts them again in a relative perspective. When it comes to eating insects, however, most people tend to agree: That is just plain weird, period. But even in this aspect Mexico has its own traditional specialties: Chapulines, Escamoles, and Gusanos de Maguey.
The “Tequila-Worm” not just for the Liquor Bottle
The last one of these may be the most well-known outside of Mexico: the Maguey Worm. If it doesn’t ring the bell, keep in mind that the maguey plant is used for distilling mezcal (or Tequila, if it’s from the proper region of Jalisco State). A-ha! Of course, it’s the infamous worm on the bottom of the bottle! Since the worm tends to be found living in the maguey plant, distillers have thought it appropriate to include it in the mezcal they make out of it. Whether eating it will double the effect of the alcohol consumed is debatable, but merely the fact of seeing a worm in their drink had many consumers respond in different ways, from disgust to excitement.
However, forcing the worm down ones throat after being sufficiently inebriated by heavy liquor is not the most typical way these insects are eaten by Mexicans. You can sometimes find them being sold at markets, either dried or still fresh and juicy. They can either be salted and crunched around on, kinda like potato chips, or be cooked and eaten like most Mexican food: rolled into tortillas with salsa and lime juice.
Chapulines, the Most Commonly Eaten Insect
The other very well known insect specialty are the grasshoppers (sometimes crickets) called Chapulines. Among these three delicacies they are the easiest to find, not just at any self-respecting market, but on street corners, and pretty much anywhere, especially in times of plenty. One time I had the honor to accompany a family from the very poor Colonia of Monte Alban in the city of Oaxaca on their early morning grasshopper gathering. When the air is still cool they are so slow that picking them up is no big deal at all. We would place them in an empty PET bottle, and at home fry them up in a pan with a bit of chili powder, pour lime juice over them, and sell them for a very respectable price.
Even though the grasshoppers’ value by weight tops that of meat, or in fact most foods, it is sought not only for its exotic factor. People enjoy it, similar to the maguey worm, rolled in tortillas, mixed into guacamole, or as a great alternative snack, on the go, while watching TV, or to accompany their beer. Given the high protein content of insects, it goes without saying that they are much healthier to any commercially sold chips. Here I should mention, however, that simply the availability and traditional custom of eating bugs doesn’t mean chips are not bought in enormous quantities, and in spite of grasshoppers being sold everywhere, Mexico is experiencing a massive diabetes epidemic. Sadly, many people still tend to look down on eating insects with the disdain of the conquering Spanish, as the disgusting food of primitive Indians.
Escamoles, a High-Priced Delicacy
Finally, the third insect-based Mexican specialty I want to present today, are the Escamoles, or ant-eggs. These can be extremely difficult to find, and tend to come at a price that is far above any other food available. Since we’re still talking about ant-eggs, we can’t ignore the fact they are naturally quite small (although individually they seem quite large for the eggs of an ant). So a typical dish will have hundreds, maybe a thousand or so eggs, and cost in the neighborhood of twenty dollars. The rice, beans, nopal, potatoes, cheese, guacamole, veggies, salsa, and tortillas that accompany it hardly add to its price. Instead, they are supposed to fill you up, which the few hundred ant-eggs are hardly sufficient for.
Considering all these factors, it makes me think that escamoles may not be the most ideal dish to recommend. Their lack of availability and high prices suggest that they are extremely hard to come by. And since they are harvested from nature, it is more than likely that they are not gathered in the most sustainable way. Though I don’t have any reliable information on this at the moment, I have seen the type of destruction people’s economic desperation can have on a forest, and there is no need to point out the crucial role ants play in an ecosystem. So while it may be an exciting adventure for culinary explorers to share a plate of ant-eggs on a one-time occasion, if they are lucky enough to come across them, I would urge anyone to refrain from it a second time. Besides, their taste is rather neutral. If you separate the yolk and make an omelet with just the egg-whites, that’s about the taste escamoles have.
For more on Mexican food, check out my series What to Eat in Mexico:
- Carnitas of Michoacan
- Huitlacoche, a Mold That Just Tastes so Good
- Nopales, A Vegetraian Delicacy
- Pozole, Not Just for Indipendence Day!
- Chilaquiles, for Stale Tortillas and a Hangover
- Making Salsa
- Tortillas and Other Incarnations of Maize
- Tacos, As Basic As You Can Get
- Guacamole, With and Without Spirulina