July 3, 2006
View Comments | Post CommentWhere the grasshopper isn't just the name of a drink
One of my first ever food posts on my own weblog was about edible insects, so I guess it's appropriate that I kick things off here with a post about eating bugs. That early post was about the cicadas that were then swarming around DC and the many ways to cook them up. I never got around to trying them out, but I admit to being a little tempted by the insect offerings at Crystal City's Mexican restaurant Oyamel. The Washington City Paper describes how chef Joshua Linton gets authentic by serving up grasshoppers. The pre-Coloumbian fare is updated for modern palates by being wrapped in a taco, but even so it could be a bit unnerving to bite into this:
Fighting some deep-seated bug phobia, I bite into one of Oyamel’s grasshopper tacos, an item that executive chef José Andrés occasionally features on his specials menu. The tortilla is crammed with at least a hundred tiny sautéed chapulines, which are piled atop a layer of guacamole like dead soldiers in a mass grave. The taco is more about heat and texture than about the characteristic flavor of grasshoppers, whatever that may be. More than once, I pull out a grasshopper leg from between my teeth.
Believe it or not, the guacamole scares me more than the bugs. I've tried it on several occasions and never developed a taste for it. I'll have to learn to like that before I tackle Linton's taco. Until then, I'll take my grasshoppers with creme de menthe.
[Via The Morning News.]
Posted by Jacob Grier at July 3, 2006 11:01 PM | Comments (2) | EatFoo 1.0 Posts
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In my hometown suburb of Brandon, Florida, we have an ice cream and soda shop that's been around since probably the early eighties. Campbell's Dairy Isle (apparently now known as Campbell's Dairy Land). I would always get "grasshopper" milkshakes as a kid. No, they weren't serving us schnapps. It was just mint syrup in an otherwise vanilla milkshake. But they were pretty delicious. The best was a grasshopper with ground oreos. Mmmm.
Posted by: Barzelay at July 4, 2006 3:00 AM
With the Oreos added, that does sound pretty damn delicious.
Posted by: Jacob at July 4, 2006 12:51 PM
