Mexican chefs are embracing entomophagy, or bug eating, amid heightened interest in their country’s heritage. But the high-protein, low-impact cuisine could have lessons for the rest of the world, as well.
At first glance, the stalls set up in this neighborhood garden look like they could be part of any typical farmer’s market. There are the men selling artisanal chocolates, the bread maker stacking her loaves precariously high, and the couple slinging tortillas over a smoking comal, or griddle.
But upon closer inspection, there’s something buggy about this scene. Literally.
A glistening cockroach is perched upon that square of chocolate. There are crispy brown grasshoppers cooked into that bread. And the tortillas? Smeared with fly eggs and garnished with a spicy green salsa.
This is the third annual Festival of Edible Insects, and the crowded passageways between the horseshoe of stalls is a testament to the growing resurgence in popularity of this centuries-old Mexican culinary tradition, amid a broader uptick of interest in Mexico’s heritage that goes beyond its borders.
Eating bugs “is confused with being something exotic,” not just by foreigners, but by many city-dwelling Mexicans as well, says Isaac Sandoval, co-owner of the Época de Oro Chocolateria, who is serving up critter-covered chocolates.
“This is tradition and is a huge part of Mexico’s story,” Mr. Sandoval says.
The Mesoamerican diet has long included hundreds of species of insects. Although many rural and small towns across the country have held on to the tradition, it fell out of favor in bigger cities where bugs are more often associated with rolled-up newspapers than nutrition.
But it’s having a renaissance, both in Mexico and internationally. Some vendors here today export their products, like Chilipines Gourmetier, which sells legless grasshoppers (less crunch getting stuck in one’s teeth) destined for Switzerland, Spain, and Canada. And top Mexican chefs have helped amp up the “cool factor” of edible insects in recent years with the inclusion of things like soft, cream-colored ant eggs in omelets at popular brunch spots, or crunchy grasshoppers mixed into guacamole at restaurants with white table cloths.
Insects on the menu are part of a broader, global interest in Mexican culinary and artistic traditions, says fair organizer Enrique Cervantes, who is sporting a green foam hat shaped like a grasshopper. “Frida [Kahlo], mezcal, pulque, mole, anything from Oaxaca, really,” says Mr. Cervantes. “There’s more of an interest in Mexican food and culture world-wide.”
Top Mexican chefs who feature traditional ingredients and recipes have opened restaurants in places from New York City to Dubai, and Mexico City was featured as the top place to visit in 2016 by The New York Times. Two-thirds of Americans have favorable views of their southern neighbor, according to a February Gallup poll. That’s the highest percentage in a decade, despite the prevalence of headlines about drug trafficking and violence in US coverage of Mexico.
And ever since US President Trump cannon-balled into the US political scene, there’s been greater interest in Mexico from within Mexico, too, Cervantes says. After months of jabs from north of the border about Mexicans as criminals, or dragging the US down, “Mexico and its traditions are finally being valued by Mexicans,” he says. For decades before, he feels, people were “down on Mexico,” prioritizing US or European culture. “But little by little, we’re starting to love ourselves.”
“We are starting to find our own force, what we can offer the world,” he adds, leaning back in a plastic chair and watching as festival-goers flow in from the street. “We have this incredibly rich gastronomy and ingredients that are historic and so unique…that’s something we can take pride in.”
Bug-eating, in particular, is “like eating history,” he says.
Source: Whitney Eulich