Roots and Grubs

Try, grasshopper

Posted by mamster on Tuesday, February 28, 2006

I know that sign over there says I’m at work. And I am at work. But I have to share.

I’m working on a story about dried chiles, and I was just at a Mexican restaurant talking salsa. As we were wrapping up, the bartender said to the cook, “Hey, there are chiles in the chapulinas, right?”

“What are chapulinas?” I asked.

“You want to try one?”

“Sure.”

It turns out there are no chiles in the chapulinas. Just some salt, garlic, and a whole roasted grasshopper. They showed me how to pull off the legs (“They get caught in your throat,” said the cook) and bite the head off.

It tasted disturbingly like Parmesan cheese. I can’t say I liked it. However, I did earn the right, next time I take people to this restaurant, to say, “Hey, you guys want to try some chapulinas?”