PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Billions of Cicadas invaded parts of the country. One in-house snack bar in New Orleans is adding them to its menu for a limited time.
"Every culture has things that they love to eat and maybe things that are taboo or things that people just sort of wrinkle their nose and frown their brow at. And there's no reason to do that with insects," said Zack Lemann with the Audubon Insectarium.
Zack Lemann is the curator of animal collections at Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans. At the in-house snack bar, he serves southwest waxworms with chili powder, crispy Cajun crickets, and, for a limited time, fried cicadas.
"Cicadas aren't usually on the menu because most of the world's cicadas don't take thirteen or seventeen years to develop like these and emerge by the millions. They are here and there," said Lemann.
Lemann describes the various ways cicadas are prepared for eating. Some options are seasoning them, frying, baking, and even tossing them in a salad.
"We pop the cicadas down into the flour, and then I'll mix them in the flour," added Lemann. "We do different dishes that are savory, that are sweet, and I like to tell people if it's coming from a New Orleans kitchen, even if it's bizarre, it's going to be tasty."
But before you take a bite, just be aware that if you're allergic to shellfish, you should not eat cicadas because the FDA says they're related to shrimp and can cause a reaction.
