Fried grasshoppers - a unique dish in the land of Champa flowers

• December 28, 2009 13:33

(Baonghean) -At a market near the border between Laos and Thailand, a woman carries a tray full of fried grasshoppers, sprinkled with fragrant lemongrass leaves. If you don’t pay attention, you wouldn’t know it was grasshoppers.

Grasshoppers become a snack at the border market between Laos and Thailand

A bowl of fried grasshoppers sold at the market costs 2,500 Lao kip (nearly 10,000 Vietnamese Dong).
Photo: Trong Duc

A tourist entered the market, recognized the woman and the strange tray, he immediately opened a can of beer, took a sip, then used his bare hands to pick up a fried grasshopper on the tray, added a few strands of lemon leaves, put it in his mouth, and half-closed his eyes to enjoy it... in front of the astonished eyes of many people.

One person ate, many curious people gathered, and we the press were also drawn in. It was truly a “unique” dish in the land of Champa flowers.

Grasshoppers also attract television crews… Photo: Trong Duc

Locust plague of 2004

During the summer of 2004, swarms of locusts from the northwest invaded the Sahara desert in West Africa, attacking crops, creating one of the largest locust disasters since 1989. Over time, the locusts moved deeper into the continent to wreak havoc.

By November 2004, northern Egypt, Jordan, and Israel had seen their first appearance in 50 years. A 230-kilometer-long, 150-meter-wide, 69-billion-locust swarm in Morocco provided a rich food source for 33 bird species. Locusts also invaded the Canary Islands, Crete, and southern Portugal. The lack of rainfall and low winter temperatures in northwest Africa have somewhat limited their growth. Locust control teams from 20 countries took advantage of this opportunity to disrupt their growth cycle (early 2005).

The cost of sweeping 130,000 square kilometers by land and air was estimated by the FAO at over $400 million... Crop losses amounted to $2.5 billion, causing food insecurity in West Africa. However, a bumper harvest combined with tight control of insect pests helped Africa avoid a food shortage disaster.
(According to Interneter)

Trong Duc