Check out where you can dine on the protein-packed arthropod
My son noticed on his walk to the bus stop today that he doesn’t hear them humming in the background anymore. It’s true. As I sit here to write this I don’t hear the pulsing thrum that’s been the backdrop to my daily activities for the last few weeks.
But even though the Brood X cicadas are making their way back to hibernation, you can enjoy them one last time as a delicacy. First and foremost, you can make your own cicada dish in the comfort of your own home. University of Maryland Professor Mike Raupp and his students made a cicada cookbook, “Cicada-Licious” that features 15 recipes: 9 appetizers and main courses and 6 desserts.
Or you can do something like this TikTok family who fried up some cicadas and added it to their pizza for the cicada food challenge.
But if you are looking to treat yourself to a restaurant meal you can visit Thip Khao, a Laotian restaurant in Washington, D.C. Under the guidance of Head Chef Seng Luangrath, the restaurant features savory cicada dishes. You can also view them on her Instagram page. The dishes are also available in their sister restaurant Padaek for carry-out. Check out Chef Seng’s Instagram stories for the next menu item.
Chouquette Chocolates located in Montgomery County, Maryland has about a 10-day waiting list for their Limited Edition Brood X chocolate-covered cicadas. Only available via their website, they will ship them or you can pick them up in Gaithersburg. According to their website, these are real Brood X cicadas.
“NOT A JOKE - these are REAL Brood X cicadas - currently gathered from Silver Spring, Gaithersburg, and Potomac MD. We gather the cicadas as they shed from their exoskeletons, and emerge as young adults.— Chouquette Chocolates
They also have chocolate-covered caramels with cicada designs as a yummy alternative to consuming the chocolate-covered arthropods.
To be honest, I am more inspired to try their menu items because of their commitment to support inclusive employment practices.
For a limited time a Mexican restaurant, Cocina on Market, located in Leesburg, Virginia will serve cicada tacos. According to their website, the cicada taco is inspired by its year-round chapulines (Grasshopper) tacos served with Mole verde, avocado, jicama, lime, and cilantro.
Cocina on Market buys their cicadas from a distributor in Dubai. Chef de Cuisine Tobias Padovano told WTOP “There’s a market there that has dried insects, and one of the insects they have is dried cicadas.” The cicada taco is filled with Mole verde, avocado, radish, and pickled Virginia ramps.
If you are not feeling adventurous, but like the novelty of eating cicadas, you can stop by Lil’ Cakes and Creamery in Gaithersburg for a cicada-inspired ice cream sundae. Super cute, delicious, and no cicadas were harmed in the making of the sundaes.
Toby's Homemade Ice Cream and Coffee located in Arlington, Virginia is also making cicada-inspired ice cream sundaes. According to their Facebook page, "People are still coming from all over: Reston, Vienna, Springfiled, Alexandria, Dumfries, Wheaton, Bethesda, and this awesome entomologist who drove all the way from Delaware!" It looks the cicada-inspired ice cream sundaes are the “the official dessert of summer 2021.” The sundaes were such a hit that after two weeks of working until the ice cream freezers were empty, Toby's is taking a few days off, but plans to be back on Wednesay, June 16th i"n full force and hopefully fully stocked on Wednesday, June 16."
What about you? Have you tried any cicada dishes? What’s your favorite way to eat them? I have to admit that I prefer the cicada-inspired sundae over the actual cicada. I just can't bring myself to try the bug even if it is in a taco.
Sources:
“'Crunchy, Earthy, Grassy' Cicada Tacos Back on Menu in Leesburg Restaurant.” WTOP, 4 June 2021, wtop.com/loudoun-county/2021/06/crunchy-earthy-grassy-cicada-tacos-back-on-menu-in-leesburg-restaurant/.