Gluten-Free and Protein-Packed Cicadas are Popular Food in Many Countries

Celiac.com 07/08/2021 - We've done a number of stories on gluten-free flours made from bugs. From cockroaches and crickets as the path to gluten-free bread nirvana, to an entire cookbook devoted to recipes made with cricket flour, we've happily covered the gluten-free bug protein scene.

Now, in the face of our 17-year cicada hatching, the question turns to cicadas. Cicadas are ugly, and deliver a mind-numbing buzz, but they're also protein-packed, low-fat, low-carb, and gluten-free. Cheap, nutritious, and plentiful, insects, including cicadas, are also a popular and highly nutritious snack for humans in numerous countries around the world. In many countries, vendors selling deep fried crickets, grasshoppers, cicadas, and other insects are commonly found among the myriad sidewalk food purveyors. Rich, nutty, low in fat, and high in protein, the crisp, salty snacks are popular with all walks of life, and it's not uncommon to see schoolchildren sharing a bag of crickets the same way western kids might share a bag of chips, or truck drivers nibbling a bunch over beers. As one who has appreciated the delicious, salty crunch of fried grasshoppers, I can attest to, if not their outright appeal, then at least their distinct lack of grossness. 

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According to Cortni Borgerson, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Canada's Montclair University, cicadas are both safe to eat and delicious. With one of the largest cicada hatches in decades expected this year, the opportunity to explore the culinary possibilities of cicadas will perhaps never be greater. There's no word on whether gluten-free flour from cicadas could be used to enrich gluten-free bread in the same way as flour from crickets and cockroaches. But the resulting breads in those cases are delicious and very bread-like, so maybe we'll get some similar results with flour made from cicadas. In addition to Professor Borgerson's tips, Allrecipes has a few tips on cooking cidadas. 

Would you be willing to try a fried cicada? Would you maybe eat a recipe that included cicadas? Share your thoughts in the comments below, or take the HeraldDispatch.com's cicada snack poll here.