Ants and termites
Ants and termites
As with grasshoppers, ants and termites are caught while swarming, when they are abundant. Soldiers and queens are preferred, since they are the biggest in the nest. Termites are immediately boiled or baked. In Africa and Asia they are cooked in salt water or roasted and salted.
Ants are often enjoyed as a snack. In a South American cinema, you can munch on roasted or chocolate-coated leafcutter ants. Thai weaver ants, known to build their nests by gluing leaves together, are added to food to give it a sour flavour. People in the Australian bush simply bite the abdomen of living ants: it quenches their thirst!
But there is no need to wait for the ants to grow up. In Asia e.g., ant pupae can be eaten fried in an egg. ‘Yam’, a traditional regional dish in Thailand, consists of a spicy salad with chilli and red ants’ eggs. In Mexico, ant larvae are baked with herbs for use in tacos.
Recipe: Indian Chindi chutney
Wrap red ants in palm leaves and place them in the hot ashes of an open fire or a barbecue. Gather the ants in a bowl and grind them into a paste. Mix well and knead into a ball. Bake the mixture in the fire for 10 minutes. Great with a curry or as a snack.
