Thursday, 26 February 2009

• Eating Crickets in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

  Guest post by trishkebab

  

  I am the type of person who will try anything once. I've traveled and lived in a few countries at this point in my life and have suffered through duck hearts, chicken gizzards, pigeon soup (which wasn't much better than pigeon poop), and a few other gag-inducing "delicacies." 

  I'd love to claim that it was my desire to fully experience the culture of the region, but what I've learned is that it all comes down to one simple thing: manners. Yeah, those annoying things that your mother told you to never leave the house without? They get you in trouble...

  So here I was, hanging out in a great beach bar in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, having decided to spend winters there jumping out of airplanes and finding whatever work I could to avoid the cold of NYC in December.  I was with friends, enjoying the sunset and sand at my feet. 

  A friend of ours, Adela, came over to us, just back from a visit to her family in Oaxaca in the southern region of the country, bearing gifts for everyone! My excitement dwindled quickly when I saw a bottle of Mezcal (the tequila with that worm thing on the bottom - a local favorite in Oaxaca, and highly sought-after in Cabo) along with some strange orange powder and a bag of black...thingies.  My curiosity got the best of me and I grabbed the bag of the black mystery objects and inspected by the light of my cell phone.

  I don't think the term "jumping out of my skin" accurately describes what quite happened when I saw hundreds of dried up antennae, insect legs and eyeballs staring back at me.  With the bag flung into the air, a shriek that scared half the people near us, and the least graceful leap away from the table, I had become quite the entertaining spectacle. 

  Once Adela was able to stop laughing, she explained that, in Mexico, when a person brings a gift to friends, it is considered an insult to not accept and sample the goods.  I had to eat the crickets.  I tried reasoning with her:

  "But Adela, I'm not Mexican, I can barely speak Spanish, and I'm so pale, can I just be the ignorant tourist and, um, NOT eat crickets or whatever that orange powder is next to the bottle of Mezcal, which you're probably going to make me drink too??"

   

  I'm not sure if it was a look of sympathy or evil enjoyment, but she shook her head no and brought me back to the table.  I had to just suck it up and go for it.  In case any of you are in a similar situation in Mexico, this is what you do:

  1. Pour the strange orange powder - which is dried and crushed Mexcal worms with some spices - over a slice of lime.  (Yes, I said crushed worms. Whatever happened to plain salt??)
  2. Take a Mexican-sized swig of Mezcal (larger than American-sized, ironically enough) and swallow. Do not throw up. You need to let the taste linger and take a few breaths to really let it sink in...
  3. Suck the crushed worm-covered lime slice, as this allows you to mask one unpleasant flavor with another.
  4. Once your gag reflex has quieted down (and really, the best part was the Mezcal; that orange stuff is hideous) dig into the bag of bugs and throw a few of those bad boys into your mouth. Chew, feel the crunch, taste the spiciniess, and swallow. 

  I wish I could say that I met this challenge with gusto and balls, but the scene unfolded a wee bit differently.  I basically chugged the shot, grimaced through half of the lime slice before throwing it to the fishes, then closed my eyes, held my nose, and had someone else put one tiny cricket into my mouth. And then I skipped the chewing part and washed it down with my beer.

  But hey, at least my mom would be proud of my manners and I didn't offend the locals.  But what I want to know is: what is the weirdest thing YOU have eaten while traveling?? 

  • 7:02 PM
  • 964 Views
  • 16 eProps
  • 10 Comments