Insects as a source of food has been a supping staple of humanity for, well, as long as there've been insects and humans.
But the idea of dining up grubs or worms or crickets tends to garner reactions, either of the "yeah, I'll try it!" sort or the "nope, not for me" variety. A visit to Bug Fair, the largest insect fair in North America (based right here at our own Natural History Museum), gives witness to the full gamut of eating-a-bug reactions.
There's a way to give it a go, though, outside of a museum, novelty-experience setting: a fine restaurant. La Sandia, the rooftop Mexican eatery at Santa Monica Place, is featuring several special guacamoles through the end of June, and, yep, on has grasshoppers in the mix.
It's called Sur, and beyond the obvious grasshoppery, it features cotija cheese, tomatillos, chile cascabel, lime, cilantro, onion, and sea salt. Chef Richard Sandoval is the culinary artist behind this creation, and the quartet of other unusual guacamoles being featured during La Sandia's Guacamole Festival.
We're pausing here, and we invite you to do the same. We've dined on bugs at the Natural History Museum, but that was more about experiencing the crunch of the insect, and texture, solo. How must a grasshopper taste and feel against the creaminess of avocado?
Ahem. The other guacamoles -- Yucatan, Baja, Norteño, and Pacifico -- are grasshopper free, but do contain tasty additions like shrimp ceviche and beets.
The Guacaole Festival is on through the end of June at La Sandia. Happy crunching, guac fans.
