KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) —Children scamper in the bush, jumping here and there to catch grasshoppers before they fly away. On a good day, many will walk away with plastic bags filled with the insects to fry and eat as a snack.
Grasshoppers, known in the local Luganda language as “nsenene,” are a delicacy among many in this East African country who look forward to this time of year, when millions of the bugs hatch with the seasonal rains. People say jokingly there will be damnation if the grasshopper season comes and goes without tasting the bugs.
“These nsenene, I’m buying them because my wife has sent me to buy them for her,” said O.J. Gerald at a roadside seller in the capital, Kampala. “She really loves them. You fry with some onion and a little bit of salt and it’s very tasty. Very crunchy in your mouth.”
The grasshoppers, when fried, turn from green to golden brown and give off an earthy aroma beloved by enthusiasts.
Grasshopper hunting has become a commercial activity in Uganda. Some rig bright lamps to attract the insects, which then crash into strategically placed sheets and slide into barrels where they are trapped overnight.
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