Locust-Eating in Turkey, Arabia, and Persia
We read in the Bible, that the food of John the Baptist was “locusts and wild honey.” A great deal of pains has been taken by commentators to prove that it was not what we call locusts, but the fruit of the wild carob-tree, that John ate with the honey that he found in the wilderness, where he lived. But I do not think that any one who has traveled in Arabia, or found rest and shelter in an Arab’s tent, and been guest at his hospitable board, would thus judge of what the Bible means by “locusts.” In Turkey, Persia, Arabia, and all that region of country, locusts—genuine, bona-fide locusts—have been eaten from remote antiquity; and to this day, they form an important item of the food used by the common people. The Bedouins collect them in immense quantities, and, after a partial drying, pack them in sacks. Then at their convenience, when the season for collecting is over, they steam the insects in close vessels over a hot fire, winnow them in broad baskets, to remove the legs and wings, and then pulverize between flat stones. When wanted for food, they are only moistened with a little water, just as the Arabs do in preparing their date-flour, and then the repast is all ready. The Turks eat locusts in the same way, and by very many other Orientals they are regarded as the choicest of dainties. The Moors boil or fry them, seasoning with salt, pepper, and vinegar; and they pronounce them even superior to quails and pigeons. The Hottentots make from the eggs a delicious soup; they also roast the locusts over a slow fire, and eat them as we do caramels or bon-bons. Dr. Livingstone says he used them at first from necessity, when deprived of all other food; “but, strange to say, grew daily more fond of them, and, at last preferred them to shrimps or oysters.” —From “Some Queer Dishes,” St. Nicholas for Sept.