Postcard from Uganda: Tea and grasshoppers.....!

What's green, crispy, quite greasy and very salty?
A big juicy fried Ugandan grasshopper!!!
Think I'll stick to Pringles!!

Mid-November is marked by the arrival of lots of grasshoppers and people get very excited....everyone at work was eagerly awaiting them! Along with white ants they are considered a real delicacy and highly nutritous, they're eaten as a snack. They are called 'nsenene' in Runyankole.

They can be bought already deep fried from street hawkers or bought raw from a street seller (displayed on plastic sheeting on the ground) - they're cheaper this way. you can have them with or without their wings and legs, the latter being cheaper. Needless to say, I've not yet mustered the courage to taste them...... they look really greasy (though there are many more reasons why I've not been tempted!) - I assumed they were deep fried but was told they are dry fried and that they have lots of natural oil!

Some of the grasshoppers are caught naturally usually by woman and kids foraging in the grass, but most are trapped at night using a system which consists of strings of outdoor electric light bulbs, reflective metal sheets and metal drums. The idea is that the grasshoppers are attracted by the naked light bulbs, they then fly into the metal sheets and fall into the metal drums!