By Linda Gradstein/The Media LineThis week’s invasion of locusts from Egypt offers adventurous home cooks an opportunity to try something new for dinner this week – locusts, which most rabbis say are kosher, can be prepared many different ways.
“You can sauté them like shrimp with garlic, baby cherry tomatoes, lemon and saffron,” Moshe Basson, owner and chef of the Eucalyptus restaurant in Jerusalem which specializes in Biblical foods told The Media Line. “You can make them like french fries, or you can poach them like lobster, roll them in egg yolk, chickpea flour and spices and them deep fry them.”
Basson says about seven insects constitute a main course. They are high in protein and low in calories. He says that similar to shrimp, to prepare locusts you take off the head and the small wings. The legs are the tastiest part, he contends.
Basson himself says that in the past few days he has gotten a good supply of the insects from friends who have gone down to southern Israel to bring him back bags full. Gathering locusts is easy, he says.
“In the evening just before sunset when the temperature drops the locusts find a place and go to sleep on trees and bushes everywhere --- you have just to pick them,” Basson, who often picks his own spices in the hills around Jerusalem said. “In the morning when the weather warms up they will start to eat and within an hour they can turn a field from green to brown by eating all of it.”
In Israel, the swarms of locusts – the most seen since 2005, have not been welcomed by farmers who fear extensive crop damage. Drivers caught in the swarms are also not fans. But for some epicureans, locust offers an opportunity for free, sustainable eating.
Of course, this being the holy land, religious disputes are to be expected. Some rabbis said that only those Jewish communities which have a tradition of eating locusts such as the Yemenite Jews, are permitted to consume them according to Jewish law. But other rabbis say that in the book of Leviticus four types of kosher locusts – red, yellow, spotted gray and white – are listed as kosher.
“They are kosher -- the Bible lasts them as kosher and the Talmud says they’re kosher,” Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky, a scientist at Bar Ilan University and an expert on exotic animals. “The only issue is that Jews from eastern and northern Europe have not seen them in over 1000 years and don’t have the knowledge on how to distinguish which are kosher.”
The timing of the locust swarm, coming just a few weeks before the Passover holiday, when Jews reenact the exodus from Egypt at a ritual meal called a seder, has been uncanny. Before Pharoah allowed the Jews to leave Egypt, God visited ten plagues on the Egyptians, one of which was locusts.
Interestingly, the locust is also permitted according to Muslim law, meaning it is kosher and halal at the same time.
Zivotofsky says he has never eaten the insects himelf.
“My kids have, but I think it’s a cultural thing for me,” the New York native says. “I just can’t bring myself to eat them.”
But Basson has eaten them and says the flavor is a combination of sunflower seeds and shrimp, which are not kosher. To be kosher, fish must have fins and scales.
Zivotofsky says that the kosher food industry has become commercialized and limits choices for the kosher consumer.
“People forget what the Bible intended,” he said. “All we eat is what’s commercially available – chicken, turkey and beef. The kosher laws are not that restrictive. One hundred or 200 years ago, people were eating locally available animals and birds all the time.”
Now, before the swarms are blown away, they can eat locusts too.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
The Wartime Updates You Need To Know
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
HuffPost is dedicated to covering the devastating war between Hamas and Israel. We've broken news on the famine in Gaza, the State Department's turmoil, as well as what Hamas is thinking now — and we're far from done. HuffPost is committed to bringing you the critical updates you need to know. Would you consider contributing as little as $2 to support our reporting? Thank you for your support.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.