“Made in Oaxaca” and a grasshopper,
an item in the pre-Columbian diet of this region.
(Photo, S. Wood, Nov. 2013)
Grasshoppers
In this section we are assembling resources that might be helpful in developing a curricular unit about chapulines, or grasshoppers, a part of the diet of indigenous peoples of Mexico since prehispanic times. Chapulin (also spelled chapolin) is a Nahuatl word for grasshopper or locust. These insects are often seasoned with chiles.
Chapulines with radishes and squash blossoms, Merced Market, Oaxaca (S. Wood, 2011)
- Mexicolore’s piece on the Grasshopper (Renee McGarry) includes images of artifacts from pre-Columbian times and images from manuscripts
- Wikipedia article on chapulines
- Mexico’s Edible Insects and a Bit of History Too
Chapulines taco filling, Oaxaca. (Photo, Robert Haskett, 2005)
There are many videos of people looking at or eating grasshoppers, but the degree of cultural sensitivity varies. You can Google “eating grasshoppers” or “chapulines” and “Oaxaca” to see what you might find.
- A bilingual example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuOU4WByVmw
Axayacatl Bugs
This bug shares its name with a famous Aztec emperor, who expanded the empire significantly with conquests of neighboring regions in the 1470s.
On the bug, see Mexicolore’s article, “Astonishing Axayacatl” (Matthew McDavitt, ethnozoologist).
Worms
- Live maguey cactus worms for sale in the market in Oaxaca: http://www.themijachronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Maguey-Worms_oaxaca.jpg
- Toasted maguey worms: http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/monthly_06_2011/post-14551-0-89951000-1307056679.jpg
- In 2011, some of our braver NEH Summer Scholars gave worm-eating a try at the mezcal plant of Benevá at Rancho Zapata: PreparingWormToEat and JoshEatingWorm.
