Saturday, March 23, 2013

Passover plague of locusts

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Oh no, a locust!
It landed on my patio today.
Must have been almost 2 inches long. 
I sure hope it is not a harbinger of an approaching swarm.


Last month Egypt had a plague of millions of locusts, which made Israelis think of the ten plagues that the Bible says were needed to convince Pharaoh to let our people go.
But then the Egyptians of 2013 burned tires and the black smoke and the favorable winds drove some of the locusts across the border into Israel a few weeks ago.

Our Agriculture Ministry put the country on locust alert.
When swarms (some were 6 kilometers long!)  landed on field of crops in the south, they were sprayed by crop duster planes and trucks.

How strange to have locusts right before the Passover holiday.

Now we hear that some Jews, especially those from Yemen, like to bake this type of grasshopper until it becomes a crunchy delicacy.
There is some debate, but many rabbis rule that this locust is kosher, the only kosher insect.
If you have the stomach for it you can read "The locusts are coming! Yum!"

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(Linking to Camera-Critters meme.)
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9 comments:

  1. No, don't think I will... but thanks anyhow :) I don't the idea of eating big, four legged animals and I certainly would not like little hopping insects.

    But you are right about the timing... WEIRD! Chag sameach!!

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  2. Locust snacks - eek! Yet another reason to be a vegetarian :)

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  3. Dina -- Thank you for your kind comments about Obama. I was wondering how folks felt about his visit. I bravely looked at your link concerning locusts. I'll take fried okra over locusts at this point. But then, I could lose some weight if I sprinkled locusts on my salad.
    DrumMajor

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  4. Ugh! Scary! Had to be the worst punishment to eat this

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  5. Over here they have nearly the same size, and surely are a impressive sight. Feels as if summer isn't far from here.

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  6. I have eaten fried grasshoppers--once years ago.

    Hm. I might mention that to my teenaged volunteers who think I am weird for liking blue cheese and for never having tried chicharone (which would dfinitely not be kosher.)

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  7. I'll turn vegan before eating that stuff!

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  8. Eating it might be the way to stay ahead of the locust problem, but ummm...I'd have a hard time with it.

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