Local Delicacies

There are many dishes here in Uganda that I enjoy. Mitoke (mashed bananas), G-nut (a ground nut sauce), Pork, Rice, and Chipote (Panbread) are all starchy and delicious. The fresh fruits and vegetables, although limited, are good. Poscho (flour and water) and Casava (a local root) are not so enticing. However, there are a few unexpected delicacies that I have discovered.

Geoffery brought us a plate full of grasshoppers. By us, I mean Brent & myself. Brent is from the church in Canada and just finished a year in Egypt. He has been to Uganda a couple of times and came to visit and show his fiancé, Joy, what he loves. Anways, like I mentioned, Geoffery us brought these:




Here is Brent downing it. This was his first one.



They ended up being actually pretty good. After being cooked, they are crunchy and, as many insects, seemed to taste similar to chicken. I have thanked Geoffery a few times for the honor as I read that grasshoppers are considered a delicacy and, traditionally, were caught by the wife for her husband. The husband would, in turn, be expected to buy his wife a dress. Hmm…

The other day I was told some of the kids were catching grasshoppers, pulling off their legs and plopping them, still writhing, in their mouth like candy. I wonder if they would taste fresher that way? Only one way to find out, I guess.

When Brent was here last time he helped build a wooden fence that lines the road and separates the guest house and one of the children’s home. Much to his surprise there was a giant termite hill that had been growing for a year right beside it. The termite hills here are everywhere and can grow taller than me, up to 7-8 feet. This one was 3 feet and Brent decided to destroy it as the termites had already eaten at his work.



The demolition took place late afternoon by Brent and the man you see in the pic, Vincet, a older member of the church who works breaking rocks in a nearby quarry and grandfather to two of the girls in the children’s home. So, of course, after only about five minutes of work they were joined by a dozen of the children who wanted to help. Everyone watching was laughing as ever minute or so another kid would yelp as a termite attacked them. After an hour, the hill was no more.



Well, now, the reason that I took time to describe this happening is the process of destroying the infrastructure of the termite hill. If we just left it there then it would be rebuilt in a month. The queen needed to be found and killed. One way to do this is chemically. However, they had already destroyed the hill so the easiest was was to find her and remove her.


Here she is. Disgusting.



That night, there was a knock on the door. In walks Sam and Laurence with the queen, half of her abdomen missing, on a plate. “You, Eat”. They looked at Brent and I with eager expectation….

…It was…far and away…the worst thing I have eaten here. The texture, the smell, the head and legs still present. We had to stop after one bite. The boys were surprised as we told them that they could share the rest. But, after our insisting, they were content and left with this local delicacy back into the night.