In 2004, Caroline Goon heard that the periodical cicadas that had just swarmed the D.C. area were edible. After considering different advice on how to eat them — with or without wings, headless or head on — the 20-year-old went to a tree near her apartment complex in Wheaton, Md., pulled a few adult cicadas off and gave them a quick fry. The result?
“I remember distinctly that at the time, it tasted like a crispy, salty-ish snack,” she says.
Don’t eat cicadas if you’re allergic to seafood, the FDA warns
Insect-eating — a.k.a. entomophagy — is not common in the United States, where prevalent cultural norms include a disgust factor. But since a 2013 report from the United Nations, advocates here have promoted insects as a sustainable protein source, leading to a wave of high-tech bug powders and snacks over the past few years. And cicadas are eaten in many other cultures. They have also historically
been a food source for some Native American tribes.
