Grasshoppers for Dinner

Monday, February 4, 2008
Coyoacán




Well, it was the first sort of social outing with a bunch of classmates from CEPE last Thursday after class, and given the odd mix of Korean, Japanese, Canadian, Me!, and Beré - our token Méxicana, odd combinations was certainly the order of the day. Nevertheless, none of us, I think, expected such an odd combination as grasshoppers and guacamole!! as we hopped onto the Coyoacán collectivo towards Mukyu on Avenida Miguel Angel Quevedo- the Ramen noodle place Keichi had been recommending. - and who would know better?
Anyway, the ramen was indeed excellent, muy sabroso - and genuine enough considering there was not a Japanese noodle chef in sight! - but even after a drink of Calpis, and then green tea ice cream for dessert, it was still too early to call it a night, so off we went into the center of Coyoacán to sit again for drinks at one of those broad shady terraces right on the Jardin Centenario. Some girls stayed with hot chocolate - which took a while to "grind"...! - while us guys opted for more serious fare, wicked mescal-based mixed concoctions like Xochiti or Huatulco sporting ingredients like sugar cane syrup, lime juice, coconut water or tamarind. Delish!




But the little complication was that we had to eat at least one little antojo - or snack since this was a restaurant we were sitting at. Nobody really hungry at all of course - after big fat bowls of ramen! "Oh, this guacamole dish looks nice and lite - Guacamole con chapulines - must come with chips, right?" And before Beré - the only one who knew - could finish explaining exactly what chapulines were, there they appeared in front of us - in a bowl! Now Japanese and Koreans eat some pretty weird s*#@, but no way were any of the girls going to even consider trying these golden-crispy-fried little grasshoppers sprinkled over the guacamole. Philippe and Keichi and I - with a little help from Beré - polished them off no sweat! Salty, curry-flavored and crunchy - Yum Yum! Tasteee!