https://www.nation.co.ke/news/explainers/Explainer–How-to-prepare-a-locust-meal/5337446-5413060-odvdk6z/index.html
An average swarm of locusts can eat the same amount of food in one day as about 10 elephants, 25 camels or 2,500 people.
And just before they do that in Wajir, Mandera, Marsabit and Isiolo, entomologists —experts in matters insects — are advising Kenyans to eat them.
They argue that desert locusts have already destroyed more than 70,000 hectares of farmland in Somalia and Ethiopia, where the invasion started, and if you don’t make them a meal, they may deny you one.
But just before you take your basket and head to the fields, you need to know this:
What are desert locusts?
The desert locusts are typically shy, solitary insects that become very aggressive when in crowds.
They are brown in colour when they hatch but turn yellow once they mature. Swarms of locusts can migrate more than 130 kilometers in a day.
Are they the same as grasshoppers?
While they appear almost similar, locusts are different from grasshoppers. First, locusts can move very fast and cover a longer distance than hoppers — up to 130 kilometres in 24 hours. They usually fly with the wind.
Secondly, unlike locusts, most hopper species do not eat and destroy crops.
Are locusts edible?
Yes, according to the Entomologists Society of Kenya.
“We encourage the eating of locusts as part of the management of the pest, as well as the adoption of termites and other insects,” says Prof John Nderitu, an integrated pest management specialist at the University of Nairobi.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), locusts are usually stir-fried, roasted or boiled and eaten immediately or dried and eaten later.
Have Kenyans eaten them before?
Again, yes, according to Prof John Nderitu and other experts.
“The locusts have always been eaten in western Kenya as a delicacy Half a kilo of termites in Kakamega is more expensive than half a kilo of meat,” says the researcher.
“I ate grasshoppers in the early 1960s when I was young. We just placed it in hot ash for five minutes, removed the head and then ate it.”
According to an elder, Jacob Mate Shiamwama from Ilesi in Kakamega East sub-county, locusts are considered a delicacy in many communities in the region.
“When locusts were sighted, there would be excitement in the villages,” he says.
“People would wait until nightfall, when they had descended and settled on trees and vegetation. They would then collect the locusts and put them in baskets and containers for roasting in pots.”
Dr Esther Kioko, a member of Entomologists Society of Kenya, says the insects were turned into food by residents of Machakos County during a locust invasion in the 1940s.
“During the locust invasion the insects in the 1940s, the locust invaded and ate every green plant. My grandmother and other residents then caught and ate the insects. Using the new found source of food, they survived and were exempted from relief assistance by the colonial government,” she says.
The FAO also backs insect eating as a part of many of the world's cultures.
"It is estimated that insect-eating is practised regularly by at least 2 billion people worldwide," the UN body said in a report.
What is their nutritional value?
According to various nutritional researches, a serving of 100 grammes of desert locust provides 11.5 grammes of fat and 286 miligrammes of cholesterol.
The insect also contains varying amounts of potassium, sodium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc.
Here is the recipe for Moshe Basson’s Crisp Grasshoppers (Use around 25 locusts)
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Prepare around 2 litres of vegetable stock with a little turmeric added to it.
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Place the locusts in the boiling stock. Cook for about 3 minutes.
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Drain the locusts and let them cool a bit.
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Twist off their heads, and this will ensure that you pull out their black, threadlike entrails.
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Remove the wings and small legs from the cooked insects.
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Make a seasoned flour using 4 tablespoons, 3/4 teaspoon salt, a little pepper and chilli powder, a shake of ground coriander, and dried garlic pellets. A typical, simple seasoned flour can be made with simple ingredients like salt, pepper and flour.
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Roll the precooked locusts in a beaten egg, before rolling them in the seasoned flour. Shake the excess flour off.
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Fry in olive oil for 1 1/2-2 minutes, till it turns a golden brown.
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Serve with lemon tahini sauce.