Saturday, May 30, 2015

Eating Mopane Worms

Notice she's wearing a lion t-shirt and she's staring at me to see if I flinch, and I'm about to chomp down on my third or fourth fried mopane worm. I call them land shrimp. People in Zimbabwe love a plateful of plump fried mopane worms. They're going to stick a plate in front of you sooner or later and I knew that. My expression, hoisting this grub to my mouth, is brave and non-chalant. It's a rite of passage, and they will laugh themselves silly  watching you eat your plate full. You do it once and you don't have to do it again.

Mopane worms have a rich, full flavor. I could see why local people love to eat them. But they are an acquired taste that I did not choose to acquire.


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