Disgusting Food Museum
There are plenty of fish in the sea, but when the sea isn’t in reach, there are plenty of ants in the sand. They, too, lay eggs, and, like fish egg caviar, “the caviar of the desert” is very expensive.
Ant pupae and larvae, called escamol, is considered an opulent treat in Mexico. The name derives from the word azcamolli, a portmanteau of the Nahuatl words for ant and stew. This land-locked delicacy, which resembles pine nuts or corn kernels, has a nutty, buttery taste and a cottage cheese–like mouthfeel.
Due to their delicate, palatable flavor, escamoles are often prepared simply, fried in butter with onion and chili, and then wrapped in corn tortillas and served in tacos.
This prized egg is produced by the Liometopum apiculatum, or the velvety tree ant. However, the odor of their nests has earned the insect another nickname. Locals refer to them as la hormiga pedorra, “the farty ant.”
Escamoles are collected from the high plains of Central Mexico, where the velvety tree ant tunnels its home among the roots of mezcal and tequila plants. The difficulty involved in acquiring escamoles only adds to their prized reputation. Furthermore, collection season is short. A nest produces eggs about four times, exclusively between February and April.……
https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/escamoles-ant-caviar
There are plenty of fish in the sea, but when the sea isn’t in reach, there are plenty of ants in the sand. They, too, lay eggs, and, like fish egg caviar, “the caviar of the desert” is very expensive.
Ant pupae and larvae, called escamol, is considered an opulent treat in Mexico. The name derives from the word azcamolli, a portmanteau of the Nahuatl words for ant and stew. This land-locked delicacy, which resembles pine nuts or corn kernels, has a nutty, buttery taste and a cottage cheese–like mouthfeel.
Due to their delicate, palatable flavor, escamoles are often prepared simply, fried in butter with onion and chili, and then wrapped in corn tortillas and served in tacos.
This prized egg is produced by the Liometopum apiculatum, or the velvety tree ant. However, the odor of their nests has earned the insect another nickname. Locals refer to them as la hormiga pedorra, “the farty ant.”
Escamoles are collected from the high plains of Central Mexico, where the velvety tree ant tunnels its home among the roots of mezcal and tequila plants. The difficulty involved in acquiring escamoles only adds to their prized reputation. Furthermore, collection season is short. A nest produces eggs about four times, exclusively between February and April.……
https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/escamoles-ant-caviar