I’ll Eat a Bug

It sounds like an artist’s great revenge. For the special exhibition “Juegos y Evocaciones” (“Games and Remembrances”), a retrospective of works by Oaxacan artist Rodolfo Morales, the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach promised to feed patrons bugs.

Actually, it’s not as weird as it sounds. In Oaxaca there is a long history of insect-eating. Chapulines are little crickets; gusanos are bright pink grubs that live in the center of the agave plant (it’s the famous worm in the mezcal bottle).

More than 50 people showed up, and if they were just there for a cheap thrill, they got much more than they bargained for. Not only did they get to see a wonderful exhibition, they also got a slide show on Oaxacan food ways by Nancy Zaslavsky, author of “A Cook’s Tour of Mexico” (St. Martin’s, 1995). And they got some truly spectacular food, courtesy of Zaslavsky and the great Oaxacan restaurant Guelaguetza at 8th Street and Normandie Avenue. First, there were the moles--seven, in fact (Oaxaca is known as the land of the seven moles). If your only experience with mole has been with bland, ersatz varieties, a bite of inky, chunky ajonjoli--a black Zapotecan mole, complex with dried chiles, warm spices, Oaxacan chocolate and both toasted and raw sesame seeds--would be an instant cure.

There were also clayudos, giant, thin corn tortillas that somewhat resembled toasted lavash. They were spread with a bacony black bean mixture and topped with tasajo (braised salted beef), cecina (red chile-cooked pork) and tangy golf ball-sized chorizos.

Then there were empanadas of zucchini flowers and of mushrooms and tamales exotically fragrant from being steamed in banana leaves. There was a Oaxacan-style horchata, pink from cactus fruit syrup and topped with diced mangoes, as well as mezcal and tequila drinks.

But what about those bugs?

They were deep-fried and had a texture kind of crunchy and chewy at the same time (almost like stale Rice Krispies). They tasted mostly of the red chile powder and lime juice with which they were seasoned.

Not as outrageous as one might have hoped, but still you got the feeling that even though Morales was at home in Oaxaca, he was having a great laugh.