Cicada recipe 1

Sometime around May 22, the 17-year cicadas (Brood XIII) will emerge in the Northern Illinois area. I remember the 1990 and the 1973 events around here. It was noisy and fascinating at the same time. Last year, I shot some video of a non-Brood XIII cicada as it was devoured by a praying mantis. Why should the praying mantis have all the fun? This year, in addition to the noise and the fascination, I'm up to finding my inner mantis. I've found a number of recipes for preparing these edible insects into a scrumptious (?) meal. I can't say that I've ever tried any of them, but I'm game.

Here's the first: A recipe for the emerging larvae. I found it at cicadayear.com.

Soft-Shelled Cicadas

• 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 30 freshly emerged 17-year cicadas
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• Salt and pepper to season the flour
• 1/2 cup corn oil or slightly salted butter

Marinate cicadas in Worcestershire sauce for several hours.
Dip them in the beaten egg, roll them in the seasoned flour and then gently saute until they are golden brown.

Anyone else ready?

I'll post another recipe for the cicada's "out of the shell" soon.

Random thought. Cicada lovers like cheesy stuff, right? How about "The Cheese Song"?