Why Not a Cicada Insects Pizza?

… trillions are coming

I am enthusiastic about creating appetizing pizzas in my new outdoor oven. After weeks of underdone or carbonized, overcooked pizzas being my top producers, I have arrived confident enough to invite guests to try a variety I serve with assurance and pride. And I'm ready to be a little creative.

I had a thought with the current news of the cicada insect invasion. Why not a cicada pizza? OK, if you think I might be crazy, I wouldn’t argue.  Why would I, one of the fussier eaters who has never had dishes like tripe (intestine), liver, bugs, or beetles, consider making a pizza topped with an insect?  I don’t have an answer. Yet. Maybe it was the novelty of it. Maybe I thought I had an answer to world food challenges. Off I trundled to the archives.

Cicadas are medium-sized, harmless invertebrate insects with short antennae, transparent wings, and prominent eyes.  Having lived as nymphs underground for up to 20 years, they then tunnel to the surface where they become adults for only four to six weeks, beginning their life cycle again. As soon as they’re above ground, they make a beeline for a vertical surface; typically, a tree trunk or a fence post. There they shed their tough outer skeletons and spread, then shed, their wings before spending four to six weeks in a noisy frenzy of eating, mating, and egg-laying. Numbering billions, they are now starting to appear in backyards across the country.

Yes, Harmless

A swarm may sound scary, but they are harmless.  They are a valuable food source for birds and other predators. Why not for us? And with billions around, why not on a grand scale? They are ripe for the taking. Are they good to eat?

Entomophagy, insect-eating, is a widespread practice throughout the world, even a worthy, practical, and necessary solution to food challenge issues. The nutritional density of insects is high.

Entogastronomists, insect eaters, are not common in the United States and other Western cultures. Entomophagy, however, is elsewhere. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that 2.5 billion people, mostly in Africa, include insects in their regular diet. In some cultures, bugs make up as much as 20 percent of diets. Many insects are an excellent source of essential nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and proteins; even a healthy, sustainable alternative to meat.

100 grams of crickets (½ cup) contain approximately 121 calories, 13 grams of protein, 5.5 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbohydrates, and more iron than an equivalent serving of spinach.

There are many insects to eat: locusts, crickets, grubs, grasshoppers, and more. How about guacamole seasoned with ants, or a plate of fried crickets smothered in onions?  I might consider adding the combo to a frittata.

So, what about the cicadas? Eating cicadas isn't harmful, and they're considered a delicacy in some cultures. They're high in protein and low in fat. They are arthropods with an exoskeleton. We eat arthropods like shrimp, crabs, and lobster, even putting them on pizza, all the time. So why not cicadas?  That is the genesis of my thought but, eureka, someone thought of it long before me.

Some restaurants serve pizza topped with insects, including grasshoppers, crickets, mealworms, and cicadas. Pizza Bandit in Ohio went viral in 2021 for its Spicy Thai Cicada Pie, which features foraged cicadas, mozzarella, provolone, and other classic toppings.

Some say that deep-fried crickets on a thin-crust pizza are tasty; even soaking them in lemon juice before using them as toppings.  The soft cicada found in the early morning hours seems best for the pizza, though a little extra crunch from the older hardened adult may have a different appeal.

In addition to pizza, I found many cicada recipe suggestions on the internet. Here are a few: cicada portobello quiche, German chocolate cicada cake, cicada soup, cicada cupcakes, sautéed, deep-fried, parboiled, on toothpicks as an appetizer, in tacos, and on toast. Even craft cocktails.

And now for my pizza. With the help of my IT friend, Randy Walters, here is what we produced. A

And here might be the finished product

Image generated by Randy Walters with the assistance of SDXL 1.0 AI Randy Walters

If invited, would you come to my house for a tomato, cheese, and cicada pizza? Remember, they don’t bite or sting when alive, and rest assured don’t bite, even taste good, bathed in tomatoes and mozzarella after a minute and a half at 600 degrees.

Come. Sink your teeth into this tomato pizza topped with these plump, crisp, crunchy critters. Let’s make this pizza about nature. Let’s make it a new, exciting, and unique experience.

After all, they’re here for the taking.

And, if you need a recipe, Dave Gordon has the cookbook.