4 Exotic dishes in Mexico for the Brave traveler
By: Daniel

Jumiles

Jumiles are small stink bugs of the species Atizies taxcoensis  native to the Taxco region of the state of Guerrero in Mexico. Jumiles are collected for making sauce and for use as a taco filling. They may be eaten alive. The beginning of the jumil season on November 1st is the occasion of a large fiesta in Taxco. Fiesta-goers gather in the mountain park of Huisteco to collect jumiles and to crown a Jumil Queen.

GRASSHOPPERS

Chapulines are grasshoppers of the genus Sphenarium. They are collected only at certain times of year (from their hatching in early May through the late summer/early autumn). After being thoroughly cleaned and washed, they are toasted on a comal (clay cooking surface) with garlic and lemon juice and sal de gusano, lending a sour-spicy-salty taste to the finished product. 

Maguey worm

When fully mature, these caterpillars appear fleshy-red and can measure up to 65 mm. They are considered a delicacy by Mexican peasants and are highly nutritious. One 100-gram serving contains over 650 calories, or the equivalent of two plates of rice. They are also considered delicious deep fried or braised, seasoned with a spicy sauce and served in a tortilla.

CORR SMUT

Smut feeds off the corn plant and decreases the yield. Usually smut-infected crops are destroyed. Some farmers may also choose to prepare corn silage out of the smutted corn. It is most popular in Mexico, where it is known as "huitlacoche" and can be regularly found as an option in meals. The consumption of corn smut originates from ancient Aztec cuisine and is still considered a delicacy in Mexico, even being preserved and sold for a significantly higher price than corn.

For culinary use, the galls are harvested while still immature — fully mature galls are dry and almost entirely spore-filled. The immature galls, gathered two to three weeks after an ear of corn is infected, still retain moisture and, when cooked, have a flavor described as mushroom-like, sweet, savory, woody, and earthy. Flavor compounds include sotolon and vanillin, as well as the sugar glucose.