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Kosher locust

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Kosher locust
A red locust
Halakhic texts relating to this article
Torah:Leviticus 11:22
Mishnah:Hullin 3:7
Babylonian Talmud:Hullin 65a-66b and Avodah Zarah 37a
Shulchan Aruch:Yoreh De'ah 85
Other rabbinic codes:Exodus Rabbah 13:7

Kosher locusts are varieties of locust deemed permissible for consumption under the laws of kashrut (Jewish dietary law). While the consumption of most insects is forbidden under the laws of kashrut, the rabbis of the Talmud identified eight kosher species of locust. However, the identity of those species is in dispute.[1] The Jewish communities of Yemen and parts of northern Africa, until their emigration in the mid-20th century (and afterwards in Israel), ate locusts which according to their tradition are kosher.[2] Some such species can be bought in Israel for consumption.[3] In 2020, the National Rabbinate of Israel approved locusts as kosher (Pareve) for the first time: after inspecting and ensuring that modern agriculture technologies developed by Hargol FoodTech provide only kosher approved locusts species. The company sells its locusts and other food products fortified by locust protein under a special brand "Holy Locust"

Laws

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The Biblical command regarding kosher locusts goes as follows:

All winged swarming things that go upon all fours are a detestable thing unto you. Yet these may ye eat of all winged swarming things that go upon all fours, which have jointed legs above their feet, with which to leap upon the earth. These of them ye may eat: the arbeh after its kinds, and the salam after its kinds, and the hargol after its kinds, and the hagav after its kinds. But all winged swarming things, which have four feet, are a detestable thing unto you.[4]

The identity of the four permitted types is difficult to ascertain. The common names used in the Bible refer only to color and broad morphological generalities shared by many Middle-Eastern species. Also, although it is often useful for identification, the geographic location of these locusts in the text is unclear. Also, using primarily color to identify insect species is a notoriously unreliable approach. Insects that come to adulthood will have slightly different colors based on season, diet, and prevailing climate.

The Talmud concluded that there are actually more than four: the phrase "the arbeh after its kinds" implies at least two kinds under the category of arbeh, and similarly for the other three types.[5] The Talmud translates the four biblical names to the Aramaic of its day, and lists the additional kinds, as follows:[6]

Biblical name Aramaic translation Additional kinds
arbeh govai tzipporet keramim
sol'am rashon or nippol ushkaf, yohana yerushalmit
hargol nippol or rashon karsephet, shahalanit, artzuvia
hagav nadyan razbanit

The Mishnah gives additional criteria:

Among the grasshoppers (hagavim): all that have four legs, and four wings, and [two additional] jumping legs, and its wings cover most of its body [are permitted]. Rabbi Yosi says: and its name must be hagav.[7]

Unlike the Bible which permits certain named types of insect, this Mishnah lists physical characteristics – which are met by many species of grasshoppers, and every species of locust.[8] However, Rabbi Yosi's opinion is more restrictive: like the Bible, it requires a specific type name, not just physical characteristics.

Rabbi Yosi's restriction is accepted by many, but not all, rishonim.[8] However, opinions differ on how it is to be understood. According to Tur, there must be a specific tradition that a particular insect is within the category of hagav. However, according to Maimonides, all that is needed is for the species to be referred to as a hagav or a translation of this term, such as "locust".[8][9]

Tradition

[edit]

Despite the general adherence of Yemenite Jews to the rulings of Maimonides, they did not follow Maimonides' lenient opinion that merely recognising a locust's features was sufficient to permit it. Rather, they ate only those locusts which they possessed a tradition of eating.[10][11][12]

It is debated whether those who do not have a tradition can rely on the tradition of other communities to consume locusts. It is unnecessary to have a "personal tradition" in order to eat locusts – one who travels to a place where the people do have a tradition may eat locusts there.[13]

Among the authorities who forbid Ashkenazi Jews to eat locusts (based on the Yemenite tradition) are Rabbis Zalman Nechemia Goldberg,[14] Avigdor Nebenzahl,[15] and British Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz.[16] However, Rabbis Herschel Shachter, Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, and Yosef Qafih permit it.[8] Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu permitted consumption to Mizrahi Jews but not Ashkenazi Jews.[14]

Identification

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Pair of desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria)

Among Yemenite Jews "continuous tradition" exists for 3 species: desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria),[17] migratory locust (Locusta migratoria),[8] and Egyptian locust (Anacridium aegyptium).[18][19][20]

The most common locust consumed in both Yemen and Morocco was the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), whose color ranges from yellowish-green to grey, to reddish in colour when it reaches maturity.[21] According to Prof. Zohar Amar, this was the only locust species for which the traditional identification is unquestionable, while for other species the reliability of local traditions is more speculative.[22] Both the desert locust, and the less common migratory locust, are classified as arbeh.[23] So too, presumably, is the Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus), which may have been traditionally eaten by North African Jews.[24]

The greyish or brownish Egyptian locust is thought by some to belong to the category of hagav,[25] though other opinions identify it with tziporet hakeramim (a variation of arbeh).[26] In Yemen it was known by the generic Arabic name al-Jaraad (Arabic: الجراد),[27] which generally referred to arbeh. However, the terms hagav in Hebrew and al-Jaraad in Arabic could both be used as generic names for all kosher locusts, causing some confusion in terms of this species' classification. Apparently, the hagav category is similar in appearance to arbeh, except that it does not swarm.[28]

The tradition of recognizing and eating chargol and sal'am was lost by Yemenite Jews (except Habbani Jews) prior to their migration to Israel in the mid-20th century.[29] Amar speculates that sal'am might refer to the Acrida and Truxalis families,[30] while chargol might refer to species in Tettigoniidae such as Decticus albifrons.[31]

According to Yemenite Jewish tradition, the edible locust referred to in the Torah is identified by the figure resembling the Hebrew letter chet (ח) on the underside of the thorax.[32] Some explain that a distinguishing characteristic of kosher grasshoppers is that they sometimes swarm.[33][34]

In Yemen, the locust and the grasshopper share the same Arabic name, although Jews in Yemen recognize the differences between the two.[35]

In 1911, Abraham Isaac Kook, the chief rabbi of Ottoman Palestine, addressed a question to the rabbinic Court at Sana'a concerning their custom of eating grasshoppers, and whether this custom was observed by observing their outward features, or by simply relying upon an oral tradition.

The reply given to him by the court was as follows: "The grasshoppers which are eaten by way of a tradition from our forefathers, which happen to be clean, are well-known unto us. But there are yet other species which have all the recognizable features of being clean, yet we do practice abstaining from them. [Appendage]: The clean grasshoppers (Hebrew: חגבים) about which we have a tradition are actually three species having each one different coloration [from the other], and each of them are called by us in the Arabian tongue, ğarād (locusts). But there are yet other species, about which we have no tradition, and we will not eat them. One of which is a little larger in size than the grasshoppers, having the name of `awsham. There is yet another variety, smaller in size than the grasshopper, and it is called ḥanājir (katydids)."[35][36]

Ruling of ibn Attar

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In the Jewish community of Djerba, the consumption of locusts was forbidden by a takkanah of Rabbi Aharon Perez in the mid-18th century.[37] According to his letter to Rabbi David Eliyahu Hajaj, eating locusts was still an accepted practice in Tunisia at the time.

Although Perez was consumer of locusts himself, he quit the habit after reading Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar's book Peri To`ar, and moved in favour to prohibit consumption. Rashi explained that the term "jumping legs" in the Mishnah refers to legs that are adjacent to the locust's neck.[38] However, no locust consumed in ibn Attar's time possesses such a body plan (instead, the jumping legs are located at the back of the animal), leading ibn Attar to conclude that the species being consumed were not the Torah's permitted locusts.[8]

However, as the practice was still widely accepted in the city of Tunis—the rabbinical court of which was considered to have the higher authority—Perez kept his decision to himself without making it public. After the prohibition against eating locusts was finally declared in Tunis, Perez encouraged banning the practice in Djerba as well.[39]

A variety of reasons have been advanced in opposition to ibn Attar's thesis, arguing that this comment of Rashi's should not be the basis for modern halacha. Among them:

  • None of the thousands of species of grasshopper or locust known to zoologists possess the body plan suggested by Rashi's comment.[8] According to Natan Slifkin, while it was reasonable for ibn Attar to conclude in the 18th century that the Torah referred to a different unknown species of locust, with more comprehensive modern zoology such a conclusion is untenable.[8]
  • In this commentary, Rashi intended to explain the words of the Biblical verse rather than to decide halacha,[8] and indeed it would be inappropriate for a rabbi such as Rashi to have attempted to decide halacha based on his reading of Biblical verses, as ibn Attar understands Rashi to have done[40]
  • Rashi's opinion is a lone opinion contradicted by many other authorities[8]
  • Rashi himself seems to contradict this comment elsewhere.[8]
  • The Biblical verse, which states that the locust's jumping legs are "above" its walking legs, seems to mean that the jumping legs are further from the ground than the walking legs while the locust rests on the ground (as opposed to Rashi's interpretation that the jumping legs are closer to the neck, i.e. further up when the locust is held with its head up)[40]
  • The reference to the neck in Rashi's commentary may not even have been written by Rashi, but rather, added to manuscripts of his commentary by a later writer, as shown by comparison to other texts which quote Rashi's commentary but are missing these words[41]

While ibn Attar writes that a rabbi he knew had discovered a locust whose jumping legs were next to the neck, the insect in question was almost certainly a mantis, whose front legs are large but are used for hunting not jumping, and which is universally considered not kosher.[42]

Additionally, in Morocco, locusts were eaten into the 1900s. Only those who had a "continuous tradition" of both eating them and knowing the identifying sign of the kosher locusts would eat them.

How and by whom kosher locusts were eaten

[edit]

According to Yemenite rabbi Shlomo Korach, locusts were eaten by poor Yemenite Jews and were not considered a delicacy.[43] It has been suggested that consuming locusts is permitted precisely because they destroy crops.[44] Thus, if the locusts were to eat all one's crops, one could instead eat locusts and avoid starvation.[45]

A midrash describes the pickling of locusts before their consumption:

Once the locusts came, the Egyptians rejoiced and said "Let us gather them and fill our barrels with them." The Holy One, Blessed be He, said, "Wicked people, with the plague that I have brought against you, are you going to rejoice?!" Immediately God brought upon them a western wind ... and none were left. What does it mean that none were left? Even those that were pickled with salt and sitting in their pots and barrels were blown away....[46]

In the 21st century, eating locusts from wild swarms is not recommended as they may be contaminated by insecticides used to control their numbers.[47]

Among Yemenite Jews

[edit]

Several methods were used to prepare locusts, prior to eating them. One popular way was to take the locusts and throw them into a pot of boiling salt water. After cooking for a few minutes, they were placed in a heated oven to dry them, or else spread out in the sun to dry. Once dried, the heads, wings and legs were removed, leaving only the thorax and abdomen for consumption.

Another method was to stoke an earthenware stove and, when fully heated, to cast them alive into the cavity of the stove. Once roasted, they were taken out and a brine solution was sprinkled over them, before spreading them out in the sun to dry, usually upon one's rooftop.[48] According to Avshalom Mizrahi, those with refined tastes saw it as a delicacy.[49]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ Abramowitz 2013: "The rabbis of the Talmud identify eight kosher species, arguably including grasshoppers and crickets. However, while the Sephardic community has a tradition identifying kosher locusts, the Ashkenaz community follows the opinion of Rashi that we have lost our identifying traditions and therefore we refrain from eating locusts."
  2. ^ Amar 2004, pp. 75–81.
  3. ^ "Eating locusts: The crunchy, kosher snack taking Israel by swarm". BBC News. 2013-03-21. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  4. ^ Leviticus 11:20–23
  5. ^ Chullin 65a-b
  6. ^ Amar 2004, pp. 104.
  7. ^ Mishnah Chullin 3:7
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Slifkin, Natan (12 April 2021). "Kosher Locust". www.biblicalnaturalhistory.org. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  9. ^ ben Maimon, Moses (2017). "Ma'achaloth Asuroth" הלכות מאכלות אסורות פרק א [Laws of Forbidden Food]. משנה תורה להרמב"ם [RaMBaM's Mishneh Torah] (in Hebrew) (The Mamre Institute ed.). Jerusalem: The Mamre Institute. 1:21-22. The kinds of grasshoppers permitted by the Torah are eight, which are these: ... Anyone who is knowledgeable regarding them and their names, he eats [them]; and the hunter is faithful concerning them, just as he would be concerning a [clean] fowl. But he that is not knowledgeable, he checks their signs; there being three distinct signs common to them: all having four forelegs, and four wings which cover most of their body lengthwise and most of their body's broadside, and having two hind femurs for jumping withal, lo, such is an edible (lit. pure) kind [of insect]. And even if its head was long, and it had a tail, if its name is a grasshopper, it is edible (lit. pure).
  10. ^ Yedid, Rachel; Bar-Maoz, Danny (2018). Ascending the palm tree : An anthology of the Yemenite Jewish heritage. Rehovot E'ele BeTamar. p. 102. As for eating grasshoppers, the Jews of Yemen did not follow the halakhic ruling of Maimonides, where he posited that it was sufficient to merely recognize their features. Instead, they ate only the kind of grasshopper that, according to their tradition, was an edible grasshopper, namely, the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), and which they called in Yemenite-Jewish parlance, ğarād. Rabbi Abraham Ṣanʻāni's responsum indicates that even in his realm the practice was as the other communities in Yemen, although he personally refrained from eating them, probably because of the impact of Rabbi Ḥaim ben Attar's opinion. OCLC 1041776317.
  11. ^ Amar 2004, pp. 85, 88: [p. 85] An explicit tradition of eating grasshoppers existed among all the Jews of Yemen, in their various factions. The Jews of Yemen were experts in what concerns the kinds of locust, and they had a regular practice of eating them… [p. 88] ...All Jews in Yemen, in all their dwelling places, were accustomed to eating locusts, city dwellers and villagers alike, as well as among their various factions: those who espouse to the Baladi-rite and those to the Shammi-rite, the kabbalists and the non-kabbalists. In recent generations, there began to infiltrate into Yemen the halachic works of other Jewish centers, and some of them even succeeded in influencing the original customs of Yemen. Thus, for example, the news of Rabbi Ḥayyim Ben Attar’s ruling against the eating of grasshoppers reached Yemen. Although this [specific] ruling had no impact on Yemen, in any rate the rabbis of Yemen made an effort to reinforce their ancient custom. The first to come out in defense of the tradition of eating grasshoppers in Yemen was Rabbi Yihye Qoraḥ (1840–1881), one of the last of Yemen’s sages. (Original Hebrew: (עמ' 85) מסורת ברורה של אכילת חגבים היתה בקרב כל יהודי תימן לפלגיהם השונים. יהודי תימן היו בקיאים במיני הארבה והם נהגו לאכול מהם תדיר... (עמ' 88) ...אכילת חגבים היתה נהוגה אצל כל יהודי תימן בכל מושבותיהם, עירוניים וכפריים כאחד, ולפלגיהם השונים: בעלי הנוסח הבלדי והשאמי, העקשים והדרדעים. בדורות האחרונים החלו לחדור לתימן חיבורים הלכתיים ממרכזים יהודיים אחרים, וחלק מהם אף הצליחו להשפיע על מנהגי תימן המקוריים. כך, למשל, הגיעה לתימן שמעה של פסיקתו של הרב חיים בן עטר כנגד אכילת חגבים. אף שלפסיקה זו לא היתה כל השפעה בתימן, בכל זאת טרחו רבני תימן לבצר את מנהגם הקדום. הראשון שיצא להגנת מסורת אכילת החגבים בתימן היה הרב יחיא קורח (ת"ר–תרמ"א), מחכמי תימן האחרונים.)
  12. ^ Qafih, Yosef (1982). Jewish Life in Saná. Ben-Zvi Institute. p. 218. The Jews of Yemen would collect the locust and eat it – although not all species, rather, only known species accepted by them from their ancestors, based on the tradition passed down generation after generation that they are clean; and there are known species where the tradition held by them from their ancestors denotes as unclean, even though they possess all the signs of cleanness described in the Torah and in the Halacha. Among the unclean kinds are considered the following species: `awsham, ḥanāğir, ġazzāleh, usādat ḥanaš (the snake's pillow), among others. All of the species are known to them by eye-inspection. Usually, the unclean kinds do not come in great swarms, but multiply during the rainy season, especially among the grasses and weeds. However, the clean kinds come in swarms, 'all of them by banding together' (Proverbs 30:27). Also the clean kinds are divided into four types; the best of them all is the one which is reddish in color; below it – that which is called ḥarḍiyyeh, of a grey and spotted color; below it, that which is yellowish in color, while below it is that which is whitish in color. This last one is inferior [to the rest] in terms of eating, on account of its thinness, and its limbs being more fibrous. The most praiseworthy is that which is reddish in color, especially at the time of its reproduction, when it is then fat and its taste is pleasant to the palate. (Original Hebrew: יהודי תימן היו לוקטים ארבה ואוכלים אותו, אך לא כל המינים, אלא רק מינים ידועים, המקובלים בידיהם מאבותיהם, על פי המסורת איש מפי איש, שהם טהורים; ויש מינים ידועים, שמסורת בידיהם מאבותיהם, שהם טמאים, אעפ"י שיש בהם כל סימני טהרה המפורשים בתורה ובהלכה. בין הטמאים נחשבים המינים הללו" "עושם", "חנאגר", "ג'זאלה", "וסאדת חנש", ועוד. כל המינים מוכרים להם בטביעת-עין. בדרך כלל אין המינים הטמאים באים במחנות גדולים אלא מתרבים בימות הגמשים, בייחוד בין דשאים ועשבים. אבל המינים הטהורים באים מחנות מחנות, ויצא חצץ כולו (משלי ל, כז). גם המינים הטהורים נחלקים לארבעה סוגים; משובח שבכולם האדמדם; למטה ממנו – "חרצ'ייה", אפור ונקוד; למטה ממנו הצהבהב, ולמטה ממנו הלבלבן. זה האחרון גרוע לאכילה, מחמת רזונו, ואיבריו סיביים יותר. משובח הוא האדמדם בייחוד בזמן רבייתו, שאז הוא שמן וטעמו ערב לחיך.)
  13. ^ "Are locusts really Kosher?!".
  14. ^ a b כשרות חגבים לבני אשכנז
  15. ^ אכילת חגבים לבני אשכנז
  16. ^ Hertz, Rabbi Dr. J.H. (1960). Soncino Press (London) (ed.). 'Pentateuch and Haftorahs: Hebrew Text, English Translation and Commentary. p. 451, note on Leviticus 11:22. ISBN 0-900689-21-8.
  17. ^ Amar 2002, p. 188.
  18. ^ Amar, Zohar; עמר, זהר. (2004). ha-Arbeh be-masoret Yiśraʼel. Ramat-Gan: Hotsaʼat Universiṭat Bar-Ilan. p. 122. ISBN 965-226-257-9. OCLC 56109868.
  19. ^ "מאמרי "כשרות החגבים" שפורסמו בגליון "תנובות שדה"". www.maharitz.co.il. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  20. ^ "Kosher Locusts – The Biblical Museum of Natural History". www.biblicalnaturalhistory.org. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  21. ^ Amar 2004, p. 106,135.
  22. ^ Amar 2004, p. 135.
  23. ^ Amar 2004, p. 106.
  24. ^ Amar 2004, p. 75, 79, 135.
  25. ^ Amar 2004, p. 120-122.
  26. ^ Amar 2004, p. 108.
  27. ^ Amar 2004, pp. 120–121, 146.
  28. ^ Amar 2004, p. 115.
  29. ^ Amar 2004, pp. 110–111.
  30. ^ Amar 2004, p. 109-111.
  31. ^ Amar 2004, p. 112.
  32. ^ Amar 2004, pp. 151–153.
  33. ^ See Rabbi Amram Korach, Saarot Teiman, p. 93; Arichat Hashulchan, vol. 3, p. 136; Rabbi Yosef Kapach, Halikhoth Teiman: Jewish Life in Sanà, p. 218.
  34. ^ Shurpin, Yehuda. "Why Are Grasshoppers (Locusts) Kosher for Some Jews?". chabad.org. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  35. ^ a b יבנאלי, שמואל (1952). מסע לתימן : בשליחות המשרד הארץ ישראלי של ההסתדרות הציונית בשנות תרע"א-תרע"ב 1911-1912 (in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv. pp. 187–199.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  36. ^ Amar 2004, p. 147: The ḥanājir is described as a jumping grasshopper found in grasses, smaller than the edible locust, and whose color is either greenish or yellowish-brown, possessing a pointed tail. This species is also endemic to the land of Israel, and it has been identified with the katydid. One of the clear signs of the family Tettigonioidea is the long pipe-like organ for laying eggs, belonging to the females, [and] which resembles a sword or a bend similar to a sickle. (Original Hebrew:ה"חנאג'ר" מתואר כחגב קופצני הנמצא בדשאים, קטן מן הארבה הכשר וצבעו ירקרק או חום-צהבהב, בעל זנב מחודד. מין זה גדל גם בארץ והוא מזוהה עם החרגול. אחד מהסימנים המובהקים של משפחת החרגוליים (טטיגוניוידיא) הוא צינור ההטלה הארוך של הנקבה שהוא דמוי חרב או כפוף דמוי חרמש.)
  37. ^ Valensi & Udovitch 1984, p. 17-18: The biography of Rabbi Aharon Perez [...] adds that he also instituted (in Hebrew, tikken) many rules regarding the rituals that since then have formed part of Djerba's tradition. In particular, it was him that forbade the consumption of locusts in both communities, a habit that was until then regarded as permissible. Original French: La biographie du rabbin Aharon Perez [...] ajoute qu'il a aussi instauré (en hébreu tiqqen) un grand nombre de règles en matière de rituel qui ont appartenu depuis lors à la coutume djerbienne. C'est lui notamment, qui interdit la consommation de sauterelles dans les deux communautés, pratique considérée jusque là comme licite.
  38. ^ Rashi, Chullin 59a
  39. ^ Amar 2002, p. 193: This emerges from a letter sent by R. Aharon Perez. of Djerba (d. 1766) to R. David Eliyahu Hajaj from the city of Kafsa in the south of Tunisia. From this letter we see that during R. Aharon Peretz’s time, locust eating was an accepted practice. It was also accepted by the eminent rabbis of Djerba, among them R. Nissim K’iat, and R. Aharon Perez. himself attests that “I, too, used to love to eat it more than any other delicacy.” Then a copy of R. H. ayyim ben Atar’s book, Peri To`ar, came into his hands, and after reading it, R. Perez. was convinced that it was right, and that the eating of locusts should be forbidden. R. Aharon Perez. stopped eating locusts but refrained from publicizing his decision, since it was still accepted practice to eat locusts in Tunis. When the prohibition against eating locusts was publicized in Tunis (a city whose rabbinical court was considered to have the higher authority), R. Aharon also issued a declaration in Djerba.
  40. ^ a b Amar 2004, p. 165.
  41. ^ Amar 2004, p. 166.
  42. ^ Amar 2004, p. 167.
  43. ^ Rabbi Shlomo Korach, Arichat HaShulchan III, p. 139. See "The Dessert Desert Locust – the Biblical Museum of Natural History". Archived from the original on 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  44. ^ Rabbi Moshe Toledano (1724-1773), Melechet Hakodesh, Shemini 11:21
  45. ^ "Starving Yemenis find food source in massive locust outbreak". 3 June 2019.
  46. ^ Exodus Rabbah 13:7
  47. ^ Swarming locusts: people used to eat them, but shouldn’t anymore
  48. ^ Amar 2004, p. 49: Whenever a plague of locusts visited their places [...] they'd gather the locusts fallen to the ground, just as they would gather forsaken eggs. At home, they would soak the locusts in a pot of boiling water, they would then spice them and cool them off. [...] Such a description repeats itself in an interview that I made with Jews who recently came-up to Israel from Yemen. After boiling the locust in boiling water, they would dry it in the sun, usually upon the rooftops of the houses [...] S. Bannei Moshe wrote on his method of preserving the locusts in his memoirs: After stoking the oven 'they would empty the content of the sacks carrying the locusts into it, while they were still alive, and cover-up [the mouth of] the stove for a few hours. Then they'd remove them, sprinkle upon them a solution of salt mixed with water, and spread them out in an open-place for a number of days. After drying, they would pack them [for storage]'. (Original Hebrew: כל אימת שמיתקפת חגבים פוקדת את מקומותיהם... [היו יוצאים] לאסוף את החגבים הנושרים ארצה כאסוף ביצים עזובות. בבית משרים את החגבים בקדירת מים רותחים, מתבלים ומצננים... תיאור זה חזר על עצמו בראיון שערכתי עם יהודים שעלו לא מכבר מתימן. לאחר חליטת הארבה במים רותחים היו מייבשים אותו בשמש, בדרך כלל על גגות הבתים... כתב גם ש' בני משה בזכרונותיו: לאחר הסקת התנור "היו מריקים את שקי הארבה לתוכו בעודו חי ומכסים את התנור למספר שעות. אז מוציאים אותו, מתיזים עליו מלח מהול במים ושוטחים אותו במקום פתוח למספר ימים. לאחר שנתייבש היה נארז".)
  49. ^ Mizrahi, Avshalom (1993). Serri, Shalom (ed.). "Ha'mitbah ha'temani" המטבח התימני: חואיג׳, אהבה ופולקלור [The Yemenite Kitchen - Hawaij, Love and Folklore]. Bat Teman (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv: Amutat E’ele Ba’tamar: 102. Locusts: Although the locust (ğarād) was not a regular component in the Yemenite cuisine, it is worthy of being mentioned here. This is the only insect where some of its species are permitted to be eaten under Jewish biblical law (Leviticus 11:22). The Jews of Yemen would occasionally eat of it, while those with refined taste saw it as a delicacy. The locusts were gathered in the hours of the night, at the time when they attacked agricultural areas, and their crispy bodies were prepared for eating either by frying or roasting. Children were also treated with them, as a delicacy OCLC 233096195

Sources

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Further reading

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