In Oaxaca the rainy season begins in
May. Along with the rainy season, comes
the delicacy that many Oaxacans wait for all year—the Chicatanas or the flying
ants.
Once the rains begin and the
humidity and temperature are just right (as they are this week), the ants leave
their nests.
If you leave your house in the early morning, the street is
usually full of people stooping down to catch these ants and putting them in
plastic bags. They are going to take the
ants home, wash and grill them and then grind them into a sauce after adding
garlic, chili and salt.
If purchased in a market, the
chicatanas cost about $45 a kilo (2.2 pounds).
That is why most people choose to go out into the street into their neighborhoods
and catch their own.
Once the ants are ground into a
sauce, the sauce is spread onto a tortilla and enjoyed by one and all---well
most one and all. I actually have never
tasted this Oaxacan specialty.
Would anyone care to join me in a
little snack?
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