With the beginning of the rainy season, the chicatanas, flying insects that have become part of the typical gastronomy of Oaxaca, also arrive.
Like the grasshoppers, from the first days of June, restaurants that are located in the Historic Center cannot wait to prepare the Chicatanas salsas, while in the indigenous communities, it is consumed whole or in tacos, accompanied with salt and lemon.
These insects are available for purchase at Central de Abasto, while in social networks you can find them for sale at $1,200 pesos per kilo.
In municipalities such as Putla Villa de Guerrero, its sale is measured by liters with a cost of 250 to 300 pesos, while in localities located on the Coast, like Puerto Escondido, the same size is sold up to 800 pesos.
Chicatanas are already part of the typical cuisine of indigenous communities, where they have been considered a nutritious and healthy food since the pre-Hispanic era.
In some regions, their consumption is made through various preparations such as in salsas, or toasted in the comales and eaten whole, although there are also people who prefer them raw.
In the most known restaurants of Oaxaca, the chefs have started making other preparations such as tamales, desserts, as well as breads or mixed for an exquisite tlayudas.
Among the properties that have been found in this insect are its low level of saturated fat, antibacterial properties, and contain great nutritional value.
It is estimated that for every 100 grams of chicatanas, it contains 47.8 percent of protein, a ratio similar to beef, according to data from researchers in Biological Sciences.