The wild-nature are coming! In recipes form, that is.
At least that’s what’s happening at one Maryland candy store. ChouQuette Chocolates & Confections is currently making chocolate-covered cicadas, according to FOX 5 in Washington, D.C.
Earlier this month, the Bethesda-based confectioner shared an Instagram post on how it’s cooking up and sweetening these insects, which is only a seven-step process.
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According to ChouQuette’s instructions, the cicadas need to first be collected, frozen, boiled and oiled before they can be placed in an air fryer. Once the bugs are cooked and cooled, they can be covered in melted chocolate. When the chocolate has hardened, they can then be served like any other chocolate-covered food – unless of course you prefer your cicadas in a fondue style.
“Crunchy, nutty, earthy, sweet. Like a walnut with wings, covered in chocolate and cinnamon,” ChouQuette’s CEO and chocolatier Sarah Dwyer described to Fox News.
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Twitter users who caught wind of the recipe have shared their thoughts on ChouQuette’s creation, but not everyone was on board with trying chocolate-covered cicadas – or any other cicada-based dish, for that matter.
Select restaurants and chefs throughout the country have been sharing cicada menu items and digital recipes in recent weeks as countless Brood X cicadas have begun to emerge from the ground in parts of the eastern regions
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Experts estimate that trillions of cicadas will rise from underground this summer, according to a report from the Associated Press.
While not everyone will respond to the swarms by turning cicadas into a food source, ChouQuette Chocolates & Confections is currently selling their chocolate-covered cicadas.
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According to an update on the company’s website, it has been “inundated with orders.”
“People are polarized about eating cicadas as they are about politics in DC! I get hate messages and ‘I love bugs’ messages. We love to make sweet treats based on current events – Dr. Fauci was last year’s viral product – this year it is cicadas – they are plentiful, tasty and easy to catch,” Dwyer told Fox News via email. “We can’t believe the response, so many orders – like Christmas+Valentine’s+Mother’s Day! Chouquette is an inclusive employer – we hire those with mental health and neurological differences – and keeping them fully employed is why I create ‘viral’ chocolates.”