Inswa

If ever there is a spectacular display of insect life during the rainy season, it is that of the flying termites (inswa). When the rains first arrive (usually at the end of November) millions of fat termites set out to form new colonies. The night it begins you can see thousands of them flying around house lights. Sometimes they are a bit of an annoyance because they get into the house.

So after a heavy rainfall this week, the insects emerged at New Day and by nightfall they began swarming the house lights. The trick to gathering the inswa, which we see here the kids doing at New Day, is to have a bucket of water on hand. You grab the inswa and throw them in the bucket. With wet wings, they cannot fly away! This also gets them a little clean for the next step.

Once you have enough to fry, you just pull off the wings and put in a hot dry skillet. Some say they taste like popcorn. You know, when you get a piece of popcorn where the kernel is only slightly popped, that is the closest description I have found. (I can't say that I really remember the taste, because it has been 4 years since I ate inswa in Zambia. And by my recollection, I immediately followed my tasting with a glass of water!)  They have enough body fat/oils so that nothing else is required, except some salt (for taste). For Zambians there is nothing better than the free fat and protein that can be gathered. Hey, free food is hard to beat!  In fact, I researched the "Nutritional Value" of termites, and they have long been affirmed to be one of the richest foods, containing some 40% fat and 36% protein, as well as being rich in some minerals like phosphate and potash.

Can you imagine the packaging would look something like this?

Inswa (Fried Termites)

Nutritional Facts

Serving Size: 100 grams

Calories: 561

Fat: 40%

Protein: 36%