Move Over Sharpshooter, There's a New Bad Bug In Town

Being a winegrower is tough enough, but now apparently winegrowers in Italy have to deal with Biblical plagues in order to get their fruit in on time. Thanks to a tip from Andy over at Spittoon, we learn that many winegrowers in the Barbera and Spumanti regions surrounding Rome are facing massive swarms of locusts that can only be described in Biblical proportions. No one knows what changes your average friendly grasshopper into a mad swarming locust, but get enough of them together and they will not only change physiologically, but they will also go on rampages that will literally wipe out whole crops. It's a scary thought, and somehow much more ominous than the insidious glass winged sharpshooter.

Read the whole article here.

Posted by: Alder on July 24, 2005 11:34 PM: Tweet; Share this post elsewhere: Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit; Filed under: Wine News

Previous Entry - Main - Next Entry

Comments (3)

Geoff Smith wrote:

07.25.05 at 4:26 PM

Here's the solution: a great recipe for "El Hopper Tacos" from the Mississippi State University site.

El Hopper Tacos

6 taco shells
1 cup grasshoppers (legs, wings removed)
2 cups water
1 onion peeled chopped
salt, pepper
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup tomato sauce
lettuce chopped
additional onion, chopped
tomato chopped
grated cheese

Bring grasshoppers, water, salt, pepper, 1 chopped onion, and bay leaf to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Drain liquid, add garlic, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauce, simmer 10 minutes. Partially fill taco shells with some of the grasshopper filling. Top with lettuce, onion, cheese, and tomato.

Cheers,

Geoff

Alder wrote:

07.25.05 at 9:52 PM

Geoff,

Don't tell me you ate those in Africa too....

Geoff Smith wrote:

07.26.05 at 3:57 PM

Might have been tempted if we had tortillas!