Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Abraham Santiago remembers when, as a kid, he ran through the cornfields looking for grasshoppers to eat. This was a long time a go, when he lived with his family in San Pedro Pochutla, Oaxaca in southern Mexico.
Abraham now run his own business in Salt Lake City, where he serves a traditional dish made of grasshoppers.
"They taste different, but somehow like chicken," he said trying to describe the flavor and texture.
Maria Victoria Santiago, Abraham's sister, said this is the only Mexican restaurant in the whole Wasatch Front to serve the oaxacan traditional dish made with grasshoppers (chapulines in Mexican Spanish).
"We have costumers that drive all the way from Provo just to eat here," she said.
Despite the look, the grasshoppers aren't that bad. The little dried insects with a dark-red-color are prepared in typical Mexican style, fried with onion, tomato and green bell peppers.
The dish is also served with a hand-made tortilla, black beans and Mexican cheese called "quesillo". The best accompaniment is the "horchata" flavored water. The "horchata" flavored water is also one-of-a-kind in El Jaripeo, as it is served with strawberry, prickly pears, melon and nuts.
In addition to offering a very particular salty, spicey, crunchy flavor, the grasshoppers are also a very good source of protein. The little insects offer around 62 percent to 75 percent protein, while a traditional beefsteak only has 54 to 57 percent of protein.
"We also offer the crickets in a variety of styles: with garlic, extra spicy, with lime juice, or plain as a snack," said Abraham.
In Oaxaca the grasshoppers are a very common dish.
"Kids always collect them from the fields, specially after the rain, in the winter time," he said.
In Mexico, there are also farms where the grasshoppers are bred and toasted for human consumption, then they are packed for export to other countries. After a week of transport the freshly toasted grasshoppers make it all the way to Utah.
El Jaripeo restaurant, located at 1259 S. Redwood Rd., has been open for almost three years, although, the Santiago brothers have been in the food business longer than that.
Other Mexican specialties that are served in El Jaripeo are the "clayudas", a big corn tortilla, with black beans, and beef meet, chorizo and "cecina" (similar to beef jerky) on the top.
Mole, enchiladas, chilaquiles and many other traditional Mexican dishes can be found in El Jaripeo.
