The Cicadas Are Coming. Let’s Eat Them!

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Why not embrace Brood X as the free-range, sustainable source of protein that it truly is?

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FOR 17 YEARS, the trillions of cicadas known as Brood X have tunneled through dark soil, feeding on sap as they slowly matured. Babies during the George W. Bush years, these long-gestating underground bugs are starting to hatch across the eastern United States, emerging from the earth in astounding numbers. Their time above ground is short: three to six weeks, just long enough to mate and die. As a biological phenomenon, gigantic cicada broods are hard to ignore. They’re like crickets with musical-theater degrees—dramatic, loud, committed to a splashy outfit change. And while some people will delight in their natural spectacle, others will just want to be rid of them. There is, however, another reaction: Grab a fork and knife.

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Brood X offers something beyond noise and wonder. Namely, it offers a source of free-range, no-cost, eco-friendly protein—one so good that Bun Lai is already out foraging. A New Haven, Connecticut–based chef renowned for pioneering sustainable sushi, Lai is currently in Washington, DC, where the cicadas have already begun to hatch, collecting as many as he can find. When he’s done, he’ll host a cicada-based popup dinner in the woods with his bounty. Lai plans to serve the cicadas in a paella, on a pizza, and as a sushi ingredient. He’s going to make some using indigenous preparation methods, too. “Cicadas taste a bit like nuts, as many insects do, but with every bite, my nose is reminded of popcorn, too,” he says.

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