Locusts In My Food

Chef Brian

 Growing up in Hawaii it is almost impossible to escape being seen at a luau.   It’s a part of life there.  One of the most important items of the luau is the food.  In old Hawaii, most of it was fresh or raw food, but when it came to cooked foods, it was generally prepared in an underground oven.  This underground oven was called an imu.  From here originates the traditional method of roasting meats and vegetables and oftentimes, cooking desserts as well.  The most amazing flavors come from this pit in the ground.  The fire in the imu was very important.  In those olden days there were no temperature gauges, so the person in charge of building the imu needed some experience and know how. Kiawe ( key-ah-vay) wood was the preferred choice of wood in this process because not only is it abundant in Hawaii, but it burns slowly and very hot.  A hot fire was used to heat stones placed in the bottom of the pit.  Then those stones were covered with brush and banana leaves where the food would be placed atop.  Finally, it was all covered with a cloth and then dirt to hold in the heat.  The food was left to cook there over a long period of time, perhaps a few days.   You can still find the local people using this method of roasting for special occasions. 

 

The kiawe has its relatives all over the world.  In Hawaii, these trees are notorious for their terribly unforgiving thorns and wood so hard that it can easily wear down chain saws and other tools. In Africa, where it is known as acacia, elephants love to eat the bark from these trees.  Here in North America, it is commonly known as mesquite, a very popular wood used for barbecues and smoking meats.  More traditionally here in the Americas, the Indians of the south western plains would use the pods as a source of food by grinding them down into a fine powder.  The mesquite produces green pods similar to a flat looking green bean.  The pods eventually turn yellow as it ripens and later fall to the ground making them easy to gather.  As young children working on our parents’ farm, we use to feed these to the pigs and cows by the buckets and had so much fun doing it.  Sometimes we would break open the pods and lick the sweet sap that encased the seeds.

 

Later, as I learned more about this legume, I found that in the Scriptures, John the Baptist may have lived off this food called “locust bean.”  There is still controversy concerning this as some folks believe he ate actual locusts.  The Bible does specify that locusts are a ‘clean’ food.  Others insist that John the Baptist was a total vegetarian, and the ‘locust’ could only refer to the ‘locust bean’ of the mesquite tree.  Regardless of what the truth may be, today our tastes dictate that consuming a locust would be quite disagreeable.  And, despite the many arguments that animal foods must be eaten in order to be truly healthy, current wisdom shows that flesh sources of foods can be highly contaminated and unhealthful.  For those of us who are anticipating Eden restored, it only makes sense that we begin now to enjoy the things that are truly healthful for us, the diet that God gave to man in the beginning.

 

Back to the ‘locust bean’… Currently, there has been a resurgence of many traditional foods.  If you would like to include this traditional staple in your diet, you don’t have to go pick and grind your own. Today there is a product on the market derived from the locust bean called mesquite flour. Mesquite flour has a sweet, nutty taste.  It has a texture similar to wheat flour, although its texture is a bit grainier. Nutritionally speaking, it is high in protein as well as calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc and iron, and is a significant source of dietary fiber.  It is also rich in the amino acid lysine as well.  This flour is naturally gluten free making it suitable for those with gluten allergies or intolerance.  Because of its natural sweetness, we like to use it in combination with other flours to produce pancakes, waffles, cookies and more.  Its molasses-like richness has a hint of caramel flavor which allows us to be able to reduce the sweetener called for in the recipe.  It tends to be a little darker of the flours, but your results will create a very nice texture and surprisingly delicious flavor.  Mesquite flour can be found in some natural food stores and most definitely online.  Happy cooking!