Chenilles

Ingredients

Caterpillars

• 300 gdried forest caterpillars, makongo
• or 500 g fresh, cleaned

Base

• 2onions, chopped
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 2hot peppers
• 4 tbspred palm oil

Seasoning

• 1stock cube
• 1 tspground crayfish, optional
• salt and black pepper

To serve

• with cassava, with gozo, or with rice

Directions

1. Soak them in warm water for thirty minutes to an hour until they soften. Rub and rinse them several times in fresh water. Rinsing thoroughly removes grit and any remaining ash from the drying, and it takes several changes of water.
2. Pick over them and remove any hard heads or remaining spines if they are present. Now boiling them until tender. Boil the soaked caterpillars in fresh water for twenty to thirty minutes until tender.
3. Discard that water and rinse them again. They take on the flavour of whatever sauce they are cooked in, which is largely how they are used.
4. Fry the boiled caterpillars in palm oil with salt and pepper until crisp at the edges. Fry the onions in palm oil until soft, add the garlic and then the tomato paste. Fry the tomato paste for four minutes until it darkens.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook them down until the oil separates and rises. Do not overheat it, which destroys its colour and gives a harsh taste.
6. Add the boiled caterpillars to the sauce with a little water. Simmer for twenty minutes so they take up the flavour. Add hot peppers whole for aroma, or blended for real heat.
7. Season firmly with salt, pepper, stock cube and ground crayfish. Serve it with cassava, with gozo, the cassava and maize dough, or with rice.

Technique

• They are a valued and often expensive food, not a famine food.
• People with shellfish or dust mite allergies may react to edible insects.
• They must be thoroughly cooked and are never eaten raw.

Substitutions

• Dried caterpillars, which are what is traded and sold.
• There is no real substitute for the flavour.

Variations

• Fried crisp and eaten as a snack.
• Cooked in a groundnut sauce.
• Cooked with cassava leaves.

History

Gathered from sapelli and other forest trees at the start of the rains, caterpillars are a seasonal protein sold dried in Bangui markets.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chenilles?

Chenilles is a snack from Central African Republic: forest caterpillars dried or fried, eaten by the handful with cassava. Gathered from sapelli and other forest trees at the start of the rains, caterpillars are a seasonal protein sold dried in Bangui markets.

How long does Chenilles take to make?

Chenilles takes 30 min of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Chenilles?

Yes, within limits. Dried caterpillars, which are what is traded and sold. There is no real substitute for the flavour.

What is the most important thing to get right in Chenilles?

Add the chopped tomatoes and cook them down until the oil separates and rises. Do not overheat it, which destroys its colour and gives a harsh taste.