Chontacuro

Ingredients

Grubs

• 20palm weevil grubs, chontacuro
• water, for rinsing
• salt

Sometimes added

• a squeeze of lime
• chopped chilli
• a little oil

To serve

• boiled cassava
• or fried plantain
• aji, chilli sauce
• wooden skewers

Directions

1. Rinse the grubs briefly in cold water. Pat them dry with a clean cloth. Pinch the dark end and press gently. Both are done in Amazonian kitchens.
2. Thread three or four onto each skewer. Do not pack them too tightly together.
3. Season them with a little salt. Let it burn down to glowing embers. Lay the skewers over the coals. Cooking them is fast and needs watching.
4. Turn them constantly as they cook. Give them about six minutes in total. Heat a dry pan over a medium heat.
5. Add the grubs without any oil. They release enough of their own fat. Fry them for about six minutes. Turn them over as they colour. Serving them is done immediately while hot.
6. Serve them straight off the skewer. Squeeze lime over them if you like. Scatter salt and chopped chilli over them.
7. Put a bowl of aji sauce on the table. They are eaten hot and immediately.

Technique

• The grub is the larva of the palm weevil Rhynchophorus palmarum, which feeds on the soft inner wood of palm trunks and grows almost entirely soft white fat.
• Getting the grubs out means splitting a palm trunk open, so some communities now cut trunks deliberately and leave them to be colonised rather than felling live palms.
• Edible insects contain tropomyosin, which cross-reacts with shellfish and dust mite allergies, so anyone allergic to shellfish may react to them.

Substitutions

• There is no substitute for the grubs, and they are almost impossible to find outside the Amazon region.
• Frozen grubs are sold within the region and grill much the same way.

Variations

• Some cooks squeeze out the gut contents before cooking and some do not.
• A version wrapped in leaves and steamed is also made.
• The grubs are sometimes eaten raw in the forest, though cooking is safer.

History

Harvested from felled chonta palms by Amazonian Kichwa and Shuar communities and sold grilled at markets in Tena and Puyo.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chontacuro?

Chontacuro is a snack from Ecuador: fat palm weevil grubs skewered and grilled, eaten hot off the stick. Harvested from felled chonta palms by Amazonian Kichwa and Shuar communities and sold grilled at markets in Tena and Puyo.

How long does Chontacuro take to make?

Chontacuro takes 15 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Chontacuro?

Yes, within limits. There is no substitute for the grubs, and they are almost impossible to find outside the Amazon region. Frozen grubs are sold within the region and grill much the same way.

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

Thread three or four onto each skewer. Do not pack them too tightly together.