Ingredients
The larvae
- 24palm weevil larvae
- fresh, from a trusted source
- purged and rinsed
To season
- salt
- black pepper
- 1hot chilli, ground
- 2garlic cloves, crushed
- 1stock cube, crumbled
- a little oil
To grill
- wooden or metal skewers
- charcoal
- a wire grill
To serve
- hot from the grill
- with plantain
- or bread and pepper sauce
Directions
- Discard any that are limp or discoloured. They are never eaten raw at all. Rinse the larvae thoroughly in water. Rinse them in several changes of water. Pick off any of the wood fragments.
- Drain them and then pat them dry. Wet food spits on a hot grill. Toss them with salt and pepper. Add the ground chilli and garlic. Add the crumbled stock cube to them. They take the seasoning very well.
- Let them sit for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes is enough for it. Thread them all onto the skewers. Thread them through lengthwise. Soak wooden skewers in water first. Give them a good thirty minutes. Wait until it is covered in grey ash.
- Lay the skewers on the hot grill. Give them about four full minutes. Turn them and grill the other side. Give them another four minutes.
- Turn them over just once or twice. Do not turn them constantly though. Cut one open to check the inside. It should be cooked right through.
- Grill them longer if it is not. Cook them all the way through. Overcooked ones go hard and dry. Take them off once crisp outside. The inside of them then stays soft.
- Fry them in a dry pan instead. Their own fat is enough to fry them. Fry them until crisp and browned. It takes about eight full minutes. Serve grilled plantain alongside. They are eaten hot from the grill.
Technique
- These are ordinary food in Central Africa, eaten widely, sold openly by the cup in markets and grilled at roadside stalls, and high in fat and protein. The harvest is often deliberate: palms are felled and left to rot so weevils lay eggs in the trunk, and the larvae are cut out weeks later — a managed harvest rather than a chance one.
- They are cooked thoroughly and never eaten raw, which is standard practice locally: they come from decaying plant material carrying the usual bacteria, and thorough cooking deals with it as it would with any food from such a source. Buy from a market source you trust, choosing plump firm larvae and discarding any limp or discoloured.
- They are high enough in fat that it renders out and bastes them as they grill, so no extra oil is needed and a dry pan is enough to fry them. But that dripping fat flares on the coals, so wait for grey-ashed rather than flaming charcoal and move the skewers aside when it happens.
Substitutions
- Frying in a dry pan for about eight minutes is the alternative to grilling and needs no oil at all.
- Some cooks pinch off the hard head and others leave it on; both are done in Cameroon.
Variations
- Rinse them in several changes of water and pick off wood fragments, since they come out of rotting trunks, then pat them dry — wet food spits on a hot grill and steams rather than crisping.
- Thread them onto skewers lengthwise so they hold securely; threading across lets them spin. Soak wooden skewers thirty minutes first or they burn through.
- Take them off once the outside is crisp, since overcooking renders all the fat away and leaves them hard and dry where the inside should stay soft.
History
Harvested from rotting raffia and oil palm trunks in the forest south, the larvae of Rhynchophorus phoenicis are a traditional protein sold at roadside grills.
Frequently asked questions
What is Palm weevil larvae?
Palm weevil larvae is a snack from Cameroon: fat white grubs from felled palms, skewered and grilled until crisp outside. Harvested from rotting raffia and oil palm trunks in the forest south, the larvae of Rhynchophorus phoenicis are a traditional protein sold at roadside grills.
How long does Palm weevil larvae take to make?
Palm weevil larvae takes 20 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Palm weevil larvae?
Yes, within limits. Frying in a dry pan for about eight minutes is the alternative to grilling and needs no oil at all. Some cooks pinch off the hard head and others leave it on; both are done in Cameroon.
What is the most important thing to get right in Palm weevil larvae?
Discard any that are limp or discoloured. They are never eaten raw at all. Rinse the larvae thoroughly in water. Rinse them in several changes of water. Pick off any of the wood fragments.
