Cockchafer soup explained

Cockchafer soup is a European dish made from the cockchafer insect. It was a delicacy in Germany and France until the mid-1900s.^[1] Its taste resembles crab soup. Cockchafers were once a common pest insect in Europe, with population explosions every four years, making it easy to collect enough cockchafers to make soup.

Excessive pesticide usage caused their populations to collapse by the 1970s, with complete extirpation in many areas. Because the beetles are now relatively rare, cockchafer soup has vanished almost entirely in communities where it was once commonplace.

Preparation

According to a French recipe from the 1800s, a batch of cockchafer soup requires 500 grams of the insect with their legs and wings removed.^[2] They are fried in butter, then cooked in a chicken or veal broth. The soup can be strained and eaten as a boullion, or crushed cockchafers can be mixed with egg yolk and roux. The soup was served with slices of veal liver or dove breast^[3] and with croutons. A single serving contains approximately 30 beetles.^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

See also

• Insects as food
• List of soups

Notes and References

1. Hyman, Vicki (May 29, 2013), "Insect bites: Cooking with cicadas, New Jersey's newest crop ." NJ.com. Retrieved May 31, 2018
2. Warner, Dick (May 8, 2006), "Bug has a long, colourful history," Irish Examiner. Retrieved May 31, 2018
3. Web site: Maikäfersuppe. de. Manoi. 2018-05-04. 2018-04-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20180420093758/http://www.kochrezepte.de/suppe-rezepte/maikaefersuppe-44460.html. live.
4. Web site: Die Maikäfer sind wieder da. de. Helge May. 2018-05-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20140903184724/http://www.nabu.de/tiereundpflanzen/insektenundspinnen/kaefer/maikaefer/01263.html. 2014-09-03. dead.
5. Book: Schneider, Johann Joseph. https://books.google.com/books?id=NQcCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA403. 3-87038-366-6. Magazin für die Staatsarzneikunde Nr 3. 1844 . 403–405. Maikäfersuppen, ein vortreffliches und kräftiges Nahrungsmittel. 3. de.
6. Maikäfer in Luxemburg : Historisches und Kurioses. de. 2018-05-04. 2016-05-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20160528111306/http://massard.info/pdf/maikaefer.pdf. live.
7. Book: Heyden, Bertha. Kochbuch oder Gründliche Anweisung, einfache und feine Speisen mit möglichster Sparsamkeit zuzubereiten. 16. Enßlin und Laiblin. Reutlingen. 1887. 40. de.