Jumiles

Jumiles

Jumiles are small stink bugs of the species Atizies taxcoensis[1] native to the Taxco region of the state of Guerrero in Mexico. Jumiles are collected for making sauce and for use as a taco filling. They may be eaten alive. The beginning of the jumil season on November 1st is the occasion of a large fiesta in Taxco. Fiesta-goers gather in the mountain park of Huisteco to collect jumiles and to crown a Jumil Queen.

Jumiles have a bitter, medicinal flavor, probably due to their high iodine content.[2] Jumiles are also a good source of the vitamins riboflavin and niacin.[3]

Chumiles are a smaller, similar hemipteran of the same region (southern Morelos and northern Guerrero) which is used for food as well. Both jumiles and chumiles are insects of the order Hemiptera and family Pentatomidae. Pentatomids are commonly called "stink bugs" in English.

In the Globe Trekker TV travelogue episode Ultimate Mexico, Justine Shapiro is shown eating a live jumil. Andrew Zimmern can also be seen eating jumiles on his television show Bizarre Foods, where he claims they taste just like tutti-frutti chewing gum.

References

  1. ^ http://www.food-insects.com/book7_31/Chapter%2003%20MEXICO.htm
  2. ^ http://www.utne.com/issues/1999_96/features/728-1.html
  3. ^ http://www.food-insects.com/Insects%20as%20Human%20Food.htm

External links

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