Edible Caterpillar · Limpopo Delicacy
Mopane Worms (Masonja)
Photo: Mark Marathon / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mopane worms are roughly 60% protein and rich in iron and calcium, making this humble roadside snack more nutritionally dense, gram for gram, than most meat.
Large caterpillars harvested from mopane trees, boiled with salt then sun-dried or fried crisp with onion, tomato and chilli, and served with pap. Vendors sell them dried or grilled by the container at Limpopo markets and as padkos at roadside stalls.
Why it's made this way: Masonja have long been a prized wild-harvested protein source across Limpopo, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana, especially valuable in rural communities where they supplement diets during the harvest season.
More from South Africa
Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo credits.