Haven't planned your fall holiday yet? Whether you're headed for the mountains or the shore when the leaves start to blaze with glory and the days get shorter again, be sure to include culinary adventures in your list of things to experience at this season.

If you've opted for a camping weekend, you might want to try this traditional Cherokee recipe. Collecting the ingredients can be exciting fun for the whole family, and educational, as well. Make a note to bring along a well-stocked first aid kit.

If you're less a hunter-gatherer than a Discover card-style tourist, you might want to check with your local gourmet restaurant. Surely, if that chef can come up with 1001 ways to fix seafood, he could whip up some crême guêpe brûlée.

Yellow Jacket Soup (S-Ka-V Oo-Ga-Ma)

Instructions:

1. Look for ground dwelling yellow jackets. These can best be located in the early morning or late afternoon.
2. Gather the whole comb. (That's the paper house the yellow jackets live in). This is the life-threatening part. We recommend a stout teenage boy or two. Tell them that Indians do this, and if they refuse, they are wusses.
3. Place the comb over a fire or on the stove with the open side up to loosen the grubs that are not covered. (Yes, there are grubs in there. They will be yummy.)
4. Remove all the uncovered grubs. Place the comb over the fire (or stove) upside down until the covering parches. Remove the comb from the heat, pick out the yellow jackets (careful, they're hot!) and place in the oven to brown.
5. Now you're ready to make the soup. Boil the browned yellow jackets in a pot of water. Add salt and grease to taste.

Culinary Flourishes:

Keep some parched yellow jackets in reserve. Serve them as a garnish.

Fry the grubs in bacon grease as a delicious side dish. Snobs and the cholesterol-conscious may use olive oil.

Add a salad of seasonal greens and some cornbread for a classy, yet historically significant meal.

Health Warnings

1. People with above-average sensitivity to insect stings or bites should not attempt this recipe.
2. Fans of this recipe suggest that yellow jacket soup has aphrodisiac qualities. This Researcher, having an above-average sensitivity to insect stings, can neither confirm nor deny this claim. Caution is advised.

Environmental Note

Yellow jacket nests only last for one season, and the insects die off in the winter. By consuming a yellow jacket nest, you are not harming the environment. You are just tidying up and being frugal.

Unlike our friends the honey bees, yellow jackets are nowhere near endangered. Eating them does not violate any laws, although selling the soup might upset your country's food police quite a bit.

Do NOT send packets of frozen yellow jacket soup across state, shire, provincial, or national lines. In addition to the question of whether frozen yellow jackets will 'keep', there are postal and shipping regulations to consider.

Want More Cherokee Cooking?

For helpful (and utterly serious) recipes, try 'Traditional Cherokee Recipes'. Yes, you can have fry bread with your yellow jacket soup. You can have fry bread with anything unless you have celiac disease.

The Recipe Archive

Nigel Fuller

01.04.13 Front Page

Back Issue Page