Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Artist: Nick Sweetman
For: Street Art Mujam
At: Museo Juguete Antiguo
Year: 2023
Photo Credits: Nick Sweetman
“Chapulines (cha-pu-LEE-nayz) are a type of grasshopper found from the Southern US down to Guatemala. Also called corn-field grasshoppers in English (or Sphenarium purpurascens if you’re into Latin) their name comes from two Nahuatl words, “chapa” meaning to bounce and “olli” meaning rubber (the Mexica, or Aztec, people believed the grasshoppers were bouncing like rubber balls).
They are eaten in parts of Mexico as a snack, garnish, or as a filling in tacos or tlayudas (keep scrolling right). Early Mexicans ate them as a sustainable source of protein, harvesting them by hand during the summer rainy season. This is a difficult job and farmers wake at the crack of dawn, when the insects are less active and easier to catch. One 3.5 ounce serving of raw grasshoppers contains 14-28 grams of protein meaning pound for pound they contain more protein than milk, fish and even beef, and with far less fat. They contain zinc, magnesium, and calcium, are high in Vitamins A, B and C, and are rich in fibre, helping with digestion. Their farming uses far less water than livestock, creates extremely low greenhouse gas emissions, and is a zero-waste farming cycle. They have a mild flavour on their own and so are usually smoked or toasted and seasoned with lime juice, garlic and salt.
Chapultepec Park, a huge park in Mexico City more than double the size of NYC’s Central Park, gets its name from the chapulin. The Toltecs called it “grasshopper hill” which later became the Nahuatl word chapultepec or “on the hill of the grasshopper.” On top of the hill is Chapultepec Castle, which has a fountain in the courtyard with an ornate chapulin water feature (scroll right).”
Nick Sweetman
USEFUL LINKS:
Nick Sweetman in this blog | Instagram
Categories: OperArt, Street art
Barbara Picci 