cricket the name used for various jumping, chirping insects of the family Gryllidae, especially Gryllus campestris, the field-cricket, and Acheta domestica, the house-cricket of ‘cricket on the hearth’ fame. Bush-crickets are mainly tree-dwelling grasshoppers. These insects, generally speaking, are edible and there is evidence from many parts of the world of certain species being eaten, often after being roasted.
The mole-cricket, Gryllotalpa africana, according to Bodenheimer (1951) is dug up from its deep burrows in Thailand and eaten with enthusiasm, especially by ethnic Lao. In the Philippines little mole-crickets called kamaru are first boiled in vinegar (see adobo), then fried in butter. They are crunchy on the outside, soft in the inside.
