Guests at the Four Seasons Find Insects – on the Dining Menu

The Four Seasons Punta Mita has added toasted grasshoppers to its menu.

Guests usually complain when they see bugs at hotels, but at the Four Seasons Punta Mita in Mexico, they may wind up dining on them, according to Yahoo! Travel. The resort has recently added chapulines to its menu – that’s Spanish for grasshoppers.

Under the direction of the establishment’s executive chef, Philippe Piel, the hotel’s team of chefs prepares the critters by first toasting them in oil, then seasoning them with lime, salt and garlic. Guests can also order the insects inside a taco or alongside tortilla chips and guacamole.

In Mexico, where people more commonly consume worms, stink bugs, flying ants, caterpillars, scorpions and other creepy-crawlers, grasshoppers remain the most popular edible insects, according to Lonely Planet

And ounce per ounce, grasshoppers pack about as much protein as lean beef. In fact, the United Nations has even promoted the consumption of insects as a low-fat, high-protein alternative to meat, pointing out that eating insects helps reduce greenhouse gases, lower livestock pollution, create jobs in developing nations, and feed hungry people.

About 2 billion people consume about 1,900 species of insects worldwide, according to the United Nations. It remains to be seen if bugs, a traditional staple among the poor, will find their way onto the menus of other luxury hotels.

[Photo: iStock]