Caviar of Santander

What is it that looks like a coffee bean, tastes like a crisp pistachio nut and crackles when munched? As any Colombian gourmet knows, it is a toasted queen ant from Santander Department, and the very thought of the tasty tidbit is enough to make his mouth water.

Last week as the seasonal rains fell, signaling the start of ant harvest time, Santandereano peasants bolted their spring planting and scrambled as fast as their bare feet would take them to the dune-like ant hills that dot the countryside near the city of Bucaramanga. Stepping lively to avoid the angry swarms of worker ants, they seized the inch-long queens as they emerged, and popped them into hollowed calabashes. The nimblest harvesters caught up to three lbs. of ants in a morning's work.

Rendering the captive queens edible requires little culinary art. The ants are toasted in their own fat on thin clay roof tiles over a wood fire, then salted lightly. Since they contain formic acid, a natural preservative, they remain unspoiled in the markets, where they are displayed in large fiber baskets.

For toasted ants it is always a seller's market in Colombia. A favorite cocktail delicacy, and popularly reputed to give their eaters courage, they are so highly regarded that Colombians call them the "caviar of Santander." The only thing they dislike about the ants this season is the sky-high price of ten pesos ($1.34) per lb. (about 150 ants).

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