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Ohio pizza joint creates Cicada-topped pie

Opinions on the Cicada-inspired pizza ranged from "absolutely delicious to... well... uh... yeah..."

A pizza joint in Dayton, Ohio, is getting some national buzz for its cicada-topped pizza. But the pie is basically for show, not for consumption.

The Pizza Bandit posted photos on its Facebook page of the Spicy Thai Cicada Pie.

"That's an 18" handtossed dough with miso hoisin sriracha sauce, mozzarella and provolone, blanched and sautéed locally foraged cicadas, mushroom, cabbage, green onion, mango, cilantro, with a spicy Thai sauce after the bake and a Cicada wing adorned crust," the Pizza Bandit wrote.

The restaurant said opinions on the pizza ranged from "absolutely delicious to... well... uh... yeah..." CNN reports the restaurant livestreamed a tasting panel.

Buzz... Buzz... It's Cicada Pizza! From a distance this pie looks delightful but once you get closer you realize those...

Posted by The Pizza Bandit on Sunday, June 13, 2021

It also suggested the pizza would go well with an IPA or lager.

But Pizza Bandit says customers can't actually buy it, saying "we're not even sure if we legally can sell you locally foraged Cicadas."

Many parts of the country have been swarmed by Brood X cicadas, a large emergence of the loud 17-year insects that take to dive-bombing onto moving vehicles and unsuspecting passersby. The bugs will be gone by around July 4, after the female lay eggs in tree branches. The eggs will hatch in July and August, the baby bugs will tumble to ground, burrow below the soil, feed off tree roots and stay hidden until 2038.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned people not to eat cicadas, particularly if they are allergic to seafood because the insects "share a family relation to shrimp and lobsters."

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