{{short description|East African food made of insects}} {{Infobox food | name = Nkhungu cake | name_lang = | image = | image_alt = | caption = | alternate_name = Nkhungu cake | type = | course = | place_of_origin = | region = African Great Lakes | associated_cuisine = | creator = <!-- or | creators = --> | year = | served = | main_ingredient = ''Chaoborus edulis'' | minor_ingredient = | variations = | no_recipes = true }} '''Kunga cake''' or '''kungu''' is a food dish made of densely compressed midges or flies.<ref name="MS" /> It is found in the African Great Lakes region, specifically countries surrounding Lake Malawi (Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique).
[[File:Lake flies, Lake Malawi (2499202894).jpg|thumb|Huge swarms of ''Chaoborus edulis'', resembling distant plumes of smoke, over Lake Malawi's water]] May Berenbaum, an American entomologist, discusses how swarms of midges can cause significant problems for local populations. She cites an example of swarms of ''Chaoborus edulis'', a species of midge, forming near Lake Malawi and how the local people turn them into kunga cakes as a "rich source of protein", which is eaten "with great enthusiasm".<ref name="MB" /> To catch the flies, a frying pan can be coated in cooking oil and then wafted through a swarm.<ref name="SG" />
In ''Insects: An Edible Field Guide'', a book on the consumption of insects, author Stefan Gates suggests that people can "make burgers with it, or dry it out and grate parts of it off into stews" for "umami richness".<ref name="SG" /> Adventurer Bear Grylls calls kunga cake "a great survival food".<ref name="BG" /> Explorer David Livingstone claimed that they "tasted not unlike caviar".<ref name=BM />
==References== <references>
<ref name="SG"> {{cite book |title=Insects: An Edible Field Guide |last1=Gates |first1=Stefan |author-link1=Stefan Gates }} </ref>
<ref name="BG"> {{cite book |title=Extreme Food: What to Eat When Your Life Depends on It... |last1=Grylls |first1=Bear |author-link1=Bear Grylls }} </ref>
<ref name="MS">{{cite web |title=Kunga cake |url=https://www.mediastorehouse.com/kunga-cake/print/8595103.html |publisher=Media Storehouse |access-date=25 February 2018 |archive-date=26 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226032813/https://www.mediastorehouse.com/kunga-cake/print/8595103.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="MB"> {{cite book |title=Ninety-nine More Maggots, Mites, and Munchers |url=https://archive.org/details/ninetyninemorema00bere |url-access=registration |last1=Berenbaum |first1=May |year=1993 |author-link1=May Berenbaum }} </ref>
<ref name="BM"> Morris, B. (2004). Insects and Human Life, pp. 73—76. {{ISBN|1-84520-075-6}} </ref>
</references>
{{African cuisine}}
Category:African cuisine Category:Insect dishes Category:Flies of Africa