海角大神

At first glance, the stalls set up in this neighborhood garden look like they could be part of any typical farmer鈥檚 market. There are the men selling artisanal chocolates, the bread maker stacking her loaves precariously high, and the couple slinging tortillas over a smoking comal, or griddle.

But upon closer inspection, there鈥檚 something buggy about this scene. Literally.

A glistening cockroach is perched upon that square of chocolate. There are crispy brown grasshoppers cooked into that bread. And the tortillas? Smeared with fly eggs and garnished with a spicy green salsa.

This is the third annual Festival of Edible Insects, and the crowded passageways between the horseshoe of stalls is a testament to the growing resurgence in popularity of this centuries-old Mexican culinary tradition, amid a broader uptick of interest in Mexico's heritage that goes beyond its borders.听

Eating bugs 鈥渋s confused with being something exotic,鈥� not just by foreigners, but by many city-dwelling Mexicans as well, says Isaac Sandoval, co-owner of the 脡poca de Oro Chocolateria, who is serving up critter-covered chocolates.

鈥淭his is tradition and is a huge part of Mexico鈥檚 story,鈥� Mr. Sandoval says.

The Mesoamerican diet has long included hundreds of species of insects. Although many rural and small towns across the country have held on to the tradition, it fell out of favor in bigger cities where bugs are more often associated with rolled-up newspapers than nutrition.

But it鈥檚 having a renaissance, both in Mexico and internationally. Some vendors here today export their products, like听Chilipines Gourmetier,听which sells legless grasshoppers (less crunch getting stuck in one鈥檚 teeth) destined for Switzerland, Spain, and Canada. And top Mexican chefs have helped amp up the 鈥渃ool factor鈥� of edible insects in recent years with the inclusion of things like soft, cream-colored ant eggs in omelets at popular brunch spots, or crunchy grasshoppers mixed into guacamole at restaurants with white table cloths.

Insects on the menu are part of a broader, global interest in Mexican culinary and artistic traditions, says fair organizer Enrique Cervantes, who is sporting a green foam hat shaped like a grasshopper. 鈥淔rida [Kahlo], mezcal, pulque, mole, anything from Oaxaca, really,鈥� says Mr. Cervantes. 鈥淭here鈥檚 more of an interest in Mexican food and culture world-wide.鈥�

Top Mexican chefs who feature traditional ingredients and recipes have opened restaurants in places from听New York City to Dubai, and Mexico City was featured as the top place to visit in 2016 by The New York Times. Two-thirds of Americans have favorable views of their southern neighbor, according to a February Gallup poll. That's the highest percentage in a decade, despite the prevalence of headlines about drug trafficking and violence in US coverage of Mexico.

And ever since US President Trump cannon-balled into the US political scene, there鈥檚 been greater interest in Mexico from within Mexico, too, Cervantes says. After months of jabs from north of the border about Mexicans as criminals, or dragging the US down, 鈥淢exico and its traditions are finally being valued by Mexicans,鈥� he says. For decades before, he feels, people were 鈥渄own on Mexico,鈥澨齪rioritizing US or European culture. 鈥淏ut little by little, we're starting to love ourselves.鈥�

鈥淲e are starting to find our own force, what we can offer the world,鈥� he adds, leaning back in a plastic chair and watching as festival-goers flow in from the street. 鈥淲e have this incredibly rich gastronomy and ingredients that are historic and so unique鈥�that鈥檚 something we can take pride in.鈥�

Bug-eating, in particular, is 鈥渓ike eating history,鈥� he says.

Nineteen-year-old Bruno Ituarte came to the festival because he was interested in expanding his bug-eating repertoire. 鈥淚鈥檓 from Mexico City, so I didn鈥檛 grow up eating these things,鈥� he says, taking an audibly crunchy bite of his cockroach con chocolate. 鈥淚鈥檝e had chapulines (grasshoppers) and tried gusano de maguey (agave worms) once or twice,鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople in the city can be hesitant, but you see a bug in the street and that鈥檚 one thing. These bugs are harvested and farmed. And really, they take on the flavor of what they鈥檙e cooked in.鈥�

A few stalls away, Jesus Ortiz and Uveira Cruz Soriano, who started a collective in Oaxaca dedicated to gathering and promoting insects eaten in pre-Hispanic times, disagree.听Mr. Ortiz and his wife are preparing traditional Oaxacan tlayudas听(flatbreads) and topping them off with insects big and small.听The end results are colorful masterpieces in hues of reds, oranges, and greens. He rattles off the names of the dozens of creepy-crawly delicacies laid out at his stand: chapulines,听chicatanas,听cuchamas,听cocopaches, and听condaches are just a few.

鈥淓ach bug has its own distinct flavor,鈥� he says. He鈥檚 here today because of the importance he sees in teaching Mexicans about their own history and culture. 鈥淔ood is part of our genetic map. If we don鈥檛 teach our kids to gather grasshoppers with nets from crops or what season the chicatanas come out, we鈥檒l lose this history,鈥� Ortiz says. 鈥淢y grandkids eat grasshoppers with beans and think it鈥檚 delicious.鈥�

He also sees a bright future in including bugs in all diets, citing a 2013 report published by the United Nations saying insects are a valuable source of protein, and could be an environmentally friendly key to听fighting global hunger. Feeding the world in 2050, the report notes, will likely require twice the food produced today听鈥� and insects, whose cultivation requires less land and produces fewer greenhouse gases compared to traditional meats, could be one way to fill that gap.听

Bug-eating in the future, however, depends on sustainable choices in the present.听Despite the excitement around entomophagy here today, some vendors say it鈥檚 not just about teaching history and the joy of cooking with insects that鈥檚 important. Maintaining an environment where these insects can continue to hatch is paramount.听

Guillermo Barragan, who also goes by the name 鈥淒on Aceituno,鈥� or Sir Olive, gives out olive samples in front of his wife鈥檚 stall where she鈥檚 hawking snacks made of ground-up fly eggs. His family is from Mexico State, and for generations has gathered fly larvae called Axayacatl around his town鈥檚 brackish lakes. The eggs, sometimes referred to as Mexican caviar and named after an Aztec emperor, have become increasing difficult to harvest, Mr. Barragan says.

鈥淐limate change and urbanization have wiped out鈥� much of the marshy environment where these eggs are traditionally laid, he says.听Now he and his neighbors plunge pine fronds into the water鈥檚 edge, creating a substitute habitat for the Axayacatl to lay their eggs.

On the other side of the market, near a stand selling donuts with caramelized grasshoppers and another appealing to the most daring attendees with scorpion delicacies, is Mario Redondo. Five years ago, in a college course, he hatched a business plan to start exporting Mexican food products like crispy grasshoppers sprinkled with chile and salsas with ground up grasshoppers and fruits.

鈥淪ure, eating bugs is trendy,鈥� he contends. 鈥淏ut that doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 fleeting.鈥�