Bugs are fine dining in Bangkok
BANGKOK — Ants and beetles in the kitchen? Normally that’d close down a restaurant immediately, but for a unique eatery in Bangkok, bugs in the beef ragu and pests in the pesto are the business plan.
Tucking into insects is nothing new in Thailand, where street vendors pushing carts of fried crickets and buttery silkworms have long fed locals and adventurous tourists alike.
But bugs are now fine-dining at Insects in the Backyard, a Bangkok bistro aiming to revolutionize views of nature’s least-loved creatures and what you can do with them.
“In Thailand, there is a long history of local populations, of people consuming insects and they continue to do, in large amounts. But it’s essentially as a snack, not a part of dishes, not a part of cuisine,” said Regan Suzuki Pairojmahakij, a Canadian partner at the eatery.
“We are interested in moving people away from seeing insects from purely as a snack to be a part of a gourmet and a delicious cuisine.”
That’s the responsibility of executive chef Thitiwat Tantragarn, a veteran of some of Thailand’s top restaurants.
Together with his team he’s designed a menu that features seven different insects, including ants, crickets, bamboo caterpillars, silkworms and giant water beetles.
“It’s a new thing,” Thitiwat said. “You live in the world, you need to learn the new thing.”
He said he’s cooked with pork and chicken for a long time, but insects are “a new world of cooking (and a) new lesson.”
For Kelvarin Chotvichit, a lawyer from Bangkok, the menu has been a revelation of taste and texture.
“When I taste this, it’s opened my new attitudes about foods, that insects are one of the foods that’s edible,” he said.