Cafe bugs customers with insect menu
SEOUL — We have been told that insects will be a valuable food source in the future. But it is not easy to embrace the idea of having worms, crickets and grasshoppers on our plates.
There are pioneers, however, bringing the future closer. While figuring out more efficient ways of farming and retailing edible bugs, they also work on developing recipes.
Edible Coffee is a coffee shop in southern Seoul, selling coffee and tea just like any other cafe since 2016. An unwary visitor may be shocked, however, by the menu that includes cricket tea, mealworm muffin and a silkworm green tea smoothie.
“People who are curious and who want to have the experience visit the cafe,” said Ryu Bo-ah, the marketing manager of Edible Inc, which owns the cafe.
Mealworm, the larval form of the darkling beetle, is the most often used ingredient, and can be found in almost all the menu’s items. It is the main ingredient for cookies, muffins, chips and more.
The mealworm chips with nuts is a top recommendation on the menu. The seasoned mealworm crumbles like a potato chip.
“For making the food, we do not really have to use whole insects but rather grind them. But as customers prefer to see the bugs, we sprinkle the bugs as toppings,” Ryu said.
There is one more use for the mealworm as a smoothie, the most popular item, which comes in two versions — a 300 mealworm version and a 500 mealworm version, priced at 6,000 won ($5.40) and 8,000 won, respectively.
Various kinds of packaged bugs — crickets, silkworms and maggots — are on sale at the cafe. They can be purchased for between 5,000 won and 10,000 won. Many of the customers actually come just to purchase the products.
Cricket is perhaps the most challenging ingredient. The unprocessed insect looks just as it does in nature — like a cricket. Touching the cricket requires courage. Once in the mouth, it breaks up and a bitter taste lingers.
While there are companies selling edible insects, it is not easy to find a restaurant or a cafe serving them.
Papillion’s Kitchen, located in central Seoul, was greatly popular a few years ago, serving pasta and sandwiches containing insects. But the restaurant is closed now.