B S THE BUZZ ON Crunching on crickets is more than just a fad. By Natasha Silva-Jelly. UG

Boldly making a finejewellery statement with a glittering insect – even if it happens to be a David Webb jewelled grasshopper brooch – may not be everyone’s thing. But in the same way that fashion can tantalise the adventurous and terrify the traditional, the culinary world has spawned a new trend designed to delight daredevils. Farm to table? So last season. The latest foodie movement has seen grasshoppers, cicadas, crickets, silkworms, beetles, spiders, and the like wriggling their way out of the garden and onto menus at upmarket dining establishments in London and New York. And if we can believe the experts, insects are the way of the future: They’re tasty, low-fat fare, and an excellent source of protein, minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, and fibre. Plus, given that bugs are available in vast supply, they have been hailed as a sustainable food source. Unless you’ve got a taste for daring delicacies, embracing entomophagy – eating insects – may seem icky. But according to a 2013 United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization report, “Edible Insects: Future Prospects For Food And Feed Security,” we should dine on bugs for both health and environmental reasons (insect farming produces smaller quantities of greenhouse gases than livestock). “There is an experimental, almost flirty, approach to food now,” says Culinary Tides trend forecaster Suzy Badaracco, a chef and dietitian. “Eating insects has that sexy factor. And the omega-3 fatty acids in mealworms are comparable to those in fish,” she adds. Brooch, David Webb Granted, crickets may not be familiar to Western palates, but it’s hardly new. At least two billion people worldwide – in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand – eat bugs as a key component of their diet. Says author and former Gourmet magazine editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl, “Worm larvae and ant eggs have a soft texture like minced sweetbreads and grasshoppers are crunchy.” She believes they are a “good source of protein that have been overlooked.” Until now. Denmark’s Noma restaurant serves beef tartare with ants and bee larvae pastry brushed with grasshopper garum. “It’s all about flavour,” says Noma spokesman Avre Krognes. Similarly, at London’s Archipelago restaurant, you can order the LoveBug Salad, featuring panfried crickets; sprinkle weaver ants over mash; or satisfy a sweet tooth with chocolate-covered locusts. In New York, Toloache offers Tacos de Chapulines – a.k.a. grasshopper tacos – and tacos with worms from agave plants, while Maya serves Sur Guacamole, flavoured with tomatillo, cotija cheese, chili, and ground grasshoppers. Reichl cites the ethical food movement and the rise of nose-to-tail eating championed by Cooked author Michael Pollan as a catalyst. “Why is eating a pig’s leg any weirder than a bug?” she says. For some, it’s not. “I’ve eaten snakes, tarantulas, and masses of insects, and I’ve seen creepy crawlies on menus around the world,” says British adventurer and Man vs. Wild host Bear Grylls. “But I wouldn’t pay for a plate of bugs, not when I can get a big handful at work.”