Thank cod for creepy crawlies

Good week, bad week By Roxanne Sorooshian

It’s been a good week for ... cake

FANCY a tarantula tart or a mealworm mille-feuille? An Edinburgh baker wants to take the ick-factor out of insects by incorporating them in cake recipes.

Cyril Barthelme of Patisserie Maxime has been making scorpion flour sponges, tarantula cakes and brownies with ground crickets and mealworms.

Barthelme, who wants to raise awareness of alternatives to meat, said: “In the West we are brought up to see insects as disgusting but that’s not true. Insects are very nutritious.”

What’s more, they contain more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach and more protein than beef.

Hmmm. Much as I like cake, I’m afraid even the most protein-rich variety won’t substitute for a juicy steak. Cake and chips? Nah ... not even in Scotland.

Still, you’ve got to admire Barthelme’s efforts to change our squeamish ways. There’s not even a profit motive, as apparently insect flour is 100 times more expensive than plain flour.

Couldn’t he have saved expense by serving up slices of flies’ graveyard, substituting the fruit with the real thing? I bet no-one would have noticed.

It’s been a bad week for ... cod

SCIENTISTS have warned that fish suppers could be under threat because cod are having problems with their chat-up lines.

Experts believe the fish, which make sounds with their swim bladders to attract mates, may have regional accents.

If Cornish cod speak a different lingo to their Scouse or Geordie cousins, and as fish stocks move north due to climate change warming the seas, the various tribes may not be able to communicate with each other.

The University of Exeter’s Professor Steve Simpson, who is leading the research, said cod had a series of vocalisations, with the ability to change the patterns of their sounds.

There are also concerns over noise pollution from boats and other marine activities. Simpson explained that cod produce a variety of sounds for establishing territories, raising the alarm and attracting mates.

“If we value our fish stocks – or our Friday night fish supper – we need to understand this,” he said.

If the cod make it as far as Scotland, ascertaining which region they’re in should be quite simple. Salt and sauce or salt and vinegar is all they’ll need to know.