Helen King
To many, the idea of eating insects is repulsive. But, as discovered, there were some crunchy surprises at a neighbourhood restaurant.
Biting into a cricket, the first thing you notice is the crunchiness. Then a small burst of flavour before it dissolves to dust in your mouth.
The offer of a snack of bugs elicited mostly horror around the Sunday StarTimes office. Those who were willing to try the unusual snack gingerly took a bite. Most were nonplussed, once they moved past the fact they were eating insects.
For Westerners, eating bugs as part of a daily diet is a foreign concept. But 80 per cent of the world’s population engages in entomophagy – the eating of insects.
If agriculture’s contribution to global warming is to be slowed, then sustainable protein sources will need to be considered. For someone whose diet is inspired by the meats and vegetables of Europe and North America, insects are a culture shock.
Auckland business owner Daniel Craig started selling edible insects after a trip to Thailand. His online store, Crawlers, already had a business selling framed butterflies and tarantulas.
‘‘We just thought, why not bring them back to New Zealand and have them as part of our products?’’
Craig thinks the merit of edible insects is in their low carbon footprint. To produce one kilogram of crickets takes 1.5 litres of water, compared to the 3400 litres it takes to produce a kilogram of beef. Locust flour is 78 per cent protein and crickets contain 1.6 times more calcium than milk.
At Besos Latinos restaurant in Auckland’s CBD, chef Luis Cabrera was uncertain if he should include crickets on his menu. It was a risky move to offer something most punters would see as something dirty from the garden.
‘‘In Mexico, crickets are a delicacy, you might pay up to $100 in a fine dining restaurant for a cricket dish.’’
In the end he decided to serve them in a quesadilla because of their value as a sustainable protein source.
‘‘For an agricultural nation like New Zealand it’s important to maintain our beautiful environment, I want to help by encouraging people to think about what they are eating.’’
He admits, though, that it can be a divisive dish. Some diners embrace the idea; others screw up their noses.
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In Mexico crickets are a delicacy, you might pay up to $100 in a fine dining restaurant for a cricket dish. Luis Cabrera, left, Besos Latinos restaurant chef