DINING
People are now seeking out insect-based cuisine for the health benefits
outfits include New York restaurant Toloache, where you can sample grasshopper tacos, while in London the menu at Archipelago in Fitzrovia includes a dish of pan-fried chermoula crickets, quinoa, spinach and dried fruit. In Asia, there are a number of options for the
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insect-seeking gourmand. Hong Kong’s People of Yunnan restaurant in San Po Kong opened in 2005 serving Yunnan-style noodles, but soon introduced fried cicadas, grasshoppers and dishes of fried bee and silk worm pupae with bamboo worms to attract intrigued diners. The tactic worked, and chef Li Qing finds that people are now seeking out insect-based dishes for their health benefits. In Bangkok, cult restaurant Insects in the
Backyard is headed up by chef Mai Thitiwat, whose menu puts insects front and centre. His cuisine draws on American, French and Mediterranean influences while including local Thai ingredients, designed to balance the texture and flavour of the insects. Tantalising options include the cream of chestnut soup with quail and bamboo caterpillar, the crab and giant water beetle ravioli with turmeric saffron sauce, and the silkworm powder tiramisu. In Siem Reap, Davy Blouzard started
Bugs Café with his cousin out of a motivation to educate tourists on the local custom, and pleasure, of eating insects. “Many people think that in Cambodia the tradition was a result of the Khmer Rouge tragedy, because people were starving,” says Blouzard. “During that time it did become more common, but insects have been eaten around the area of Isan – a very dry region that stretches across the north – for centuries, due to the insufficient yields from agriculture.” Bugs Café serves a range of “Western dishes” made
with insects in a way that they aren’t overtly visible. “The insect burger, our spring rolls with ants, cricket muffins or silkworms and taro croquettes are a perfect start for those who don’t feel comfortable with this kind of food,” says Blouzard.
SEP T E M B ER 2 0 18
“Our most popular dish is the discovery platter,”
he continues. “An assortment of all the insects we work with, including the ant spring rolls, silkworms, a tarantula donut or samosa with spinach and feta, a scorpion, tarantula and giant waterbug skewer, and a wok with crickets and silkworms.” For entomologist expert Oonincx this “concealed”
FROM TOP: Backyard Bangkok’s classic Italian tiramisu made with silkworm powder; bug dishes from Yunnan Renjia Restaurant
approach is rather like tricking fussy toddlers into eating their greens, and not the best way to get people on board. “There are options where suppliers are hiding the insects, grinding them up to such an extent that you can’t recognise them, but personally I think if you have a good dish based on insects with a good story behind it, this is a better way to put it to market.” Then again, Oonincx is far more comfortable
around insects than most. For environmental, health and economic reasons, perhaps we should be open to munching down on a larvae lunch. But for most people, food with multiple legs and wings is still probably going to draw a small gasp of horror. Arguably, the more “disguised” and conventional-looking the better – at least until we’re used to the idea.
bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om
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