Entomophagy, or the consumption of insects, is a hot topic—and not because it is cool to try weird foods. iny black chicitanas rolled around in the hot skillet. Chef Hugo a food source but in order to make it delicious, you need to do some- Ortega looked up and smiled as if to say: This is going to be thing with it.” good! He was ready to turn students at the University of Hous- Insect products like protein bars, granola and crispy snacks are on ton into ant eaters. Chicitanas are flying ants—a coveted deli- the market already. Legendre showed me jars of Mealworm Bolognese Tcacy in the chef’s native Mexico. While insects might be a normal part and Cricket Arrabiata from One Hop Kitchen. It’s part of C-fu Foods, of his food vocabulary, his use of them also puts the Houston-based a company founded by Cornell food science graduate Lee Cadesky chef at the forefront of a culinary movement: exploring the delicious- and brother Eli. Cadesky developed a “cricket tofu” (c-fu) in 2014 ness of insects. while at the university. The sauces are made with that cricket tofu, Ants, beetles, grasshoppers, scorpions—a plethora of insects (and now marketed as Textured Insect Protein (TIP). TIP can be made their larvae) are eaten in countries the world over. I’ve been to markets with any edible insect and can be used to make burger patties, for in Hong Kong and Bangkok where fried insects (including fat, swollen instance, said Legendre. silk pupae and whole fried scorpions) were as common as bundles of My own experience with insects processed into a food product goes THE kai lan and bok choy. Yet in Western culture, even the thought of eat- back to 2012 when I was at Slow Food’s international food fair. The ing insects is often met with disgust. Nordic Food Lab (the culinary research team of celebrated Chef René A few years ago, the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) Redzepi at Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark) presented a recognized that in order to meet future food demands, alternative food grasshopper garum. It was part of their ongoing research into the “de- EARLY sources must be explored. In collaboration with Wageningen Univer- liciousness of insects”. It tasted just like fish sauce to me. The recipe— sity in the Netherlands, FAO conducted a research into the viability of grasshoppers, fermented pearl barley koji, filtered water and salt, all insects as a protein food source, which culminated in the 2013 publi- mixed in a blender and left to ferment for 10 weeks—can be found cation Edible Insects—Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security: “To among the many documents in the Nordic Food Lab’s Bug Folio, meet the food and nutrition challenges of today [..] and tomorrow, along with other recipes like bee larvae ceviche and moth mousse. BIRD what we eat and how we produce it needs to be re-evaluated.” Consumers who order and use whole or ground crickets in their The global discussion about the need to address the unsustainable home kitchens can find a host of enticing recipes, from cricket spring demand for popular proteins like beef is zooming in on edible insects. rolls, cheddar cricket biscuits, black bean cricket taquitos and cricket Entomophagy, or the consumption of insects, is a hot topic—and not bibimbap to banana cricket bread and chocolate cricket cookies. GETS because it is cool to try weird foods. Easy to farm without the massive At an average $38 per pound for whole roasted crickets and even carbon footprint of conventional meats and with zero waste (you eat higher for cricket flour, the price, however, is steep. “Yes, it is,” said the whole thing), insects are also high in pro- tein and other nutrients including calcium, iron and vitamin A. Why Would I eat that? THE Still, in a society that prefers its meat to New to insect eating? Start with the easy stuff! Crickets (culinary speaking the same as grasshoppers) are be as disconnected as possible from the ani- light and crisp. They have a mild flavor, a little bland even. The insects are sun-dried or dry-roasted and mal it came from—skinless, boneless, head- sold whole or ground. less—critters with antennae, eyes and little For lovers of crustaceans, the threshold for entomophagy is already lowered: crabs, crawfish (would that BUG legs are not likely to become a national sta- be why they call them mudbugs?), shrimp … crustaceans are in the same phylum as insects. ple. So how can we raise insects’ profile as a Exploring the deliciousness of insects If not for yourself, how about for animals? As animal feed, the 2013 FAO report also indicates that “insect- desirable protein? WORDS BY FRANCINE SPIERING based feed products could have a similar market to fishmeal and soy, which are presently the major Key is how it appears to the uninitiated. components used in feed formulae for aquaculture and livestock.” Said Tiffany Legendre, assistant professor at the UH Conrad N. Hilton College and spe- Considering my dog laps up dead, flattened bugs from the road if he gets a chance, and my cat used to cialist in food innovation, sustainability and gross me out catching and eating cockroaches, using insects in pet food to replace conventional meats is a no brainer. edible insects: “If you cook lamb poorly, no one will like it. It is the same with insect. It is Photo by Paula Murphy photo by Jenn Duncan 38 Spring 2018 edible HOUSTON ediblehouston.com 39 Legendre. “That goes back to mass production. The market isn’t de- “If I wanted to cook insects at home, where could I buy them?” (left) Chef Hugo Ortega answering veloped for insects yet and it means companies are taking a risk.” To one of the students asked the James Beard Award–winning chef. questions from students at the Hilton further develop a cricket-farming infrastructure and increase it to “Come to Oaxaca!” he laughed. College at the University of Houston; mass production “requires a lot of research and technology and that Legendre is convinced that chefs can play a huge role in erasing (right) student plating chapulines tacos for tasting. Photos by Pearl requires a lot of funding,” said Legendre. the “ick factor.” Cajoles, UH Conrad N. Hilton College For Chef Hugo Ortega, entomophagy is in his blood. He grew “I really believe the insect has a great future [as a food],” she said. up in the mountains near Oaxaca, Mexico, cooking with his grand- “But in order to make the transition as consumers we need a lot of mother and acquiring a natural taste for gusano, escamoles, chapu- chef efforts, like Chef Hugo.” lines, known in English as agave worms, ant larvae and grasshoppers. Wrapped in a handmade tortilla with a dark, spicy mole, herbs and guacamole, anything would taste good, right? Aside from a droplet grasshopper garum, a rather large fried grasshopper in “In Pre-Columbian times, I believe the diet was quite simple, and Thailand and insects prepared by Chef Hugo Ortega, Edible Houston editor bugs played a big role in cooking.” Chef Ortega casually nibbles on a Francine Spiering is pretty much an entomophagy novice. handful of chapulines as he talks. The chef came to the university cam- pus to talk about insects in his cuisine, and to cook them for a tasting. “The best way to cook the insect,” he said, “is a little white onion WHERE TO BUY (ALL ONLINE) in hot oil, add the insects and finish with a little cilantro and a pinch Merci Mercado (mercimercado.com) sells mexican gourmet of salt.” He rolled a spoonful of ants in the hot skillet as he talked, insects, including gusanos and chapulines. then dropped them in a masa tartlet and finished them with a spicy One Hop Kitchen (onehopkitchen.com) sells jars of ready-to-use sauces made with Textured Insect Protein (TIP). mole sauce. Behind him, students of the Hilton College plated the Aketta (akketa.com) in Austin sells crickets in various flavors as well little ant tartlets and passed them around. Curiosity (and perhaps as cricket powder and products made with crickets. even drooling over the tempting-looking tartlets) won everyone over Entomarket (edibleinsect.com) sells a wide variety of edible and the insect bites disappeared without a trace. The same thing insects (including whole roasted mealworms, black ants and smoky happened when Chef Ortega sent out tasting plates of his chapulines barbecued crickets) and insect products (think cricket trail mix, worm tacos: roasted grasshoppers nestled in chipotle-tomatillo salsa and suckers and insect pasta). topped with guacamole. Globally, the most commonly consumed insects are beetles (Co- small bowl and accompany with Guacamole, 3 guajillos, deveined and seeded, soaked in leoptera) (31 percent), caterpillars Chef Hugo Ortega’s (Lepidoptera) (18 percent) and bees, Tomatillo-Chipotle Salsa and small tortillas. warm water for 10 minutes and drained wasps and ants (Hymenoptera) Chapulines Tacos 2 chipotle peppers, seeded (14 percent). Following these are Pan-sautéed grasshoppers served with guacamole, Mojo de Ajo pinch salt grasshoppers, locusts and crickets chipotle-tomatillo salsa and tortillas ½ cup whole garlic cloves (Orthoptera) (13 percent), cicadas, Makes 3 tacos 1 cup olive oil Blend until smooth. Makes about 2 cups. leafhoppers, planthoppers, scale 3 chipotle peppers, seeded and cut insects and true bugs (Hemiptera) (10 percent), termites (Isoptera) (3 Chapulines into strips Guacamole percent), dragonflies Odonata( ) (3 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 6 tomatillos percent), flies(Diptera ) (2 percent) ½ ounce dehydrated grasshoppers Pulse garlic cloves in food processor until you ½ bunch fresh cilantro and other orders (5 percent).