Daniella Martin
Daniella Martin, entomophagist and author of Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating Insects and the Last Great Hope to Save the Planet and the blog Girl Meets Bug.
Have you ever looked at a bunch of squirming insects and thought, “Mmmmm…bugs! I want that for dinner!”? No? Well, there are ecological, economic and even trendy reasons why you might want to reconsider—especially if you’d like to be an adventuresome globe-trotting “gourmand.” In fact, entomophagist (aka, bug-eating expert) Daniella Martin claims that, with more than 1,900 species of edible insects buzzing and crawling around, bug eating may be the solution to world hunger.
Bugs are actually a mainstay—even a treat—in the diets of people around the world. So much so that curious Westerners are now taking an interest. Lost your appetite yet? Let’s examine the facts about bug eating and why you may want to give it a try…
Edible insects are highly nutritious, says Martin, celebrated as the “Rachel Ray of bugs” in The Insect Cookbook: Food for a Sustainable Planet, coauthored by UN Food and Agriculture Organization consultant Arnold van Huis, PhD, professor of entomology at Wageningen University in The Netherlands. In fact, bugs are full of protein, fiber, essential fatty acids and nutrients such as zinc, iron, calcium and vitamin B-12. They also can be quite tasty, according to Martin, van Huis and other contributors to the cookbook, which include former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. “They can taste nutty, mushroomy, earthy and sometimes a bit like shrimp or bacon,” Martin told me. And, unlike livestock, insects are an inexpensive, green source of protein. Bugs also can be raised humanely in either indoor or outdoor environments without use of antibiotics or growth hormones.
Although eating insects has been popular in Africa, Mexico, South America and Asia for centuries and continues to be, the Western world is just now warming up to the idea. Here’s some advice for getting past that ick factor about bug eating.
• First, remember when sushi first became trendy in the United States in the early 1980s? Many people said, “Yuck! No way!!!” But sushi gradually became widely popular. Now it’s even sold in supermarkets.
• Second, guess what? You’re already eating them. When fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and grains are harvested and processed, bugs get ground up along with everything else. The United States allows for 60 insect pieces per 3.5 ounces of chocolate, 30 pieces per 3.5 ounces of peanut butter, five fruit flies per one cup of fruit juice. In fact, it’s been calculated that we each eat about one pound of insects per year without knowing it.
If you simply can’t get past the idea of eating the flies in your soup but want to get a new source of protein into your diet, you might want to try these cricket flour treats or, if you are feeling more adventuresome, get your hands on some delicious bugs to cook with. Places to order edible insects can be found on Martin’s blog page Where to Get Bugs. What can you make with them? Start with these simple grasshopper-treat recipes, one spicy, one sweet, from The Insect Cookbook: Food for a Sustainable Planet…
• Spicy “Land Shrimp.”
Heat two tablespoons of hot pepper oil in a skillet, and, over medium-high heat, fry 24 grasshoppers (legs and wings removed) until they are lightly browned. Sprinkle with the juice of one-quarter of a lime, and continue to fry on low heat until the juice has evaporated and the “land shrimp” are crispy. Remove from the skillet and sprinkle with salt to taste.
• Caramelized Grasshoppers.
Fry the grasshoppers as in the previous recipe, but use two tablespoons of nut oil (such as walnut oil) instead of hot pepper oil. Once the grasshoppers become lightly browned, add two tablespoons of sugar and continue to cook and stir until the sugar is golden brown, about four minutes. It is important not to overcook and burn the sugar. (If it turns dark brown, the sugar will taste burned and bitter instead of sweet, and you will have to start all over.) Once the grasshoppers are coated in the nice golden-brown sugar, remove them from the skillet, let cool, and enjoy. (Hmm, sounds tempting to my sweet tooth actually…)
The cookbook also recommends simply sautéing grasshoppers (with or without marinating them in lime juice) and tossing them into pasta, tacos or salads.
Edible insects include beetles, hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps), caterpillars, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, wax worms and mealworms. But if all this has really piqued your interest, don’t start just gobbling down anything you see! Bugs in the wild can carry environmental toxins and parasites, and some can be poisonous. Look for farmed edible bugs on websites such as Canadian-based Entomo Farms, which can export cricket and mealworm flours and roasted snacks. Or visit US-based Bitty for cricket flour and cricket-flour–enriched cookies.
Be warned, though…products from Next Millennium Farms aren’t cheap. Four ounces of cricket or mealworm flour cost $15 ($20 for organic) compared with 20 ounces of cricket flour for $20 through Bitty. Bitty also provides information on how to use cricket flour, including recipes for pancakes, chocolate chip cookies and banana bread.
“Farmed bugs are known edible species of bugs that have been raised in a controlled environment so that they are healthy—free from toxins and infectious substances,” says Martin. Also, people with shellfish allergies should stay away from bug-eating because they may also be allergic to edible insects.
When I asked Martin whether she thought bug-eating would really catch on in the US, she told me that interest and acceptance is growing. “I have served bugs to hundreds of novices” she said. “First, they are nervous and tense. Then they take that first bite and say, ‘Oh, that’s not bad’ and go for seconds.” Yum.
