Edible Entomology

Entomophagy (n) - The practice of eating insects

Eating insects is not a new idea that popular TV shows such as Fear Factor or Survivor have propagated to be a popular 'challenge' for people to consume.  In most western audiences, it is a large 'gross out' challenge, insects usually having a taboo placed on them by these societies as being inedible and creepy.

  

But in the historical record, there are a number of trace fossils that show evidence of our early ancestors eating a wide variety of insects.  This helps to support the Evolutionary Expensive Tissue Hypothesis that we developed a larger brain once we started eating more nutrient efficient sources (1).  The ETH reasons that hominids evolved to have a larger brain by eating a better quality of foods that gave their bodies the resources to develop more specialized portions of the brain to allow for higher thinking functions.  In today's world, many places with more traditional cultures,such as Brazil and Columbia, are places where insects are still a popular part of everyday diet.  Recently there has been a push for insect cuisine in western cultures such as places like Vancouver, BC, Canada, there are restaurants being opened that sell insects as food as their main dishes (2).

Insects are a great resource to switch our ever growing world population to for a source of high protein while putting little effort into actually growing them.  Insects are considered a minilivestock, one that does not take up much space or resources to raise in large quantities, and could provide many areas that are experiencing food shortages with high quality protein to eat.  Compared with other large mammal livestock that most people in western cultures consume, it is a much more economic and ecologic answer to the human population crisis and subsequent issue of feeding everyone without harming the environment irrevocably.  Becoming more insect dependent for food not only provides people who would otherwise go without a high protein diet a rich source of amino acids, but it also voids creating nearly as much green house gas emissions (Livestock is reported to account for 18% of the net green house gas emissions), it has a low water pollution impact, and takes up much less land to cultivate than traditional mammals do (3) (4).

But what sorts of recipes could we make that would ease a predominantly close minded western culture into a more insect dependent diet?  Some easy, and perhaps very tasty, recipes to try out would be Grasshopper Kabobs and Mealworm (or cricket) Fried Rice.

Grasshopper Kabobs



Ingredients:
12 large grasshoppers or similar edible insect
1 large red bell pepper cut into chunks
1 white onion cut into wedges
(For the marinade)
½ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1tsp honey
½ tsp fresh ginger (grated)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2tbsp mixed garden herbs of your choice (eg rosemary, mint or thyme for a fresh summer feeling or oregano and basil for a more Mediterranean flavour)
¼ tsp salt
Pinch ground pepper 

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a glass bowl or baking dish. Add the insects, cover and leave in the fridge over night. When ready to cook remove the insects and gently pat them dry. Skewer the ingredients alternating between pepper, onion and insects so skewers are nicely arranged. Finally drizzle some olive oil over the kebabs and cook a few inches above a fire for just under 10 minutes, or alternatively under the grill turning regularly until allt he ingredients are a golden brown and crispy. 

Source: George Gordon on the Business Insider

Mealworm (or cricket) Fried Rice


Ingredients:
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp. oil
¾ cup of water
¼ cup white onions (chopped)
4 tsp. soy sauce
1 pinch garlic powder
1 cup rice
1 cup baked mealworms or crickets 

Bake the bugs on a lightly oiled tray until golden brown. Then whilst the rice is boiling scramble the egg and ensure it is thouroughly broken up. Add the rest of the ingredients other than the bugs and bring to the boil. Simply drain the rice and stir it into the mixture with the bugs, remove from the heat and leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving to ensure the flavours are at their best. 

Source: Iowa State University Entomology Club

There is a good list on this webpage of online vendors that sell insects for human consumption if you're interested in trying these two recipes, or look up more to try on your own!


References:
(1)  Insect diet helped early humans build bigger brains, study suggests.  By Gerry Everding

(2) Open your mind and pass the insects. By mstainsby@png.canwest.com

(3) Insects could be the key to meeting food needs of growing global population By Damian Carrington

(4) Insects as the food of the future: Locusts, grasshoppers, crickets, silk moth pupae, and beetle and moth larvae.  By the Institute of Food Technologists