Chef Tom Burney's Green Kitchen Experiments

CHEF TOM BURNEY of INVISIBLE KITCHEN investigates new methods for cooking in greener ways

ENTOMOPHAGY - Eating insects as a major source of protein opens up a big can of worms

THIS TERM, ENTOMOPHAGY, REFERS TO THE ACT OF HUMANS EATING INSECTS. IT MAY BE CALLED THE FUTURE OF FOOD BUT THE PRACTICE IS SO OLD THE ANCIENT GREEKS COINED A WORD FOR IT.

I’ve just spent a month avoiding all animal and fish proteins- cooking and eating a range of new-to-me ‘alternative’ (non-animal) proteins from the conventional to the less-so. There’s an eruption of ‘plant-based ‘meats’ and fishless ‘fish’ to be tried as well as a range of more traditional plant-based and microbial protein sources such as chickpeas, tofu, almonds and nutritional yeast (aka ‘Nooch’) that range from 12-22% protein content.

Crawling out of mainstream products, and packing a mighty 66% protein, there is an ingredient which will divide any room. In fact they are most likely already lurking in the corner of your room already- with some of the highest sustainability credentials of any protein-source. That’s right, insects.

Although insects are normally plant-based in location they are not a vegetarian ingredient; but eating insects could be much more aligned with your food ideology than you may have realised. People are cutting down on meat intake for a combination of health, ethical, and environmental reasons and producing insects for food is pound-for-pound one of the most sustainable protein sources on Earth.

HOW ARE THEY SUSTAINABLE?

Insects are pretty much bottom of our food chain, meaning they are the ones that turn our world’s ‘waste’ products into something with nutritional value. Generally they eat decaying plant-matter and produce a high protein snack for birds or other creatures, using very little water, space and energy along the way.

On average, crickets need 1 gallon of water per pound of ‘meat’ produced. Beef requires almost 2,700 gallons per pound.

Insects produce far less ammonia and greenhouse gases (routinely emitted in agricultural protein production).

In terms of animal welfare concerns, insects naturally live in clusters with thousands of close neighbours, so don’t mind being packed in tight spaces. There is also no evidence that insects feel pain but to be sure they are harvested by lowering the temperature until they go into a hibernation-like state so for all they know they could wake up a butterfly!

Crickets contain 3 times the protein of beef, more iron than raw spinach, more calcium than milk, 5 times the omega-3 of Salmon and 20 times more vitamin B12 than eggs (with half the fat).

WHAT DO THEY TASTE LIKE?

Once ground into a flour, crickets taste a bit nutty, like beurre noisette and they add an earthy note to cookies, cakes, pancakes, brownies, bread and even donuts….

THE FUTURE

In the US, the FSA (Food Standards Agency) have already certified a cricket snack bar, the first insect-based product as ‘fit for human consumption’, and interest is growing around the world as more people are looking for genuine solutions to our world’s resource problem and easy ways to eat in a more sustainable healthy way.