The Rise of The Insect Cookbook
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A researcher-turned-chef has recently revealed a new cookbook featuring one special ingredient: insects. Although eating insects isn’t anything new to Asian cultures (and isn’t completely unheard of in the western world, either), having a cookbook that features insects in every recipe is something unique!
While most react with horror and disgust when they notice a cockroach in their home, the author of this new cookbook seems to react with nothing but hunger pains! As bizarre as it may sound, this new cookbook idea has generated numerous chefs to deliver their own recipes to the public – complete with crickets, roaches, ants, and spiders.
Nutritious and Delicious Insect Recipes
According to the author of a new insect cookbook, eating insects may be a healthy addition to any diet. In fact, the author goes as far to relate the aversion of eating insects to consuming sushi. While the western world used to see eating raw fish as unsavory, it is now a very popular dish enjoyed by many Americans. Although enjoying insects in your spaghetti and meatball dish has yet to become the norm, many believe insects are the future of food. Considering that insects also contain a hefty amount of nutrients, namely protein and B vitamins, some experts believe insects hold the key to fighting world hunger and malnutrition.
Recipes for insects include frying, roasting, and grinding, incorporating the insects to everyday recipes like meatloaf, breads, and casseroles. Some recipes make sure that the diner will not notice the insect by using it in its ground form. This hidden nutrition may help someone try insects without actually having to see (or crunch) them. Other recipes involve eating insects in their whole form, something that most westerners can’t fathom. Eating tarantulas, for instance, is just one of the unusual treats enjoyed by this new insect cookbook author.
Crickets and grasshoppers are perhaps more widely recognized as food by many Americans and are often the least resisted. Many candy stores carry chocolate-covered grasshoppers and crickets, and some fairs and festivals offer fried or candied grasshoppers. It is hoped by many vegetarian groups that insects will be consumed by more people as a replacement for meat. However hopeful these groups may be, it is probable that this may remain unseen by most people in the western world, at least for the next few decades.
What about you? Would you try the “Three Bee Salad”? How about fried green tomato hornworms?
