Trend watch: buggin' out?

Whilst this may sound like the stuff of nightmares to some, insects are being touted as an up and coming, healthy option and beginning to feature on menus across the country.

But the practice of eating bugs, otherwise known as entomophagy, has been around for a long time.

In fact, insects have been considered a nutritious delicacy in certain parts of the world including China, Vietnam, Mexico, Columbia, New Guinea and several parts of Africa for thousands of years.

Perhaps westerners are just habitually squeamish when it comes to trying new things? After all, the benefits of eating bugs are highly convincing. Firstly, insects are full of protein and contain a fraction of the fat found in a standard cut of meat.

Add to that the fact that insects are a remarkably sustainable food source - they reproduce quicker than many mammals and fish and require few labour costs to farm – and you’ve got a menu option that caters to the environmental concerns of the 21^st​ century.

Chapulines​

But do they really taste any good? “I’ve had them quite a few times and they’re great,” says Ollie Ingham, marketing manager at Mexican food chain Wahaca, which serves chapulines (grasshoppers) alongside Oaxaca cheese stuffed Hoja Santa leaves at several of its UK sites.

“They’re fried with chilli and lime and have a slightly nutty flavour of their own,” he says, adding that customer response has been wholly positive. “It’s a really popular thing to eat in Mexico and Thomasina Miers (founder of Wahaca) is a huge fan.

“We asked our customers to vote on twitter on whether they thought we should keep [grasshoppers] on the menu and we had an overwhelming response in favour of featuring them.”

“For us it’s all about starting a conversation about sustainability and food sourcing – basically, [insects] are an amazingly efficient source of protein. We want to know if the western world could take on what essentially 80& of the global population is already doing and introduce insects into our diets.”

Crunchy critters​

“I would say for someone who hasn’t eaten insects before to start with a choice of either a worm of some kind or possibly crickets, they’re a bit less intimidating than some of the larger ones,” says Nick Cooper, owner and director of edible insect supplier Crunchy Critters.

Crunchy Critters’ bestselling product is a 20g bag of Mixed Critters, which is filled with a selection of meal worms, buffalo worms, crickets and locusts. “There’s still not too many people doing this and the market isn’t flooded, but finding good suppliers is very important because insects aren’t really readily available.

“We also do tarantulas, water bugs and scorpions,” he adds. “Our main buyers tend to be consumers, a few private businesses and schools. They go down well with youngsters because they possible don’t have any preconceptions of eating insects.”

Cooper says he feels it may take a while yet before edible insects crack the mainstream. “It’s something everyone should try,” he says. “But whilst there’s steak on the menu I think most people would prefer that.”