When it comes to eating insects for food, many people see a picture like the one in the photo before their eyes, followed by an oath: “Never!” I hasten to reassure you: you won’t have to eat this beautiful Madagascar cockroach. And I’ll surprise you: we already eat insects, constantly and quite successfully. True, it’s still unconscious.
- A person eats at least 5 kilograms of insects in his life, most of them alive, without noticing it at all, - CEO State Research and Production Association "Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Bioresources" Oleg Borodin is a competent source on this matter: he is an entomologist with an academic degree, so it is better for the impressionable to come to terms with it right away.
- Larvae, live insects, worms enter the body in many ways, mainly with food - vegetables, fruits, berries. Many of them do not have hard coverings, so we don’t even chew them,- continues the scientist. - Recently, in a store, I saw a picture: a whole colony of aphids was sitting in a salad. They Green colour due to the fact that their food is rich in chlorophyll. If I were not an entomologist, I simply would not have seen them. I am sure that most people would calmly cut such a salad, and undetected insects would easily end up on their plate.
The interest that brought the correspondent of the Belarusian Green Portal to the Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Bioresources, oddly enough, is related to food. In short: the world's population is growing, there is not enough food for everyone, as evidenced by numerous studies. Currently, about 30% of the total area of the Earth is used for raising livestock. In addition, livestock farming is a major source of greenhouse gases leading to global warming climate.
Scientists regard the use of insects as a possible promising direction for solving the food problem, in particular, obtaining protein for nutrition. Of course, the idea of eating worms and larvae in the context of domestic cooking looks a bit outlandish, but let's figure it out. And Oleg Borodin will help us with this.
In his opinion, the first and main problem on the way of insects to our table lies on the psychological plane. This barrier is difficult to break, and there is no need, Borodin believes.
- The consumption of insects as food is not intended in the sense in which it is served in various kinds MASS MEDIA. All insects are only a source of substance. Such a substance can be prepared in any convenient form that is understandable to every person. After all, no one takes a chicken and eats it right with the feathers? There is a prejudice towards insects: since they are eaten as food, they are taken straight with their legs and wings - eat, dear comrade. This is exactly how it is presented in many reports about exotic food. Although such a format is, of course, not excluded,- he says. - As part of the work of the student research laboratory of the structure and dynamics of biodiversity, working at the Department of Zoology of the BSU, sometimes a “Gourmet Day” is held, where we prepare such exotic things. Thanks to word of mouth, there were about 80 people at the last event.
Next important question- the influence of insect meat on human health. Many properly prepared varieties contain not just a lot of protein and little fat, but also contain many rare and useful elements, a set of which can only be obtained with expensive exotic fruits, and sometimes only in pharmaceutical form.
“We are still working on the question of how to use this resource to obtain feed protein for livestock farming. Research has been conducted regarding chemical composition, energy value insects like feed objects for farm animals, and the effect was very positive. As for the impact on humans, the issue has not been specifically studied. Therefore, there is no reason to claim any negative impact. But it is impossible to simply extrapolate the results of the studies to people, although such work is planned. Still a question of funding!- notes the interlocutor.
What exactly is the benefit of eating insects?
- In terms of costs, the rule “1 kg of feed equals 100 grams of the final product” is observed in any case. But classical livestock farming requires huge fields, expensive feed, time, energy, water and other resources. In the case of insects, everything is different. The biofactory will have an incomparably smaller area, essentially representing a closed box. In a closed ecosystem, with minimal areas and the absence of natural regulators (diseases, predators), the reared mass of insects reaches colossal values, which makes it possible to obtain a large amount of protein in a very short time,- says the entomologist.
- But speed is not everything. Instead of expensive food, insects can receive something that would otherwise go to landfill: various organic waste. By the way, such a project (entomodegradation) was launched within the framework of the “100 Ideas for Belarus” company, where it reached the finals,- the scientist develops the idea.
According to him, for various types waste intended different types insects that will actually utilize them. The output will be not only feed protein, but also biologically active substances: chitosan, pigments, components for the pharmaceutical and cosmetology industries.
- What do we have at the moment? People come to us who are trying to put these technologies into practice. The problem is that it is necessary to clearly work out a number of issues in the preliminary scientific research. This way we will get specific developments that can be implemented with additional funding. Now we are all at the stage of developing these methods, with the selection of certain types, identifying their energy value, chemical composition, etc., - Oleg Borodin emphasizes. - On the basis of our center for bioresources, we plan to open a laboratory complex, where both a demonstration line for processing organic waste into protein material will operate, and the source material will be accumulated for its subsequent implementation in practice.
Finally, I wanted to ask a couple of personal questions.
-Have you eaten insects yourself?
- I ate everything from annelids. The main thing is to cook it correctly.
- And raw and alive?
- No, I don’t see the need for this. As a biologist, I am well aware that insects are potential sources of pathogens infectious diseases, even if they are unspecialized carriers.
- How does it taste? What does it look like?
- It all depends on the preparation. When we conducted “blind surveys”, people said that it tasted like shrimp, like fish, and a specific, unlike anything else taste. At the same time, there were never any negative reviews.
- Reference: There are about 1,400 edible insect species on our planet. In more than 90 countries they are regularly eaten in one form or another.
Insects are an important food source in many parts of the world, and are also gaining popularity and acceptance in countries that have not traditionally eaten them. Why eat insects? Insects are nutritious and numerous. They contain large amounts of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. How insects are eaten and their nutritional value depends on their diet, species, stage of development, and how they are prepared. Thus, an insect that tastes similar to chicken in one case may taste like fish or fruit in other circumstances. If you've eaten insects before and didn't like it, consider giving them another try. If you've never eaten insects, here's a good list of where to start your food experiments.
Grasshoppers and crickets
There are about 2,000 species of edible insects, but grasshoppers and crickets are among the most popular for human consumption. They can be eaten fried, boiled or stewed. In some countries, these insects are farmed to be ground into edible protein powder. Grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts belong to the order Orthoptera ( Orthoptera).
Caterpillars
Almost all types of crickets and grasshoppers are edible, but the same cannot be said for caterpillars. Caterpillars are the larvae of butterflies. Like their adult forms, some caterpillars are toxic. Larvae of the South African peacock eye species Gonimbrasia belina is one of the edible species of caterpillars. They have a particularly high iron content of 31-77 mg per 100 g (compared to 6 mg per 100 g for beef). These caterpillars are an important food source in Africa, and are becoming increasingly popular elsewhere.
Other edible caterpillar species include Aegiale hesperiaris(commonly found in Agavero liqueur), as well as bamboo worm ( Omphisa fuscidentalis) and silk worm ( Bombyx mori).
Palm weevil larvae
Palm weevil larva ( Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) is a tasty insect, especially when fried in its own fat. These larvae are very popular in Central America, Malaysia and Indonesia. Cooked grubs are said to be similar to sweetened bacon, while raw grubs are prized for their creamy texture. Palm weevils are tropical insects native to Southeast Asia. Although they are abundant on palm trees, indoor cultivation of the larvae is practiced in Thailand.
Mealworm
Mealworms have long been fed to birds and other pets in Western countries, and they have also gained acceptance as a source of human food. Mealworms are easily bred in temperate climate, unlike many edible insects that prefer the tropics. When reared as a food source, the larvae feed on oats, grains or wheat bran with apple, potato or carrot for moisture. Their the nutritional value similar to beef. For human consumption, mealworms are fried, boiled, or ground into powder. They taste more like shrimp than beef, which makes sense since mealworms are the larval form of the mealworm ( Tenebrio molitor). Like shrimp, beetles belong to the. Many other beetle larvae from the order Coleoptera ( Coleoptera) are also edible.
Ants
Several species of ants are a highly prized delicacy. They say that lemon ants ( Myrmelachista schumanni) from the Amazon jungle has a characteristic lemon aroma. Leafcutter ants are usually fried and are said to taste similar to bacon or pistachio nuts. Honey ants are eaten raw and taste sweet. In Western society, the most edible ants are considered to be from the genus Camponotus ( Camponotus).
Adult ants, their larvae and eggs can serve as a source of food for humans. Ant eggs are considered a special form of insect eggs and have high price. Insects are eaten raw (even alive), fried, boiled, crushed and as an additive to drinks.
Wasps and bees are also edible for humans, and are in the same order as ants.
Other edible insects
Other edible insects include dragonflies, cicadas, bee larvae, cockroaches, butterfly pupae and maggots. Earthworms also a popular food item, but they are not insects, but belong to annelids - a type of animal. Edible worms contain large amounts of iron and protein.
Although scorpions and spiders are not insects, people usually do not separate them. Like insects, these are arthropods and are related to insects such as crabs and shrimp. Spiders and scorpions are the terrestrial equivalent of seafood. Lice are also edible (though eating them in front of other people may seem a little weird).
Other arthropods that often become people's dinner include woodlice, water beetles (said to taste like fruit), bed bugs, June beetles and even dung beetles!
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Feeding humanity is becoming increasingly difficult. We may soon have no choice but to start eating insects. A couple of years ago, experts already presented a report to the UN in support of this initiative. A massive transition to a new diet will improve not only the environment, but also human health, because insects are an excellent source of healthy proteins. Look At Me invites you to get acquainted with those bugs and worms that may soon end up on our plates.
Grasshopper baked goods
In 2013, a group of students from McGill University (Montreal) won the prestigious Hult Prize and $1 million for developing grasshopper flour to help fight hunger. Competitors were required to establish “a social enterprise capable of providing food to undernourished communities, particularly the 200 million people living in urban slums.” As a result, the students came up with nothing better than to breed grasshoppers in poor areas of Mexico, Thailand and Kenya, which will later be turned into flour for baking and other products. According to the proposed technology, insects must first be dried and then frozen in sealed bags, then washed, dried again and ground into powder. Eventually new source food will not only be available all year round, but it will also be inexpensive. A $1 million capital pledge will help them launch this program.
Peacock eye larvae
Dried caterpillars of the moth Gonimbrasia belina have always been an important source of protein for South Africans. Collecting these caterpillars is a common economic activity of Africans. and in the future, probably ours too. Today, dried, smoked or pickled caterpillars are sold in supermarkets and markets, and cost four times more than traditional meat. To prepare caterpillars for consumption, they are first cleaned of their entrails, either by simply squeezing them in your hands or by cutting them lengthwise. After this, they are eaten raw or boiled in salted water and dried in the sun. They do not have a particularly strong taste and, according to those who have tried them, they are similar to dried tofu or tea leaves. Therefore, they are often served with fried onions or used in the preparation of soups, sauces and porridges.
Silkworm larvae
What Australians call witchetti larvae are known among entomologists as gypsy moth larvae. They have always been a traditional food for local Aborigines, who roast them in coals or over open fires. When cooked, the maggots taste like scrambled egg-flavored nuts with soft mozzarella cheese wrapped in puff pastry. But the gourmets most accustomed to eating larvae eat them alive.
In Asia, silkworm larvae are also popular, but of a different type - mulberry. The caterpillars, which feed exclusively on mulberry leaves, are considered a delicacy in Vietnam and China, they are endowed with mass useful properties. Insects play a prominent role in Korean cuisine and are used in the popular dish pondegi, which consists of larvae steamed or boiled in oil and spices. In Japan, silkworm larvae are served as tsukudani, that is, boiled with seaweed in a marinade of soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar. In the Indian state of Assam, boiled pupusas are eaten with salt or fried with chillies and herbs and eaten as a snack.
Silkworms have even been suggested as a possible alternative to the traditional diet of astronauts. Chinese researchers said that insects could be a real salvation during long space travel, lasting several years. Miniature ecosystems in which the larvae will grow and develop can become a virtually inexhaustible source of animal protein.
Ants
Ants are distributed throughout the planet - from the Arctic to the tropics. They are dried in the sun, smoked, steamed. For example, in poor rural areas of Thailand, spicy rice is often prepared with carpenter ants fried in oil. Ants are very popular in Colombia, where local farmers sell them on trays live and cooked for about $6 per 1 kg. In Cambodia and Laos, red forest ants are widely eaten, and they are sold even cheaper in local markets - about $1 per 1 kg.
Indians living in the Amazon basin prefer to eat winged females. They are caught in baskets as they fly out of their nests in huge swarms, and their fried bellies are said to taste like fried bacon. Australian Aborigines eat honey-collecting ants, which live underground at a depth of 2 m, but have a sweet taste. In Mexico, escamoles ant pupae are considered a delicacy and can be found on the menus of city restaurants. They are usually served fried without any additions or boiled with garlic and onions.
Termites
Termites (they are not related to ants, although they are similar to them) widespread in African countries, especially in those adjacent to the Sahara Desert. All members of the colony are eaten, including eggs and females, the largest of which can reach the size of a potato tuber. A kind of butter is also prepared from termites. To do this, they are boiled and the floating fat is collected from the surface, after which it is used to prepare other dishes.
Palm weevil
Red palm weevil larvae have long been part of traditional Southeast Asian cuisine, where they are deep-fried for a few minutes and served with salt and a little white pepper. These larvae are also consumed raw, as they have a creamy taste; when boiled, they have a meaty taste, similar to bacon. They are often cooked in palm flour. In New Guinea, on special holidays they are roasted on a spit.
The palm weevil is a fairly large insect, with some individuals reaching up to 8 cm in length. These insects are malicious pests that gnaw holes in palm tree trunks and kill plants.
"Stink Bugs"
Tree shield insects (or in common parlance stink bugs) in many countries in South Africa they are eaten as a snack, but before this they are soaked in warm water to get rid of an overly pungent aroma. IN South America(where they eat the local species of stink bugs) on the contrary, they are valued for their flavor, so they are added to food as a seasoning: they are made into sauces, fried and added to tacos and pates. Shield insects are also prized for their distinct scent in Vietnam, where they are used in spicy stir-fries, and in Laos, where these insects are ground with spices and herbs into a paste called chio.
Mealworms
Khrushchak larvae (or flour beetle) are one of the few insects consumed in the Western world, for example in the Netherlands. The nutritional value of mealworms is difficult to overestimate; in addition, they contain a lot of copper, sodium, potassium, iron, zinc and selenium. Dutch scientist Arnold van Huis, one of the main popularizers of the mealworm diet, together with a local school of cooks, even published an entire cookbook with recipes for dishes from these insects: in it you can find rolls, baskets and other dishes made from larvae.
Now everyone can grow the food of the future. The project, developed by Tiny Farms, allows you to create a personal farm with everything you need to start growing edible beetle larvae at home. The set consists of two main containers, a mounting frame, a selection kit and an incubator. The company offers to either purchase a ready-to-use farm, or make it yourself according to the drawings, which are publicly available.
Now I'll ruin my appetite. It is better not to watch for the faint of heart and hungry.
Entomophagy is the phenomenon of eating insects, inherent in many living beings (birds, reptiles, insects themselves, mammals). The definition was invented by man, so in relation to it it will be said that in Central and South America, Australia, Africa and many regions of Asia (southern and eastern) there are dishes and entire cuisines based on the preparation of insects, which are very successful. In fact, entomophagy is found in more than 100 countries around the world, and it is believed that in the future the number of people practicing this way of eating will increase due to the threat of world hunger. It is estimated that more than 1.5 thousand species of insects can be eaten in one form or another.
Strictly speaking, accepted safety standards do not prohibit eating wormy vegetables and fruits. It is known that wormy apples are the sweetest on the tree, and the possibility of accidental ingestion cannot be ruled out. Moreover, during his life, a person, without knowing it, swallows more than 300 g of insects, along with jams, bread and other products. It should be noted that insects contain a lot of protein. In some cases, certain food additives are obtained from them, for example, cochineal food coloring is isolated from crushed scaly insects that live on prickly pears. Proponents of eating insects believe that this can solve many problems with obesity, high blood pressure, and so on. In the debate about healthy food, entomophagy charts its own path, which differs from the traditional and vegetarian path. Unlike vegetarians, entomophagists believe that plant proteins, obtained, for example, from nuts and legumes, do not replace animal proteins for humans. In the West, entomophagy is now gradually becoming fashionable, concentrating in communities associated with it. But we can firmly say that even having realized all the advantages of entomophagy, many people find it very difficult to overcome stereotypes.
Proponents of insect eating believe that it will help solve the problems of obesity, high blood pressure, and poor physical shape. In the debate about healthy food, entomophagy opens up a kind of third path, different from the traditional and vegetarian path.
Entomophagous (?) cuisine
Pate “Tender”
Any insects that are available are suitable for preparing this dish: mealworms and mealybugs, adult bees and their larvae, locusts, silkworm larvae, cockroaches. Fry finely chopped onion and 2 cloves of garlic in oil. Put the insects (which must first be killed by leaving them in the refrigerator for half an hour), salt, pepper and the necessary seasonings - to taste. You can add a little white wine to the mealworms. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes, and then rub through a fine sieve and keep on fire, stirring all the time, until all the liquid has evaporated and the pate has acquired a dense consistency.
Melt the butter and stir a glass of chopped worms into it. Add one tablespoon each of honey and granulated sugar and beat the resulting mixture in a mixer. Pour in sweet sherry and rum (you can add more sherry and a few drops of rum). Boil for 5 minutes, then pass through a fine sieve and keep on low heat until the mixture hardens. Remove from heat, add a tablespoon of lemon juice and cool in the refrigerator. The good thing about this dish is that it finished form nothing about it gives away the main component from which it is made.
You will need three tomatoes, one small zucchini, an onion, two sweet peppers, one head of cauliflower, a glass of dry white wine, one hundred grams of grated cheese, three hundred grams of mealworms, herbs, salt, pepper and olive oil. Rinse the mealworms well and dry and salt. Finely chop the vegetables and fry in olive oil. Add worms and white wine to the fried vegetable mass and simmer for 10-12 minutes over low heat. Before serving, sprinkle with grated cheese and garnish with herbs.
Take 25 large crickets, euthanize them in freezer(do not freeze!), remove the hind legs and place on a baking sheet. Dry in the oven at 250 degrees for 1...2 hours. Melt a few chocolate bars and bring to a boil. Dip the finished crickets into the chocolate one at a time, then lay them out to dry on wax paper.
For the first time, women are offered, for example, a cricket covered in chocolate, in the belief that this will make the addiction faster. But sometimes even such yummy food makes women feel sick: crickets on their teeth make a specific clicking noise, as if they were squashing a bug. However, later, having gotten used to these sounds, thrill-seekers crack crickets like seeds and claim that even potato chips with their monotonous crunch cannot compare with them.
In Thailand, the cheapest insect dishes are grasshoppers and ants, the most expensive is baked scorpion. It will be served to you only in an expensive restaurant, always on a thin flatbread, with a light sour sauce. In the north of Thailand, they also eat live insects, especially live (they must move!) ants in sauce or sugar. If you want to hunt for food on a plate - please!
Madagascar cockroaches are a real delicacy! Cockroach dishes are based on traditional Thai cooking recipes and are considered “cool” to eat. Fans of insect dishes claim, for example, that these fried creatures resemble ham.
The most popular snack is the ugly-looking crispy fried bear. Connoisseurs also speak highly of the classic "cocktail", which contains four components - crickets, locusts, water beetles and mole crickets.
Pizza with rhinoceros beetle larvae
What you need (8 servings): 15-20 rhinoceros beetle larvae
1 red bell pepper
2 tomatoes
1 onion
200 g hard cheese
5 tbsp. l. tomato paste
4 tbsp. l. mayonnaise
For the test:
1.5 cups flour
150 g butter (can be replaced with vegetable oil)
First the basics. Mix melted butter with flour, egg and salt. Knead thoroughly, roll the dough into a ball, wrap it in foil and put it in the refrigerator for a while. Now for the filling: chop the tomatoes, peppers and onions. Grate the cheese on a coarse grater. Ready? Take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it out thin layer on a baking sheet, forming small sides around the edges. Mix and distribute tomato paste and mayonnaise evenly on the surface of the base. Place tomatoes, peppers, onions and cheese on top (sequentially, in layers). Fry the rhinoceros beetle larvae in boiling oil over high heat for 5 minutes. Season them with salt and herbs, dry them from grease on a paper towel and place them on top of the cheese on the pizza. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes at 180°C.
What you need (4 servings):
1 cup mealworms
200 g long grain rice
1 leek
1 large onion
2 medium carrots
1 bell pepper
4 tbsp. l. soy sauce
vegetable oil
salt, pepper, green onions
Cook rice in salted water. Onion and finely chop the leek, mix and sauté in a small amount of vegetable oil until golden color. Then add the pre-grated carrots, and after another 10 minutes, add the bell pepper, cut into thin strips. Simmer the vegetables uncovered for 10 minutes, season with salt, pepper and soy sauce. Add cooked rice to the vegetable mixture. Heat the oil in a separate frying pan and fry the mealworms in it a little. They should increase slightly in size as they fry. Once this process is complete, remove the worms from the heat so they don't burn. Now season them with salt and pepper, mix with rice and vegetables and then simmer over medium heat for another 5-7 minutes. Serve the dish hot, sprinkled with finely chopped green onions on top.
What you need (12 cookies):
48 well-fried and caramelized crickets
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 stick of melted butter
Mix flour, salt and soda. Separately, beat the butter and two types of sugar with a mixer, add the egg, flour mixture, walnuts, chocolate chips and 2/3 crickets. Mix everything. Sprinkle a baking sheet with flour and spoon the dough onto it, forming small round cookies. Leave a distance of a couple of centimeters between them - when baking, the size of the cookies will double. Place a cricket on top of each, slightly pressing it into the dough. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes at 180°C.
Earthworm cutlets
What you need (4 servings):
700 g worms (after internal cleaning)
1 tsp. lemon zest
150 g melted butter
white pepper, salt
breadcrumbs
sour cream
Place the worms in a colander and soak in boiling water for a few minutes. Then grind them in a blender, add lemon zest, melted butter, salt and white pepper. Mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with salt. Form cutlets from the minced meat, dip each one in egg and breadcrumbs and place in a heated frying pan with butter. Fry for 10 minutes on each side. Before serving, fill the cutlets with warm sour cream.
Insect - Huge, from a horror movie - these are your fears of diseases and other dangers. If a huge insect attacks, know that with your emotions of fear you have attracted trouble to yourself, and if you do not overcome the fear, it will happen. Small, annoying, flying - a lot of unnecessary information about other people flows to you, do not accumulate it in yourself, “let it in one ear, let it out the other”, then no one will accuse you of collecting “compromising evidence”. Those crawling on you - they talk a lot about you, and this irritates you. Here the so-called astral phantom connections, a phantom web, are triggered, thanks to which one person “hears” another, even if he does not have clairaudience. Frequently touching a phantom web can lead to nervous exhaustion and hysteria. Insects are very beautiful - you will be deceived in your expectations, especially if they coincide with the hopes of other people.
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