The Healthier You

You may have finished reading the previous blog posts and still not be convinced that insects are used for cooking.

I would probably agree as eating insects is pretty taboo in Western culture and the thought of eating something that you would usually hate to touch might be a bit off-putting.

However; Kylie Kwong, a famous Australian chef, has been able to put her fear of bugs behind her and serve dishes in one of her prestigious restaurants in Surry Hills, Billy Kwong.

Kylie claims to have cooked several insect containing dishes like: “…baby crickets…roasted wood cockroaches, dehydrated earthworms…”.
I think Kylie could be a great advocate for the rise of insect eating as she is an influential cook and seems to want to always try something new with her menus, which must appeal to all those trendy foodies out there (especially those in Sydney who are nearby Billy Kwong).

It would be good for the agricultural industry to make a slight shift towards the production of edible insects as they take up far less space than livestock, produce less waste and require less resources to maintain; this point can be solidified through the words of Kylie: “…200g of beef takes approx 3000L (to produce) of water…200g of cricket flesh takes 1 mL of water…”.

Hopefully insects will be on your plates more often than being killed by pesticide in the future!

P.S. I don’t know about you but this kebab looks pretty tasty to me!

Information sourced from: http://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/food-and-drink/article/dishing-insects-kylie-kwong-billy

Image sourced from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniella-martin/5-ways-to-cook-a-cricket_b_914543.html?ir=Australia

As was mentioned in the last post, mealworms are an insect that are gaining popularity as another food that turned into a nutritious dish.
So we all like French fries don’t we?
I know I do!
Well a clever individual at Huffington Post has stumbled upon a recipe that involves French fries and mealworms which I am tempted by!
The recipe follows as such:
Mealworm Fries
Ingredients:

• 1 fresh Idaho potato (russet)
• 2 dozen mealworms – boiled
• 1 cup chopped scallions

Directions: Place mealworms in the freezer for at least one hour. Remove from the freezer and boil for two minutes. Slice your (potato) lengthwise into long slender sticks, skin on. Heat oil in a deep pan. Drop fries, meal worms, and scallions in together. Fry until worms and potatoes are golden brown. Remove and season with sea salt, chili powder and cayenne pepper, to taste.
If you ask me that actually sounds pretty nice! Probably has about the same texture as standard French fries but just packing more nutrients.

If you still aren’t convinced that this might be a tasty meal then you should look at this photo:





Image and content sourced from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2014/04/23/candra-kolodziej-mice-pet-store-food_n_5199886.html?ir=Australia

Another insect that has been gaining some interest amongst nutritionists is the mealworm.


 Yeah, I’ll admit, they aren’t the most enticing things to look at but; it’s a bug so what did you expect?!

Mealworms are eating by several small animals including birds and reptiles and more recently humans.
The two main ways of eating mealworms are: Live (raw) and dry roasted. Obviously dry roasted would be the preferred option as it would be quite unsettling to feel your meal wriggling about inside your mouth right?

Dry roasted mealworms also have a higher nutritional content than raw ones (whilst also being tastier) in relation to protein, fat and fiber.
Live mealworms only possess approximately 20% protein, 13% fat and 2% fiber; in comparison to Dry roasted mealworms which have 53% protein, 28% fat and 6% fiber! More than double the nutritional value than live!

In the next blog post I will talk about some mealworm recipes that can be done by you at home!
Information sourced from: http://mealwormcare.org/recipes-nutrition/
Image sourced from: http://www.wildmanfoods.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/mealworm.jpg

• 2-3 purple carrots (with the skin on)
• ½ head large red cabbage
• ½ jicama
• ½ small red onion

• 1 shallot finely minced
• 2 Tablespoons avocado oil
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• pepper to taste