Entomophagy: Eating Insects / Insects As Food

[Mythopoeika]

Thankfully, I shall never visit Turkey. Not on my list of places to visit.

 

[littlebrowndragon]

Thankfully, I shall never visit Turkey. Not on my list of places to visit.

Turkey was absolutely the best country I have ever visited, it and Russia.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Insect larva fat may become the next "I can't believe it's not butter!" trend (as long as it remains a supplementary ingredient at no more than 50% of the mix) ...

Waiter, there's a fly in my waffle: Belgian researchers try out insect butter

Scientists at Ghent University in Belgium are experimenting with larva fat to replace butter in waffles, cakes and cookies, saying using grease from insects is more sustainable than dairy produce.

Clad in white aprons, the researchers soak Black soldier fly larvae in a bowl of water, put it in a blender to create a smooth greyish dollop and then use a kitchen centrifuge to separate out insect butter.

“There are several positive things about using insect ingredients,” said Daylan Tzompa Sosa, who oversees the research.

“They are more sustainable because (insects) use less land (than cattle), they are more efficient at converting feed ... and they also use less water to produce butter,” Tzompa Sosa said as she held out a freshly baked insect butter cake.

According to the researchers, consumers notice no difference when a quarter of the milk butter in a cake is replaced with larva fat. However, they report an unusual taste when it gets to fifty-fifty and say they would not want to buy the cake.

FULL STORY (With Video):
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...searchers-try-out-insect-butter-idUSKCN20M23U

 

[Mythopoeika]

I had no idea that insects had fat.

“There are several positive things about using insect ingredients,” said Daylan Tzompa Sosa, who oversees the research.

Just not enough to make us salivate over the prospect.

 

[maximus otter]

I had no idea that insects had fat.

When you stamp on a cockroach, much of the goo left on the floor is its fat.

You can have my portion, ta.

maximus otter

 

[Mythopoeika]

When you stamp on a cockroach, much of the goo left on the floor is its fat.

You can have my portion, ta.

maximus otter

Errr... thanks.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Australian researchers make the case for black soldier fly larvae as a high-quality alternative protein source for humans ...

Black soldier fly larvae as protein alternative for hungry humans

Black soldier fly larvae contains more zinc and iron than lean meat and its calcium content is higher than milk. Less than half a hectare of black soldier fly larvae can produce more protein than cattle grazing on around 1200 hectares, or 52 hectares of soybeans. New research has identified the barriers for introducing fly protein into Western human diets as a sustainable, healthy alternative to both meat and plant proteins.

FULL STORY: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029104951.htm

PUBLISHED REPORT: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1541-4337.12609

 

[maximus otter]

New research has identified the barriers for introducing fly protein into Western human diets...

I wonder how much new research would have been necessary to reveal that we’d rather not eat liquefied bug guts, ta.

maximus otter

 

[Kondoru]

Good luck with that.

Ive had friends who try all sorts of things abroad, and they say most insects are hardly things you go out of your way to eat, being bland in flavour

and often expensive.

This sounds a market winner, doesnt it?

 

[maximus otter]

...most insects are hardly things you go out of your way to eat, being bland in flavour
and often expensive.

Yep, those are the two main reasons why I wouldn't eat cockroach tripes: Because they're bland and expensive.

Nothing to do with:



maximus otter

 

[gordonrutter]

I’ve eaten deep fried locusts which taste like shit and the legs get stuck in your teeth. I’ve eaten deep fried locusts covered in chocolate which taste like shit and the legs get stuck in your teeth. I’ve eaten ants in lollipops which taste like the lollipop and I’ve eaten live ants direct from inside the sticks they were running around in. They tasted like lemon and were actually quite nice.

NB I do not really know what shit tastes like, chocolate covered or not.

 

[Ogdred Weary]

I’ve eaten live ants direct from inside the togs they were running around in.

You took them out of their clothes?

 

[gordonrutter]

You took them out of their clothes?

Edited to read “sticks”!

 

[Ogdred Weary]

Edited to read “sticks”!

Good, eating naked ants is indecent.

Were the lemon-y ants Aussie Green Ants? I've eaten one of them, people say they taste of lime, probably because they're green; they were just generally citrus-y to me.

 

[gordonrutter]

Good, eating naked ants is indecent.

Were the lemon-y ants Aussie Green Ants? I've eaten one of them, people say they taste of lime, probably because they're green; they were just generally citrus-y to me.

It was in South America so I imagine a different species. There was no visual cue as to taste they were just normal reddy black ant colour. It was a surprising and definitely nice taste. For defence purposes ants release formic acid so I’m imagining it was just small amounts of this I was tasting. Citric acid gives lemons their taste and like formic acid it can be used as a preservative so I’m imagining a similar chemistry.

 

[Ogdred Weary]

It was in South America so I imagine a different species. There was no visual cue as to taste they were just normal reddy black ant colour. It was a surprising and definitely nice taste. For defence purposes ants release formic acid so I’m imagining it was just small amounts of this I was tasting. Citric acid gives lemons their taste and like formic acid it can be used as a preservative so I’m imagining a similar chemistry.

Yeah, I knew ants had formic acid as part of their body chemistry so assumed that many or all species would have a similar tang. I've not been moved to try the ones in the garden though.

I bought some crickets in Sainsbury's last year: sold in small bags. They were Smokey BBQ flavoured, which is a flavour I don't care for much, there was a slight after taste that I also didn't like, which I assume was the cricket itself. That said, most people I know who have eaten insects said they just taste of the salt that they are usually cooked with.

 

[Mythopoeika]

NB I do not really know what shit tastes like, chocolate covered or not.

We need to ask Bear Grylls for that.

 

[EnolaGaia]

The EU food safety agency has approved yellow mealworms (insect larvae) as safe to eat.

Cafe, croissant, worms? EU agency says worms safe to eat

The vaunted Mediterranean diet and the French “bon gout” are getting some competition: The European Union’s food safety agency says worms are safe to eat.

The Parma-based agency published a scientific opinion Wednesday on the safety of dried yellow mealworms and gave them a thumbs up. Researchers said the worms, either eaten whole or in powdered form, are a protein-rich snack or ingredient for other foods.

Allergic reactions may occur, especially depending on the type of feed given to the bugs, known officially as Tenebrio molitor larva. But overall “the panel concludes that the (novel food) is safe under the proposed uses and use levels.” ...

Thus, the European Union has now thrown its weight behind worms in much the same way the United Nations has. ...

FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/eu-worms-safe-to-eat-086c85e260096a18489b77a17a4bd913

 

[Mythopoeika]

The EU food safety agency has approved yellow mealworms (insect larvae) as safe to eat.


FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/eu-worms-safe-to-eat-086c85e260096a18489b77a17a4bd913

I think those will typically be dried out and ground to a protein powder, then used as a 'filler' in other food products (such as pies).
Nothing wrong with that if done properly.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

Why am I even reading this thread?

You know on the Top Gear Vietnam Special, where Richard really really does not want to eat any of the 'food' that James and Jeremy are eating, then finally has a bowl of rice krispies after about a week of not eating?

Yeah. That would be me. I completely sympathised with him on that.

 

[His Extremely DeLux Self]

Confession time: I ate ants. There, I've said it. When I was a youngster, I read somewhere that ants taste like sour pickles. This sounded too weird to be true to Young Me, I had to check it out. So I went out to the nearby anthill, caught a few (they were the red kind with black butts, about a half inch [1.27cm] long) and cautiously bit down on one. Yep, sour. Sour, and sharp. I had two more just to confirm that ants did indeed taste vaguely like sour pickles and filed the knowledge away in my mind until I was just now reminded of it

 

[hunck]

Confession time: I ate ants. There, I've said it. When I was a youngster, I read somewhere that ants taste like sour pickles. This sounded too weird to be true to Young Me, I had to check it out. So I went out to the nearby anthill, caught a few (they were the red kind with black butts, about a half inch [1.27cm] long) and cautiously bit down on one. Yep, sour. Sour, and sharp. I had two more just to confirm that ants did indeed taste vaguely like sour pickles and filed the knowledge away in my mind until I was just now reminded of it

Cheffy types use them occasionally. I saw an episode of Great British Menu where one of the chefs used a light sprinkling of ants in a fancy pudding for exactly this purpose. It wasn't universally popular.

 

[Squail]

On the general insects-as-food subject: could anyone "confirm or correct" re the following (I could no doubt Google it; but it would seem possibly more fun to ask "real people"). The issue concerned, is: does Islam forbid its followers from eating insects? My impression -- a vague one; I'm no specialist in these matters -- re Moslem dietary rules, had been that pig in any form is forbidden; and halal slaughtering is required, for permitted meats; but that otherwise, pretty well "anything goes". Far fewer restrictions, for sure, than with Judaism's kosher laws (I have the notion -- maybe wrongly -- that the one type of insect which is kosher, is the locust -- possibly, only certain kinds of locust).

The matter came up recently, in connection with a friend's Moslem work colleague -- a question of said colleague's apparently eschewing certain sweets of a red colour; because of the involvement of the cochineal insect, and Moslems' supposedly being forbidden to consume insects in any way or shape. I'm just curious -- is this the case; or is the wrong end of the stick being got by someone?

 

[Mythopoeika]

On the general insects-as-food subject: could anyone "confirm or correct" re the following (I could no doubt Google it; but it would seem possibly more fun to ask "real people"). The issue concerned, is: does Islam forbid its followers from eating insects? My impression -- a vague one; I'm no specialist in these matters -- re Moslem dietary rules, had been that pig in any form is forbidden; and halal slaughtering is required, for permitted meats; but that otherwise, pretty well "anything goes". Far fewer restrictions, for sure, than with Judaism's kosher laws (I have the notion -- maybe wrongly -- that the one type of insect which is kosher, is the locust -- possibly, only certain kinds of locust).

The matter came up recently, in connection with a friend's Moslem work colleague -- a question of said colleague's apparently eschewing certain sweets of a red colour; because of the involvement of the cochineal insect, and Moslems' supposedly being forbidden to consume insects in any way or shape. I'm just curious -- is this the case; or is the wrong end of the stick being got by someone?

Yes, insects are forbidden by Islam.

 

[feinman]

The matter came up recently, in connection with a friend's Moslem work colleague -- a question of said colleague's apparently eschewing certain sweets of a red colour; because of the involvement of the cochineal insect, and Moslems' supposedly being forbidden to consume insects in any way or shape. I'm just curious -- is this the case; or is the wrong end of the stick being got by someone?

Interesting. I have dyed goat leather for armour projects with cochineal and madder before; to make a version of Kermes. I bought the actual dead dried insects and boiled them in water in a double boiler --smelled not good but not bad. Weird rehydrating dead dried insects though. Made a very nice crimson red made warmer in color with the madder.

 

[Squail]

Yes, insects are forbidden by Islam.

Interesting. I have dyed goat leather for armour projects with cochineal and madder before; to make a version of Kermes. I bought the actual dead dried insects and boiled them in water in a double boiler --smelled not good but not bad. Weird rehydrating dead dried insects though. Made a very nice crimson red made warmer in color with the madder.

Thanks, both. Wondering -- I may be way off-beam -- I'd tend to suspect that nowadays, cochineal insects are "archaic": available and used for small specialist projects such as, @feinman, your armour job; but that for confectionery manufacturer en masse, red / pink colouring is achieved in more modern and sophisticated synthetic ways. Supposing that is so, my friend's colleague would perhaps not have needed to abstain as described? Or perhaps he was following the same principle as applies, I gather, with Jewish / kosher matters: one is advised to go to fairly great lengths to be certain that one is not inadvertently transgressing -- however probable it may look that factually, one is in the clear...

 

[feinman]

Thanks, both. Wondering -- I may be way off-beam -- I'd tend to suspect that nowadays, cochineal insects are "archaic": available and used for small specialist projects such as, @feinman, your armour job; but that for confectionery manufacturer en masse, red / pink colouring is achieved in more modern and sophisticated synthetic ways. Supposing that is so, my friend's colleague would perhaps not have needed to abstain as described? Or perhaps he was following the same principle as applies, I gather, with Jewish / kosher matters: one is advised to go to fairly great lengths to be certain that one is not inadvertently transgressing -- however probable it may look that factually, one is in the clear...

Just Googled this up:
https://www.livescience.com/36292-red-food-dye-bugs-cochineal-carmine.html#:~:text=When Europeans descended on South,became a major trade good.&text=About 70,000 insects are needed to produce a pound of dye.

 

[bugmum]

I had no idea that insects had fat.

In my current position as larvae vampire, I extract their blood equivalent by piercing a proleg and pipetting off the emergent fluid. If no lymph is coming out and you squeeze hard enough, a big white globule of fat will emerge instead - at which point I mutter rude words and movie onto the next larva. Certainly in Lepidoptera, the fat body is where the insect immune cells are manufactured.

 

[Krepostnoi]

In my current position as larvae vampire

Please assure me, o larval vamp, that the illumination in your lair is derived from a lava lamp.

 

[Xanatic*]

In Denmark the traditional red sausages are still dyed using lice. They are also pork, so muslims will likely avoid them anyway.