These past few weeks really have been a blur and I must say the results of this challenge have exceeded my expectations in many ways. Be it through reading the experiences of those around me or through my own experiences in carrying out this challenge, I feel as though I have truly found an understanding for the ways in which we can affect those around us. I never imagined that I would be able to convince so many people to try or even consider eating insects as it is such a foreign concept in Ireland, and to see others showing interest in my challenge and the reasons why I would take it on shows me that what we are doing is getting people to think about sustainability in all it’s forms.

It has been a great experience carrying out this challenge and seeing what people thought of it, least of all to see it published in the newspaper; and knowing that other’s have been able to benefit from hearing about my experience with this challenge encourages me to keep going on with it even after these 30 days are over. I hope to continue spreading information about eating insects and sustainable food in general and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for new and imaginative ways of sustainable living.

I decided to whip up some mealworm, morio worm and shrimp stir fry to see how the insects would taste when matched with some of their sea faring family members. All in all I found that they really complimented each other; there’s definitely a very distinct difference in how the two taste but the shrimp had a softer texture which went really well with the crispness of the mealworms. I mentioned this previously but when I see something like a lobster next to a scorpion for example, I can’t help but notice that they have an extremely similar body shape and movement and yet many people seem to draw the line at the land dwelling version. 

I did a little research and found out that in the past lobsters used to be called «The poor man’s meal» and were given almost exclusively to prisoners as punishment. I suppose this speaks to the over abundance of lobsters at the time but it has always been a pattern in history that the scarcity of a product only increases the demand for it. Could it be that our constant exposure to the insects around us is something that affects people’s opinions on eating it?

https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/how-lobster-went-from-prison-food-to-an-expensive-delicacy

I whipped up a cricket flour shake yesterday to see how it would fare as a protein supplement on the go and I have to say it tasted really good. Although the strawberry taste made up most of the drink, there was definitely a hint of cricket flavor coming through.

When starting this challenge I held the belief that most people would view my challenge as a strange and unappealing choice and would not really see how it related to sustainability as a whole. Since then I’ve met one or two people who seem on-board and even willing to try it out, however the majority of people still seem to be willing to listen to me explain my reasoning and then go on to say «It wouldn’t be my cup of tea though». I think that even with the benefits of this diet being made clear to them, the general societal view in Ireland seems to be that we’re not quite ready yet for something so foreign and unheard of. I think that this can definitely be turned around with enough people taking part in or even considering trying out insects in a situation that doesn’t frame it as a gross-out challenge or something overly dramatic. I was surprised to see just how many people are trying this out in countries surrounding Ireland however, the UK seems to be going steadily in the bug direction and I can only hope that this new way of thinking about our food will spread over here.

I made a batch of cricket flour cupcakes today, using the same 1:5 ratio I used for my crêpes to see how the flour would effect the rise of the cupcakes if at all. I did notice that they seemed to bake a small bit quicker then before when I had used the same recipe without the flour, but I’ll have to check and see if these results are consistent the next time I try it. I have to say I didn’t notice much of a difference in their taste, probably because the sweetness of the cupcakes overpowered the mild nutty flavor of the crickets. Texture-wise they definitely felt a bit heavier than before, although they were still quite fluffy on the inside with a speckled and slightly darker color (Although I usually use white caster sugar so I’d have to see if it would affect the color of brown sugar cupcakes.

I added a cheeky sprinkle of flour to the cupcakes I had iced and whipped up a nutella icing to compliment the it’s natural nutty flavor. I placed a roasted cricket on top for decoration (and also as a warning to my brother who is vegetarian) and to my surprise, my parents went right to devouring the cupcakes without the crickets on top. This was proof that most people are happy to eat any food that tastes good and more importantly, looks familiar. Similarly to how people will gladly grab a burger to go but would hesitate at receiving their meat straight from the slaughterhouse, the fact that the insects are processed makes it so that many people won’t mind if there is more than a cricket’s worth of flour in their cupcake as long as they can’t see it. I believe this might be an effective way to introduce people to the concept of eating insects in Ireland and I’ll try to experiment with more recipes to see just how versatile it could be.

I decided to do a little experimenting with the cricket flour I got and whipped up a batch of crêpes, replacing about a fifth of the normal flour I would use with it. I decided to start off with crêpes as they don’t have to rise that much and aren’t too finicky when it comes to replacing certain ingredients so I knew the flour wouldn’t have too dramatic of an effect on them. I would say they tasted almost identical to normal crêpes, with a hint of nuttiness added in. Next time I’d like to experiment with a more chemistry-heavy recipe to see if the flour will dramatically affect the results.

Although the stacks of delectable crêpes still stood in my favor, there was no denying the tower of inconvenience that was the lack of systems available to provide me these ingredients. I’ve talked about it previously, but aside from the honey industry, we really do not have a very large selection of bug goods available in Ireland at the moment. I hope I’ll be able to make some kind of impact on this, however small it may be, by informing friends and family about the benefits of eating insects and by continuing to share my experiences as I go along.

I finally received my order of cricket flour yesterday and I’m very excited to try it out. This flour is made of 100% ground crickets and serves as a great introduction to the world of Entomophagy for those who are mainly turned away by the appearance of the food. It can be used as a protein powder substitute in shakes and snacks, and can be used to replace about 1/5 of the flour used in regular baking. As is the case with eating most insects, it is not advised to try out if you are allergic to shellfish or mollusks, although more research has to be done about exactly what allergens may be shared by the different animals. It possesses higher quantities of both protein and calcium in comparison to beef and consumes far less energy to create.

Of course the fact that I had to have this product shipped over to me from the UK makes it a less sustainable method of cooking in comparison to my home made insect dinners, but I hope that with the recent increase of cricket and other insect farms across the world I’ll eventually be able to locally source some cricket flour in the future. 

I started keeping superworms several days into this challenge to make sure I’d have enough bug grub for the coming weeks. Superworms are similar in many ways to mealworms, however they are about 5 times larger in size and a bit darker in colouration. I must say they were pretty satisfying to chomp on as they were almost like insect-crisps after I finished grilling them. Another difference between the two species is that superworms don’t hibernate when exposed to the cold like mealworms do as they are tropical insects, this means that you can’t keep them in the fridge to slow down their metabolism, as apparently that’s a popular way to store their smaller cousins. There are also “Giant mealworms” which are apparently just mealworms that are treated with growth hormones to make them larger and meatier, but for now I think I’ll stick with my all-natural critters.

The further I delve into this topic, the more new and fascinating information I find. I’d like to do more research on these growth hormone affected insects, to see if they could further contribute to making sustainable meat farming a possibility.

Today I followed up on a tip I heard online about feeding some of my insects fruit as it apparently helps to give them a richer taste. I usually feed them fruit and vegetables that I have left over or that would be discarded like apple cores and the ends of carrots as I find this to be a more sustainable way of giving them food, without the need to go out and get extra supplies. I think that this works for me at the moment as I don’t rely on my insects for a huge portion of my diet, but if I were to continue eating them I would definitely consider expanding my current set up. I believe the price for their food would still stay relatively inexpensive as crickets and mealworms essentially eat anything that’s offered to them as long as it’s organic matter.

However the fact that one of the only ways to have a sustainable source of edible insects is to farm them yourself shows that this diet is not very accessible to most casual consumers who wouldn’t want to deal with raising their own insects. I’ve heard of several small insect farms popping up throughout Europe over the past several years, so I hope it won’t be long before we can see packs of pre-packet crickets lining the shelves of local supermarkets.

Today I decided to cook up some cricket tacos to see how the crispy critters fared as a meat substitute. I have to say I think I preferred them to the mealworms as they had that same distinct nutty flavor with an even better crunch and a taste that I could best compare to crispy chicken skin. I first froze the crickets for about ten minutes, this puts them in a sort of hibernation state and is what I feel to be a more humane way of prepping them for cooking. I first fried them in a little butter and salt in the saucepan for several minutes before placing them under the grill to get nice and crispy. Several family members found themselves drawn to the kitchen thinking I was preparing a roast but were not so keen on taste testing once they found out what I was cooking up.

I think this represents a definite issue that arises once the topic of eating insects is brought up and that is the «ick factor». Even though these insects have familiar tastes to what we’re used to, the thought of eating them alone still seems to repulse people. This is due in no small part to the emphasis put on insects as gross and unappealing creepy crawly creatures in Western media, with the eating of insects often reserved as a punishment or insane challenge in shows such as «I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!». My parents are still huge fans of shrimp and crab however, and with these creatures looking so similar to, and being very closely related to insects, I struggle to understand why people draw the line of what is edible at these six-legged tasty treats.

Hi!

I decided to go with this challenge as I feel the concept of eating insects is often brought up when discussing sustainable sources of protein, however it is rarely seen being put into practice, especially in Ireland. It is estimated that over two billion people in the world eat insects as a part of their standard diet, and with greatly reduced water, land and food costs needed to produce this food source, I believe it only makes sense to incorporate them into our daily meals. I have experience breeding mealworms and crickets at home although I have never attempted to cook with them before so this should be an interesting challenge for me.

This week I decided to male some roasted mealworm pizza bites; they had a slightly nutty flavor and added a nice crispy texture to the slices.