FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Love bugs
From selling out at restaurants to wriggling their way into school dinners, we explore whether insects could be the future of food
by REBECCA NORRIS
illustrations GEORGINA LUCK
Prue Leith is cooking a risotto. Chopped onion, a clove of garlic, mushrooms, rice, white wine, vegetable stock, Parmesan, cream. Then just as she is plating the dish, she reaches for something offbeat. Out of the oven come the roasted crickets, which are scattered generously on top. 'It's the most delicious mushroom risotto,' she enthuses to the camera. 'With a bit of crunch.'
This clip is part of a series of home-cooking videos uploaded by the celebrity chef to her YouTube channel. The recipe was supplied - along with the critters - by start-up Yum Bug, which is on a mission to take edible insects mainstream. It is one of several UK businesses working to challenge the view that bugs should be fed only to pet reptiles or disgraced politicians on I'm a Celebrity...
'We eat prawns, which are actually just insects of the sea,' reasons co-founder Leo Taylor. 'They're related to the extent that if you're allergic to shellfish, you may also be allergic to crickets.' Though many of us Brits may feel queasy at the thought of tucking into a plate of bugs, they are already part of the regular diet of two billion people worldwide.