COOKING EXPERIMENTATION
This is a collection of experiments I did in utilising and exploring insect’s gastronomic potential
I tested some oil infusions, this one is rosemary and a hornet.
This is black solider fly kombucha with turmeric and lemon.
This is mealworm with beetroot powder and water to make a dye. I wanted to see if the colour would be taken up by the mealworm.
To help use the mealworms in ways other than whole, I blended them up to this consistency and then again further to make flour.
This is dried black soldier fly which can be ground to make flour or used in dishes whole. They flavour mimics peanut butter.
Pea and mint deep fried fruit beetle, designed as a starter dish - very tasty!
One of my colleagues eating a honey glazed char-grilled cricket.
Mealworm popcorn salad, designed as a starter - also very nice.
This was a test to see if insects would either take up the flavour of the kombucha or if they would give off a flavour.
This is a burger mixture I made using crickets and mealworms.
I experimented with colour using beetroot, charcoal and turmeric powder as well as adding pesto to one.
Textural experiment creating a hard exterior on honeycomb similar to crème brulee, found that this was too sweet.
Flatbread made using dried and ground crickets for the flour.
Seasoned locust skewers ready to be grilled.
vacuum packed bag of cricket flour made by Kristian.
The dough for making noodles using cricket flour.
This is a charcoal ash created using crickets and shallots. It can be used as a seasoning and decorative addition to a dish.
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Crickets and shallots cooking on a hotplate to make the charcoaled ash for seasoning.
Putting together the sushi with red pepper, cucumber and wax moths cooked in a sesame sauce.
One roll wrapped in nori seaweed and the other coated in charcoaled cricket dust.
Noodles made using dried and ground crickets.
Cricket flour noodles ready for the other ramen ingredients. These would also work nicely in a pasta dish.
Kristian taste testing the insect ramen.
MAKING BUG BEER
Wheat has been added to around 63 - 68 degrees Celsius.
Strain the liquid from the mixture. (My strainer wasn’t big enough so had to improvise).
Reduce the liquid before adding the hops.
Add the hops to the liquid and stir.
This is the solution after adding some hops. At this point I added the insect powders.
Cool in an ice bath to 21 degrees Celsius before putting in glass jar.
I found that Beetles can be utilised in beer production, they are added during the hops stage. Beetles Beers is a company in Belgium who discovered this by accident when making a radio frequency machine to sterilise the hops. I have never made beer before at home so this was an entirely new experience. I contacted Firebrick Brewery to talk through the process as well as gain feedback on whether this was a viable idea.
I had some people try the cricket burgers I made. The feedback I got was that they were tasty, although were quite crumbly so I will combine mushrooms and egg in to the mixture next time.
Photography the food was a totally new experience. I found it quite difficult with the glare of the lighting and using a macro lens. I would have liked to have added more context to the images but due to lack of resources I decided to shoot in more of a studio style.
BUG
BY GEORGE GOODWILL