If you think of bugs only as pests to be exterminated, think again. Bugs can be delicious and good for you.
According to Brooklyn Bugs’ chef Joseph Yoon, crickets are the gateway bug that can lead someone to an addiction to insects in their diet. And that’s a good thing.
"When I began to realize that edible insects and insect agriculture can have an impact on food security, on environmentalism, sustainability, health and nutrition, workforce activation, and livelihoods, this gave me a tremendous sense of inspiration and motivation," Yoon explained.
Yoon described himself as having always been "a curious eater, and I've eaten virtually anything that's been presented to me with respect as food. Not as like a dare or anything."
But a lot of Americans are not so curious and find the idea of bugs disgusting or exotic. But many other cultures have been enjoying the flavors and nutritional benefits of edible insects for centuries. So Yoon has taken on the mantle of "edible insect ambassador" to make a case for bugs.
"One of the big hurdles is in changing the perception of insects, which are regularly thought of as a pest," Yoon said. "And so being able to take these negative ideas and then somehow try to get people to consider these insects, these pests, as food is yet another hurdle. I focus on the culinary and gastronomical properties. To think of insects as something delicious. Over 2,000 species of edible insects with wildly different flavor profiles, textures and functionality that we can prepare absolutely deliciously if we have the culinary acumen and the know how, and it's sustainable and nutrient dense."
For Friday’s Bug Banquet at San Diego State University, he will be preparing ten dishes including multiple gateway bug offerings of cricket hummus, smoothie, popcorn, bread and cookie cake. Many of these use cricket powder so you can consume bugs without ever seeing them in the food you are eating.
Food scientist Changqi Liu is an associate professor at SDSU and one of the presenters and organizers of the Bug Symposium and Banquet. The last one they did was in 2019 before the pandemic and they surveyed people about their prior experiences with edible insects.
"We found that people who did not have prior experiences with edible insects, and then asked, what form of insects do you prefer? A lot of those people tend to choose invisible form, like ground powder or something," Liu said. "But for those who had insects before, they actually tend to choose the visible insects, like insect kebab or something like that. So I think the invisible form may be helpful in getting people started if they have a fear of seeing the bugs."
As a chef, Yoon takes great pride in making food and especially bugs taste delicious.
"One of the things that I try to employ when introducing people to edible insects is thinking about what food do you really love, and then I think about how I can 'bugify' that dish by incorporating insect protein into your favorite meals," Yoon said. "Because when people think about what insects might look like, they might think like, oh, am I going to eat, like, a whole bowl full of crickets? It's like, no. How about if we were to make a cricket Bolognese and make a delicious gravy. This sauce incorporated in cricket powder. We don't even have to see it. And if you're a big fan of burgers, what if we were to make like a black bean burger with crickets both chopped up and the powder? And so it's really what a great possibility and potential to be so inspired to find all these new ingredients and think about how we can reimagine it into familiar foods."
People who attend events like the Bug Banquet sometimes go unwillingly and then Yoon wins them over with his offerings, starting with the more invisible bug food.
"Then something really fascinating happens," Yoon said. "They want to try something buggier. So I'm luring them in, and they're like, okay, chef, let me try something where I could see the bugs, and maybe they'll try the black ants with guacamole. And black ants have formic acid as a defense mechanism, which gives it an acidic flavor profile. So it pairs perfectly with something like guacamole, and the flavors actually complement the dish, and it kind of pushes people to go further. And so I think that's what we really love to do, is just giving people the opportunity, but never shaming anyone or pressuring people to do it. I'm not a bug pusher. I'm not out there, like, trying to push people to eat them. I'm an educator, an advocate, an activist who's actively just trying to give people the option and the knowledge so that they can make the decision themselves."
And the Bug Banquet allows them to do that.
"In 2019, when we first hosted the event, we did a pre-event and post-event survey," Liu said. "We found that through this kind of cooking and tasting demonstrations, it really changes people's perceptions on edible insects and promoted their willingness to try them. We are also going to be talking about, why should we eat insects. Edible insects are known to have a lower environmental footprint as compared to some of the conventional livestock. For example, they require much less feed, water and land to farm. And during the process, they produce much less greenhouse gasses. At the same time, they have really good nutritional values. For example, the high protein content and unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, minerals."
When pushed to name a favorite dish or ingredient, Yoon finally admitted: "All in all, I would have to say my hands down, unequivocal grand champion insect for me to cook and eat is the cicada."
If you are excited about cooking with insects, then you do need to get your ingredients from reliable sources.
"One should not go in their backyard and just pick an insect because of the risk of pathogens and contaminants," Yoon cautioned.
He suggests places such as edibleinsects.com, entomofarms.com or 3cricketeers as reliable sources.
On Friday at noon, is the Bug Banquet offering people delicious food that features edible insects prepared by chef Yoon with the help of SDSU students. And I can personally vouch for how delicious Yoon's buggy creations are and look forward to sampling the scorpion kimchi that I left fermenting yesterday.
