Edible bugs go posh

Edible bugs go posh

Street vendors selling deep-fried insects as snacks are a familiar sight in Bangkok, but a Thai entrepreneur is trying to give edible bugs a more upmarket appeal.

Mr Panitan Tongsiri will launch his "HiSo" - short for high-society - brand of seasoned insect snacks this month and plans to stock them at gourmet food markets around the Thai capital.

Crunchy crickets and worms will be a delicacy available in plain salt, cheese, seaweed and barbecue flavours at 25 baht (S$1) a pack, said the 29-year-old businessman.

"I want to elevate its level from what is considered street food into something safe and modern," Mr Panitan told Reuters.

HEALTH BENEFITS

Although many in the West shy away from fried worms and cicadas, the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has said that eating insects has health benefits and they could be a food source for the world's growing population.

Ms Bettina Lasbeck, 52, was one of the first to try the HiSo insect snacks at a tasting session in Bangkok.

"It tastes better than I thought," she said.

Crickets and worm snacks are sold outside bustling pubs and bars in Thailand and its neighbouring countries, usually as an accompaniment to beer and whisky.

But the South-east Asian working-class snack is slowly finding a place in gourmet European cuisine.

French culinary arts school Le Cordon Bleu held a seminar on "Edible Insects in a Gastronomic Context" in Bangkok earlier this month.

"It's been a challenge to overcome our own prejudices about insects," Mr Christophe Mercier, an instructor at the Paris-based school, told Reuters.

"For most of the Westerners in the team, including me, it took some courage to break the psychological barrier," he said.

Mr Mercier said he was pleasantly surprised by the results, adding that extracting the flavours could lead to "infinite applications in cooking".

The market potential for HiSo delicacies is huge, both in terms of taste and as food security, said Mr Panitan. But the insects could still be hard to swallow.

"If you eat without looking, no problem," said Mr Ron Lavive as he tried fried worms for the first time on the streets of Bangkok.

"If I look, not good."


This article was first published on Mar 2, 2015.
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