Bugs on the menu as top chefs embrace creepy-crawly trend
WOULD you like bugs with that?
The thought of eating bugs for dinner may make you squirm, but Australia’s top chefs have embraced the trend, and the delicacy will soon be slithering and hopping on to a plate near you.
Edible insects – including crickets, meal worms and even wood cockroaches – have crawled on to some of the country’s hottest menus.
It’s just one of the unique food trends to be explored in The Courier-Mail Annexe at this weekend’s Noosa Food and Wine Festival.
Celebrity chef Kylie Kwong was one of the first to embrace the trend at her Billy Kwong restaurant in Sydney.
Closer to home, Brisbane’s Public and 85 Miskin St at Toowong are two of our top eating houses to adjust their menus.
At 85 Miskin St, tiny edible ants add an aniseed flavour to citrus-cured ocean trout.
A report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, published last year, urged the West to adopt creepy crawlies into their diets, branding them an underutilised food source, rich in protein, fibre and vitamins.
But could a bug ever replace our go-to protein sources? Seafood expert John Susman, who will chair the panel on food futures, is not convinced.
“I’ve been working too hard to keep flies out of my soup to start eating them,” he said. “I have an open mind to it, but a green ant tastes like a green ant.”
The industry leader said he was excited to discuss where our food scene was heading.
And he predicted interest in the provenance of ingredients would be the biggest trend in coming years.
Sustainable fish sourcing would also be a major trend.
“The ‘local’ movement has a lot of momentum, and we’re seeing takeaway chains using branded Angus beef and things like that,” Mr Susman added. “Whether or not it gets exploited from a marketing perspective is yet to be seen.”
Consumers used to barramundi, salmon and snapper will start to use little-known species such as ludderick, gurnard and warehou, he said.
“We’ll also see a deeper level of knowledge at home, in both ingredients and technique, so you’ll never have to be scared of going to someone else’s house for dinner again,” he said.
The food and wine festival runs until tomorrow.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
1. The Courier Mail Annexe
Join top chefs, food critics and writers as they flesh out the burning issues in the Australian food industry. Today, at 10.30am, Queensland Tastw deputy editor Sharnee Rawson talks about what we will be eating in 25 years, while editor Madeline Healy takes the stage at 12.30pm to discuss the cost of dining. Qweekend editor Kylie Lang debates whether Australian is the world’s new travel hotspot at 11.30am. Tomorrow, Courier Mail editor Christopher Dore will wrangle the country’s best culinary critics, discussing everything from foodie television to social media.
2. Celebrity Chef demonstrations
Soak up some skills by watching one of the 30 odd chefs taking the stage each day.
Catch Bruno Loubet, former chef at Baguette, Ascot and now owner-chef of the Grain Store, London, from 11.30am, main stage, and a number of local heroes, including Alejandro Cancino (Urbane), Brad Jolly (Alchemy), David Pugh (Restaurant Two) and Martin Duncan (Freestyle Tout) in the auditorium.
Tomorrow, one of Australia’s most successful ex-pat chefs, David Thompson, of Nahn, Bangkok, will wield his knifes on the main stage from 12.45pm, following My Kitchen Rules favourite Colin Fassnidge who opens the stage at 10.30am.
3. Wine & Food Tasting
Rove around to taste wines from more than 50 different Australian wineries on show, including Teusner, Seppelt and Robert Oatley vineyards. On Saturday, punters have the chance to beat the critics at their own game, as the country’s leading writers, including Q Weekend’s Lizzie Loel and Queensland Taste’s Matt Preston, turn into cooks and compete with their own food kiosks.
On Sunday, the professionals take over food duty, with bites from Sunshine Coast restaurants such as the Spirit House, Embassy XO and Wasabi.
Source: The Australian - 17 may 14
