FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Bugs are all the rage at Insects in the Backyard

Bugs are all the rage at Insects in the Backyard

Did you get the bug yet?

We’ve all heard of insects being the future food for the world’s hungry millions but how about insect haute cuisine? Well now you can try a plate of high-end creepy crawlies at the newly opened Insects in the Backyard (yes, that’s also the name of a well-known if slightly controversial Thai movie from 2010), which is located in the retro-themed Chang Chui Market on Sirindhorn Road in Bangkok’s Thonburi.

According to the restaurant’s website www.insectsinthebackyard.com, insects are a super food, providing more high-quality protein and other nutrients when compared with meat and fish. Insects like crickets, for example, have double the amount of protein of beef, and about 20 percent more calcium than milk.

Secondly, raising bugs for food is much kinder to the planet than raising conventional livestock like pigs and cows, taking up less of the already limited land space and producing way fewer emissions of greenhouse gases (according to the website, producing a kilo of pork creates 10-100 times more greenhouse gases than a kilo of mealworms).

OK, so how about the taste? Well the restaurant’s Executive Chef Mai Thitiwat has a wealth of experience and awards to his credit, including the runner-up prize in the 2012 Thailand Chef Talent competition. He previously worked at Sirocco Le Bua and Michelin star restaurant chain D’Sens among others. So with credentials like that, it must be worth trying.

Insects in the Backyard has already raised considerable interest from overseas with several international media organizations producing reports. Here’s one from Qatar-based Al Jazeera:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-dN_DJPing&feature=youtu.be

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