Bringing insects to the dinner table

By Natasha Lovato

It takes an open-minded American to eat bugs but the seemingly creepy-crawly food source is actually an excellent source of nutrients.

Most nations worldwide include insects as a part of their regular diet and the Rocky Mountain Micro Ranch (RMMR) in Denver is determined to end the American stigma against eating bugs. The small business currently works with the restaurant some know as the king of macabre, Linger.

Rocky Mountain Micro Ranch founder Wendy Lu McGill set out to find a way to feed people using as few natural resources as possible, especially when it came to land and water. In 2015, the micro farm was born. Since then, the awareness of edible insects has grown, although it remains a strange concept in Europe and the U.S.

LINGER JUMPS ON BOARD

Linger is no stranger to eye-opening concepts. The site of the former Olinger Mortuary was converted into a restaurant in 2011 where the mortuary had served the community since 1908.

With fun art and some mortuary-style furniture, Linger has doubled down on its strange origins, making light of the fact that its building was once used for embalming bodies. It’s easy to have fun when you’ve established an innovative and popular dining destination in Denver – a foodie mecca.

Linger features rooms that are suitable for all occasions and an ever-changing menu that appeals to most palates. Whether it be date night or happy hour, Linger enjoys pushing boundaries and exploring the unusual, which is why you can expect to walk in and see diners casually enjoying something like a pork sausage garnished with ants.

Linger’s Executive Chef Will Harris uses ants and crickets in certain dishes for their high protein, low carbon footprint, as well as for texture.

“The ants we use for their flavor and texture,” Harris said. “The acidity is truly amazing. It’s like eating a bunch of crunchy bits of lime juice. If I can get guests to eat insects, they most importantly have to taste great.”

Wendy Lu McGill. Photo: Rocky Mountain Micro Ranch

HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES

In addition to Linger’s offerings, Rocky Mountain Micro Ranch has worked with other folks to spread the word.

“Having events is important for education and getting it in people’s mouths. Literally,” McGill said.

RMMR has collaborated with various businesses across the metro area for pairing events at Cerveceria Colorado, Wit’s End Brewing Company, Infinite Monkey Theorem, Colorado Cider Co., The Butterfly Pavilion and The Denver Museum of Nature and Science. At DMNS, visitors can take home buggy snacks, such as pasta, popcorn and chocolate bars.

In addition to being tasty, the health benefits are impressive. Crickets, for example, are high in protein, amino acids, B-12, iron and calcium.

There are recipes on the RMMR website, and McGill has a multitude of healthy suggestions on how to include insects in everyday food items as well.

“We have a powder made from either crickets or meal worms, which is great for things like smoothies and flour substitutes,” she said. “You don’t see the bug this way, so it makes it easier for people.” McGill also suggests using crickets, mealworms, ants or scorpions as a topping on salads, pizza and pasta and in chocolate chip cookies.

SHIFTING THE STIGMA

“My hope is this becomes more mainstream so we can make a bigger impact and shift the negative percentages the meat industry has on the environment,” she said.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, every one kilogram of beef produced requires 22,000 liters of water and 200-square meters of land, but every one kilogram of cricket produced uses less than one liter of water and only 15-square meters of land.

RMMR is also doing its part to reduce waste by using the spent grains from breweries – such as Bierstadt Lagerhaus – as a food source for their mealworms.

“There is an option here for people that is nutritious and won’t harm the planet to the extent meat sources do. Insects are in the same phylum as shellfish, so hopefully it is easier for people to attach them to that identity,” McGill said.

Up until the mid-19th century, eating lobster was similar to eating bugs, so it was mostly sloughed off on prisoners. Now, lobster is a pricey delicacy. Similarly, so are insects in some places. In Mexico, ant eggs are served with caviar-like elegance and mealworms are made into a salt used around the rim on cocktails.

More than two billion people eat bugs as a normal part of their diet, particularly in Asia, Africa and South America.

Perhaps, in the near future, cricket tacos will be as common as the mac and cheese on your plate.

Native Natasha Lovato celebrates the Colorado lifestyle through hiking, biking or playing bingo while enjoying a sour ale or two.