How to Eat Ants
You eat honey, don’t you? That’s basically bee vomit. And yet, people are still wary of eating insects. Go figure. Actually, anyone who eats processed food in North America consumes, on average, 500 grams of insects every year. It’s permissible as long as the amount doesn’t compromise the quality of the food. We know, right? Since you’re eating them anyway, why not make like some of the world’s top chefs and celebrate insects as the delicious source of nutrition they are? Here’s how to eat ants.
What are they?
These ants are more or less the kind you burned with a magnifying glass as a kid(think of it as an early lesson in barbecue). Different ants have different flavours, however, and various species are used in traditional cuisines in Latin America, Asia and Australia.
Why eat them?
It’s all about protein and flavour. Ants are an eco-friendly and highly nutritious food source high in essential fatty acids and low in saturated fat.
How do I eat them?
Use roasted or crushed ants as a seasoning the way you would sprinkle salt or pepper on your food. A little goes a long way.
Who serves them?
But at Sao Paulo’s Michelin-starred D.O.M. (the 7th best restaurant in the world, according to San Pellegrino) the chef-owner Alex Atala—a former punk rocker, boxer, and adventurer, who makes Anthony Bourdain’s adventures look like scout camp—uses saúva ants. They are an ingredient he was introduced to in the Amazon in a bowl of soup with flavours he recognized as lemongrass, cardamom and ginger. Turns out the seasoning was nothing more than ants. Using the bounty native to the Amazon, Atala has influenced others, like world renowned chef Rene Redzepi of Noma in the process.
Where can I get them?
It might be a pain trying to source Atala’s lemongrass and gingery ants (for one, harvest is on the decline due to pesticides), but you can order cooked and dehydrated versions online. Try the weaver ants from thailandunique.com (which have a lemon scent) or the smoky bacon-flavoured leafcutter “fat-bottom” ants from buggrub.com.
How to I use them?
D.O.M’s Alex Atala sprinkles saúva ants over slices of pineapple for a dessert with hints of lemongrass and ginger. Your dinner guests will never know what hit them!
