Delicious Australia – (11)November 2018

LEF

TOVER

Bananas

FUTURE

PROOF

INSECTS–WOULDYOU

EAT THEM?If your first

responsewas“Ewww,yuk”,

I’m guessing you’re not part

ofthe80percentofhumans

who regularly consume

bugs. A cultural fear of creepy crawlies has

kept them on the periphery of the Western

diet,butatrendtowardsentomophagy,or

insecteating,iscreepingoutofAfrica, Asia

and Central and South America.

In Thailand, they snack on grasshoppers;

in Africa, the residents around Lake

Victoria eat mosquito burgers during the

rainy season when the insects swarm in

the billions. The Amazon’s Piaroa tribe

barbecue huge bird-eating tarantulas.

Here,bogongmothshavelongbeen

animportantsourceofbushtucker.

Thecaseforeatinginsectsgoesbeyond

gaining a brief moment of Instagram glory.

The United Nations reports eating bugs

isthekeytofoodsecurity–gramforgram,

they are one of the cheapest, most efficient

and nutritious food sources available. More

sustainablethan any other source of

protein, their ‘feed conversion ratio’ (how

efficientlytheyconverttheirownfeedto

food for humans) is around 90 per cent,

compared with just 10 per cent for cattle.

Thismeanstheyneedafractionofthe

feed, water and space to produce the same

amount of protein.

Intheworld’slargestcricketfarmin

Thailand, crickets are roasted and ground

into a high-protein flour with no heads or

legs to scare you off. The implications of

thissustainablefoodsourcefordrought-

affectedcountries such as Australia are

overwhelming. Research shows that if

afamilyoffourswitchedanimalproteinfor

cricketproteinonceaweek,overayear,

they’d save 750,000 litres of water. That’s

food for thought.

delicious.com.au/food-files

For more tips on making the

most of ingredients.

SUPERMARKETS CLAIM

thatwe are fixated on fruit’s

appearance, not accepting

skinblemishesevenifthe

quality is unaffected. I’ve

beenguiltyofitinthepast–wewant“the

best”. But as a result, more than 100,000

tonnes of Queensland bananas go to

wasteeveryyear.Thisrecipeforbanana

pain perdu(French toast) helps reduce

waste. The riper and blacker the bananas,

thebettertheresult,andyoucanuse

upabitofoldbreadwhileyou’reatit!

Whiz2peeledbananasinablenderuntil

smooth. Whisk 100g banana puree (save

remainingtoaddtosmoothies),3eggs,

2tbscastersugarand100mlpure

(thin)creaminashallowdishuntilwell

combined.Add6slicesstalebriocheor

otherbreadtobananamixtureandstand,

flipping halfway, for 30 minutes to soak.

Melt20gunsaltedbutterinalargefrypan

over medium heat. In batches, cook bread

for2minuteseachsideoruntilgolden.

Sprinkleeachslicewithextra2tbscaster

sugarandcookforafurther1minuteeach

side to caramelise. Serve with whipped

cream and a splash of whisky if you like.

STORE AND SELECT

Selectbananasthatarenotsplitopen,

bruised or with mouldy stems.

Bananas ripen off the tree, so can

mature over time. Store unripe

bananasatroomtemperatureandripe

in the bottom drawer of the fridge.

GOES WITH

Rum,caramel, coconut, chocolate,

vanilla, cinnamon, honey, bacon.

Search delicious.com.au for ‘butterscotch

sauce with burnt-butter bananas’

This month,Shannon Harley

poses question that might

be ard to stomach.

ILLUSTRATION

ALICE CLEARY

INSIDER.

@alannasapwell @misspamplemousse

Follow Alanna Follow Shannon