J.R. Johnson

I am pretty sure that today will be the first snow-free day at our house, and I spotted the first flowering violets out back. All good news! I could talk about the first Soviet Lord of the Rings adaptation that mysteriously popped up on YouTube, but I’m waiting for one of my favorite authors, the (Russian) half of Ilona Andrews, to weigh in on that.

Gandalf the red: confusing and cheap, but Soviet Lord of the Rings is curiously charming

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Instead today I experimented with another first: cricket flour.

There are a lot of good reasons to find less land and water-intensive ways to get protein. Like other animal sources (and unlike most substitutes), crickets produce a complete protein. No wasting away from lack of amino acids! It’s also very high in B12 (I will say that I’ve felt more energized today than usual; coincidence?)

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There are a lot of societies who don’t blink twice at the thought of eating insects. I don’t happen to be a member of such a society, so for me it’s a bit of a step. Is it a big step? Let’s see!

I added a tablespoon to my morning smoothie, but no photo because I wasn’t on top of things and it made zero difference to the color or texture. I also let the cat lick a bit of powder from my fingers; she looooved it!

So how was it? As mentioned, the color and texture essentially disappeared into my strawberry and blueberry-based smoothie, so that was helpful. The taste is mild but a little particular. Straight up, the powder is a little salty. It was ok in a sweet drink but I bet it would be ideal in something savory. 

Let’s call it a small-ish step. 

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And then there’s what everyone wants to know: the ick factor:)

You may have noticed that I said nothing about eating whole crickets. That’s not happening, but I was game to try the flour. (Which isn’t “flour” as we know it except for being a formerly solid thing now ground into tiny particles. And in this case, that “thing” is an insect.)

So how was it? There is a bit of an odor, and the scent has a twist to it that keeps me from pinning down exactly what it smells like. Swarm of insects on an organic farm with a giant vat of red miso, maybe? I’ll have to get back to you on that.

I’ll admit that the mental hurdle was there. 

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My parents made a deal with us as kids. Given something new to try, we had to eat at least three bites before we could throw in the towel. It was a good rule. Even if we insisted that (fill in the blank, often something that tasted suspiciously like Brussels sprouts) wasn’t for us, we’d given it a shot. Often enough of a shot that when it rolled around the next time, we were open to trying it again.

So I settled in for at least three bites. Or slurps, in this case.

I ended up finishing the whole smoothie, and liking it.

There’s a trick that’s recommended to people who are anxious about things like public speaking. Instead of trying to talk yourself out of the anxiety and into calmness, which is 180 degrees away from where you start, instead try to shift to a more closely-related emotion, which is excitement. 

Applying that technique here, I stopped trying to think of this as just another regular food, and started thinking of it as a funky protein powder. I’ve tried plenty of those in the past, and this was just another one.

It worked, mostly. 

Also, let’s face it, if you think about it, shrimp are just as weird looking. 

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I’ll try cricket powder in stew, and I’ll try it in banana bread. The odor (whatever it is) actually seemed like it would be a good fit with bananas, and the color wouldn’t stand out. And maybe brownies; dark chocolate also seems like a good way to incorporate the powder without making a thing of it.

The good news is that whatever you think of crickets, they are easy and sustainable, like the bamboo of the protein world.

And while I try not to conflate appearance with worthiness, I have yet to meet a cute cricket.*

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* My father begs to disagree.

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