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Mopane worms are a traditional snack in South Africa, but a Cape Town restaurant will creep into history books as the first to serve a full menu of delicacies infested with insects.
The Insect Experience, which opened this month, offers an alternative food source to the city's dominant culinary experience.
The restaurant was opened by Gourmet Grub, a company that has already introduced milk-free dairy-based ice cream in Cape Town.
Leah Bessa, co-founder and Product Development Manager, studied insects as a viable protein substitute.
"In general, the insects are very rich in protein and fat, comparable to the red meat in terms of protein and fat content.The insects we use, the larvae of black soldier flies, are much richer in zinc, iron and calcium than beef, "she said.
According to Bessa, insects are also high in dietary fiber and have no carbohydrate value.
Insects are raised by two local farmers and delivered directly to the restaurant.
Flour worms and mopane worms are among the critters that chef Mario Barnard has included in his dishes.
In 2015, he went to Thailand and experimented for the first time dishes based on tarantulas and scorpions.
"I knew then that I wanted to hide insects in food, incorporated in small gourmet dishes, to present them to South Africans," said Barnard.
The restaurant serves mopane worm polenta fries and black fly larvae chickpea croquettes accompanied by a mopane hummus and garnished with a pinch of dried mealworms.
For dessert, it offers ice cream of black fly larvae with dark chocolate fried.
"I've chosen these dishes to introduce insects to people because they already know them – everyone knows about fries and croquettes from polenta," he said.
One customer told AFP: "It's delicious, it's tasty and spicy, it's all you want in the food."
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