FOOD NEWS
Noma Shook Up The World Of
Fine Dining
With Insects
By Nico Danilovich
Many in the Western world question the idea of eating insects, but it's part of a growing trend in sustainable eating. Noma, a constantly innovating restaurant which rebranded as a giant test-kitchen laboratory in 2023, offered the unique experience of eating insects in a fine-dining environment.
Items such as fermented cricket paste and crème fraîche with live ants were featured on the Noma menu. Co-owner and head chef René Redzepi defended his passion for serving this cuisine by saying, "If you like mushrooms, you've eaten so many worms you cannot imagine, but also we eat honey, and honey is the vomit of a bee."
In 2008, Redzepi co-founded the Nordic Food Lab, an offshoot of Noma that focused on culinary research with a focus on bugs' gastronomic potential in the Western world, which would help meet the world's rising food demand. These experiments have led to bee mayo, fermented prawn, grasshopper garum, and even Anty Gin, which is made with redwood ants.