You’ll ‘bug out’ over this cookbook

Are you interested in eating insects? For most US residents, the answer to that question is “not yet.” Although alternative proteins are multiplying rapidly, people in the US are resisting items that are commonly consumed in other cultures such as grubs or insects. If you aren’t ready for whole bugs, Robyn Shapiro (a former marketing executive with Ralph Lauren), hopes you will dip your toe into the water to sample bug flour. Shapiro is the founder of a new company called Seek, which recently launched a Kickstarter to bring its cricket flour to market. 

Seek is offering all-purpose, gluten-free, and Paleo blended flours, which the company claims can be used cup-for-cup in any recipe using flour. Thinking that even cricket flour may be a tough sell for timid US consumers, Seek has enlisted several celebrity chefs to put together a cookbook featuring the company’s products.  

The Cricket Cookbook includes recipes from Fany Gerson, the Sioux chef Sean Sherman, and former NOMA pastry chef Malcolm Livingston, along with other chefs from the world over. So far, people are taking the bait (so to speak): the Kickstarter has already raised about $13,000, so it will likely hit its $25,000 goal. The blended cricket flours will only be available via the campaign to start, but if there is sufficient interest, Seek will market them nationwide later this year. The cookbook will likewise initially be offered only through the Kickstarter, but will eventually go on sale on Seek’s website.