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Ants have been on the table at Rene Redzepi's restaurant Noma for a while now. His culinary team in Copenhagen has found intriguing ways of turning ants in gourmet fare. How have they done it?
The team at the Nordic Food Lab, Redzepi's culinary think tank, has published a guide to cooking ants. Their detailed instructions give you a glimpse into the fascinating process of conceiving a dish called Ants and a Chimp Stick, which was presented at an insect festival in London earlier this year.
In preparation for the dish, the team harvested thousands of wood ants and smelling ants, which are said to taste of lemongrass and kaffir lime. The cooks then focused on creating a recipe that would highlight those flavors. They settled on a stunning presentation that included serving the ants on a licorice root.
Here's an excerpt from the Nordic Food Lab blog:
''Back at the lab, we blast-chilled the ants. It was not without a tinge of solemnity, for although we had strong culinary interest in their demise it was still odd to think about how many individuals we had removed, and whether the structure of the colony would be affected. Would the complex hierarchy be thrown into disarray, even temporarily? Would workers have to be re-assigned tasks? We had and continue to have many questions about the impact of harvesting insects, many of which remain only partially and unsatisfactorily answered.''
Interested in making ants on a chimp stick? You'll find the full recipe here.
WATCH: Rene Redzepi Talks About ''Ants on the Table''
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