Vegan alternatives to dairy, particularly butter, are very much in demand at the moment as consumers look for more sustainable ingredients.
Belgian researchers at the University of Ghent are studying the possibility of using larvae fat as an ingredient in cakes, waffles and biscuits, with some promising results.
The process for making the larvae fat doesn’t sound too appetising. The researchers procure it by soaking black soldier fly larvae in water then blending the whole lot together until it forms a 'black, greyish dollop'. They then use a kitchen centrifuge to separate out the insect butter.
“There are several positive things about using insect ingredients,” Daylan Tzompa Sosa, who oversees the research, told The Guardian.
“They are more sustainable because [insects] use less land [than cattle], they are more efficient at converting feed… and they also use less water to produce butter.”
According to the researchers, consumers can’t tell the difference when 25% of the cows’ milk butter in cakes is replaced with larvae fat, although they do report an unusual taste once the insect fat content is increased to 50%.
The way we think about animal products is changing so drastically that insect-based ingredients may soon become so commonplace. Indeed the shift to veganism is so strong that in the near future, people may even look at the way we consume the milk of cows with the same squeamishness that many regard eating fly larvae today.
