In recent years the world has been increasingly moving in the direction of environmental protection, health substitutes or veganism. The Israeli “food-tech” industry, the high-tech of food, is one of the most developed and advanced in the world, with many companies, retail chains and restaurants starting to promote products such as cultured meat or milk. In recent days, the new idea in the field of food for the future has hit the shelves, which is expected to change the rules of the game.
The “pantry” boutique deli, which maintains four successful branches around the country, is the first to bring the new gospel – grasshoppers. This may sound bizarre and strange to you, but you will be surprised to find that the little insect has many more benefits than you thought. The Pardes Hanna-Karkur branch has already started selling the new dish, but it does not end here. Apart from the grasshopper itself, the “pantry” intends to use the raw material with the health and environmental qualities to produce another complete collection of products.
Dor Cohen, one of the two partners who set up the boutique deli, told Maariv how the idea came up and what the future holds. “We were at a food-tech conference and came across a person who grows grasshoppers. When we realized what the benefits of grasshoppers were, we decided to take it a step further,” Cohen said. According to him, the grasshopper contains 72 proteins, is rich in dietary fiber (10 times more whole rice for comparison) and good for the digestive system. If all this is enough, you should know that the grasshoppers of the “pantry” are even kosher under the supervision of Rabbi Moshe Tal Landau.
- An Israeli volunteer in Ukraine “fell in love with my place” – and her husband took an extreme step
In addition, the use of grasshoppers also contributes to the environment as it does not require water or a greenhouse, as well as will reduce the amount of grasshoppers in the south that interfere with other agricultural crops to exist. Although the grasshopper is not vegan, it is suitable for anyone who wants to enrich his body with nutritional values from the living nature. An example Cohen gave during the interview was about sausages: “Our goal is to lower the level of meat in the sausage so that it contains 85% meat and about 15% grasshoppers so that the protein from the insect is healthy, unlike vegetable protein made from soy.”
Also, today on the shelves of the “pantry” is offered for sale the dried grasshopper in its natural taste (although at the time of writing this product also this product is sold out). Looking ahead, enthusiastic developers plan to expand and produce two more flavors – spicy and umami, grasshopper flour, a protein-rich grasshopper smoothie and even gummy candies with 20% of the insect. “The future is crazy, feels like science fiction,” Cohen said excitedly.
Although the “pantry” is only at the beginning of the road when it comes to the food-tech industry, it seems that from here they will only increase awareness in the field of healthy and ecological food. And you? You should not be in a hurry to be judgmental. All over the world the living creature in all its forms is already being eaten, and it is time for a developed country like ours to join.