- Edible caterpillars, also known as “mopane worms,” are gaining popularity in Western cultures.
- A South African entrepreneur has found ways of turning them into flour that can be used in savoury biscuits and protein bars.
- When steamed and sliced, mopane pieces can also be used as pizza toppings.
A South African entrepreneur wants to change the way edible caterpillars, also known as “mopane worms,” are viewed and consumed.
Many people, particularly those from Western European backgrounds, still have reservations about eating insects.
They can, however, be a valuable source of nutrition, and farming them is not harmful to the environment.
South African chemical engineer Wendy Vesela has found ways of turning the spiky green and black caterpillars — which are packed with protein and iron — into a flour that can be used in savoury biscuits, sweet chocolate protein bars, cereals or smoothies.
When steamed and sliced, mopane pieces can also be used as pizza toppings.
Vesela says she has found domestic and international customers for her organic products.
Edible insects and worms may indeed be gaining popularity in Western cultures.
But food anthropologist Anna Trapido insists that the trend should not be seen as just another dietary fad, a “kind of adventure tourism, where you get a badge” for eating them.
“Mopane need to be treated with respect because they are part of people’s emotional, spiritual, culinary genres,” she said.
In Vesela’s home province of Limpopo, where she grew up in a town not far from the world-famous Kruger National Park, mopane is a staple food, cooked in a sauce of onions and tomatoes.
The caterpillars are “a healthier option of protein”, she said. And it’s “not a worm. So people have just to get over that fear.”
Vesela tried to woo reluctant customers with biscuits and protein bars at a recent food fair in Johannesburg’s upmarket Sandton district.
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