Okay, so “Brave’s New Food”. I got this idea stuck in my head and just had to try it out. It all started when…
The Spark of an Idea
I saw some documentary, I forget the name, all about how food is changing. You know, lab-grown meat, weird protein sources, that kinda thing. It got me thinking: could I actually make something… different? Edible, obviously, but outside my usual cooking comfort zone.
Getting Started – The Deep Dive
First, I needed some inspiration. I started digging around, no fancy chef books, just good old internet searches.
Look at these options:
- Insect flour?
- Mushroom “steaks”?
- Seaweed pasta?
Sounded gross and kind of exciting, all at the same time.
Making the “Thing”
I ended up grabbing some cricket flour (yeah, seriously) and a bunch of different mushrooms. Figured I’d try a sort of… savory pancake-burger thing. I dumped the cricket flour in a bowl – it looked kinda like cocoa powder, not gonna lie. Added some water, spices (lots of spices, to be safe), and chopped up those mushrooms.
Then, I mixed it all up. The batter was… weird. Grayish-brown, a little lumpy. I heated up some oil in a pan and poured a dollop in. It sizzled, which was a good sign, I guess.
The Moment of Truth
The first one was a disaster. Fell apart, tasted like dirt. But I’m stubborn, so I kept messing with the recipe. More spices, a little less water, cooked it slower. Finally, I had something that looked vaguely like a small, brownish pancake.
I took a bite. And you know what? It wasn’t half bad! Kinda nutty, a little earthy, definitely needed some hot sauce. It wasn’t going to win any awards, but I made it. From bugs. And mushrooms.
Final Thoughts (and Would I Do It Again?)
It was a fun experiment. A bit gross at times, but hey, I learned something. I proved to myself I could make something totally out there. Would I make cricket-mushroom pancakes a regular thing? Probably not. But it definitely opened my eyes to how many weird and wonderful (and sometimes gross) ingredients are out there. Next time, maybe I’ll try the seaweed pasta…
