Forget having cheese with your wine, bugs are the new it dish to pair.
A reported two billion people eat bugs as part of their diet worldwide. Add to that the trend of insect-eating thanks to their being a complete protein and what do you have? Lathwaite’s new guide to pairing your edible exoskeleton-having snack with a glass of wine.
At first glance this might appear to be a joke, a way to poke fun at a trend, but edible bugs are finding their way from places where they are common on tables, like South America and Asia, to high end gourmet shops in places less exotic. London’s Selfridge’s sells edible insects, there are boutique gourmet shops specializing in insects and many restaurants, including Copenhagen’s Noma (widely considered the best restaurant in the world) now include a variety of insects such as ants and locusts.
The guide is thorough and pairs the same way one would chocolate or a particular meat: taking note of primary and underlying flavors and texture to decide the best wine to complement the “treat”. When asked about the development of the guide Lathwaite’s pointed out that many descriptors used in wine tastings are similar to the habitats of bugs so it only made sense to try.
The guide currently pairs ten of Lathwaite’s wines with insects.