How About 'No Thanks!'

Whether it is kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, or sourdough, today’s foodies are not short of fermented treats to tantalise their tastebuds. But for the adventurous, the menu may be about to get wilder. How about a spoonful of ant yoghurt?

🤢 

Making it does not involve milking any ants.

You don’t say? 

Instead, the unfortunate insects are dropped into a jar of warm milk, which is tucked into an ant mound and left to ferment overnight. The fermenting tradition originating from Turkey and Bulgaria is now being resurrected in the name of science.

Science? We know how to make yoghurt, where’s the need for any more methods? 

“Ants are a somewhat commonly used ingredient in high-end gastronomy in Copenhagen. They’re an ingredient chefs like to play with,” said Dr Leonie Jahn, a senior researcher at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Biosustainability in Lyngby, who supervised the project.

*Crosses Denmark off the holiday list*

As a keen “fermentista”, I found the urge to try making my own ant yoghurt hard to resist. Sinotte and colleagues advise against this: some ants can carry a parasite, a type of liver fluke that is harmful to humans. Plus, red wood ant numbers are declining across wide parts of Europe, making large-scale harvesting of the insect unsustainable.

Yum! At least if you eat fugu while in Japan, you know the chef has been trained not to kill you. 

Ants are not the only unusual ingredient historically used to make yoghurt. In Turkey and other countries, people have traditionally used plant material such as pinecones, chamomile and linden flowers, or nettle roots to kickstart yoghurt fermentations. Investigating these approaches could impart further textures or flavours – with the added benefit of leaving ants unharmed. Nettle yoghurt for breakfast, anyone?

Ill stick to cereal or if I’m at work, McDonald’s breakfast wrap.