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Insects could be the next big superfood if only Britons would get over their fear of creepy-crawlies, say the restaurateurs putting them on the menu.

They claim bugs — with their high protein and low environmental impact — can play an important role in the future of healthy and ethical diets.

Chef Jozef Youssef aims to raise awareness of Mexican gastronomy with a seven-course tasting menu around entomophagy — the eating of insects.He said: “It’s like asking someone to eat a cat. We have certain things perceived as food, other things that aren’t.

“From a dietary and sustainability point of view insects are the way forward. The protein content, gramme-for-gramme, is on a par with chicken.

“It’s about context. We’re pairing them with flavours that people are very familiar with so they don’t feel too far out of their comfort zone.”

At El Patron, a Mexican restaurant in Putney, a menu of baby scorpions, buffalo worms and chapulines — Mexican grasshoppers — is running throughout next month. Co-owner Aiste Bart said: “We have a nice selection of water bugs, chapulines, and locusts. There’s nothing like it in terms of textures.

“In terms of flavour they are very earthy, nutty, and a bit like root vegetables or a bit of meat. We serve them with some very spicy salsas.”

Mr Youssef, 34, who worked at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck, is using them in dehydrated powders and in mousses and marinades in his Kitchen Theory residency at Maida Hill Place from October 1 until December.

He said: “If we served them whole they’d have to overcome the visual impact. Eating insects takes a certain level of education to understand the benefits. Look at the amount of resources it takes for livestock farming. Insects take a lot less resources. There are huge sustainability and dietary benefits but because we’re spoiled by food options in the West, we’re not really looking at it.”

Ms Bart, 27, is serving chilli worm tacos and garnishing drinks with ants, which “smell a bit like petrol, but have the texture of caviar”.

Rehema Figueiredo tries a plate of scorpions

It is spider season but forget the fear of a daddy long legs in the corner of your bedroom — there is nothing scarier than a plate of scorpions. They were beautifully arranged in a taco filled with freshly made salsa but there was no getting away from the fact scorpions don’t look edible — they look like they could kill you.

I closed my eyes and took a bite. The crunch was surprisingly satisfying although it took me a few minutes to chew the head and pincers before swallowing. Next were some locusts. They had a smoky flavour and were slightly easier to chew. Feeling brave, I tackled a water bug (a sort of giant cockroach) served on a bed of fried maggots. Its shell proved difficult to swallow without a swig of tequila cocktail. To finish I sampled some barbecue-flavoured bamboo worms, which tasted surprisingly similar to Wotsits. Of all the creepy-crawlies I tried I would most happily snack on these, although opening a bag of them on the bus might not go down well.

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