Edible Insect Ingredients: Sustainable Protein

Fig. 1- Breakdown of the major macromolecules in a cricket. Photo Credit: Lee Cadesky (C-fu Foods) A classic bolognese sauce: tomato, ground beef….and insects? Brothers Lee and Eli Cadesky, the COO and CEO behind C-fu Foods and One Hop Kitchen, are revolutionizing what it means to be a Bolognese sauce with the invention of a textured insect protein or “TIP.” TIP, formerly called “C-fu,” started as a product development entry for the 2014/2015 Thought For Food (TFF) Challenge, an international university-level competition dedicated to solving issues of food security. While attending graduate school at Cornell University, Lee, along with peers Dan Caticha and Rachel Saputo, worked to fulfill an idea born at a restaurant in Seattle after he ate a bowl of Mexican-style chapulines, or roasted crickets with garlic, chile, and lime. “Protein transformations are really important to food scientists and can be influenced by a lot of different factors,” wrote Lee in a TFF Challenge blog post. “Proteins structure a lot of the foods we love. Hamburgers, fried eggs, surimi, cheese, tofu, noodles, and breads are all made by cleverly manipulating proteins to form a desirable structure. Proteins really are a magnificent sandbox for food formulators. Cheese and tofu are successful, so why not do the same with insects?” [1]