Crickets in the United States are still a taboo food item, even though they're protein-packed and environmentally friendly, use up far less energy to prepare than the meat industry, and are commonly enjoyed in other countries. We view crickets with the same fascination as we do any novelty food, but fear of the unfamiliar keeps us from seriously considering it as an alternative protein.
To welcome in crickets and other bug cuisines as a future food, I pulled inspiration from the extreme American jello fad of the 1950s. Part of the hype over encasing everything from cake to sandwiches in jello came from a functional desire to extend the life of perishable food items, but our constant fascination with the new, plus a shift towards a soft and sleek space-age aesthetic, likely aided in its popularity. In an era where soft and sleek was in, jello's glossy, gloopy, and somewhat alien form lent itself easily to becoming an object of intrigue and delight.
Using the characteristics of jello as a vessel for ushering in crickets as an edible delicacy, I designed a retro-futuristic sampling of fried crickets encased in colorful agar (vegan-friendly jello made from seaweed) and presented these samples on laser-cut plexiglass plates. Encasing these crickets in jello makes for a cuisine that appears strange and slightly surreal, but it also highlights our fascination with the unfamiliar, prodding at a delight that comes from trying new things and adjusting one's eyes (or palate) to something one is unaccustomed to.
