VOA慢速英语2021--法国餐馆推新式菜品:昆虫

A French cook is preparing foods with something surprising: insects. The European Union has recently approved some sorts of insects as an acceptable food product. Insects provide many nutrients¹ and are an environmentally friendly food.

The food Laurent Veyet prepares is not for those with little bravery. However, what he is preparing may point to the future of feeding a growing world population.

One of his foods is a prawn² salad with yellow mealworms. It includes insects on a bed of vegetables with grasshoppers⁴ covered in chocolate, a food usually meant for sweets.

The restaurant is located in Paris among others with outdoor seating and plenty of sunlight. Eaters who are ready to try something different approve of Veyet's complex foods.

The Parisian cook talked about the perfect meal for first-timers. He was preparing a pasta made with crushed mealworms, sweet potatoes and young insects cooked on the stove. He said, "there are some really interesting flavors. Not many people could say they don't like that."

The European Food Safety Agency, EFSA, in January said the mealworm is acceptable for humans to eat. By May, EFSA approved its sale on the market.

The agency is considering more than 12 other requests to approve other insect-based food products. They include crickets and locusts⁵, insects that are usually found in fields.

Mealworms, and insects more generally, could provide a sustainable food source that produces low greenhouse gases for the future.

Soheil Ayari was eating with his two daughters. He approved of the food. He said, "I feel like I am in a traditional restaurant." He said only the idea behind what he ate was different. He continued to say, "and honestly, the tastes are very similar (to traditional food)."

Ayari's young daughter also enjoyed the food: "it's environmentally friendly and, what's more, it's good."

Veyet grows his mealworms on site. He feeds them cooked grains and vegetables. While the mealworm may not look like something worth eating, it is in fact the larvae⁶ of the darkling beetle⁷. These beetles⁸ are rich in protein, fat and other nutrients.

The mealworm can be used in many different meals. It can be cooked whole and eaten, or it can be ground to help make foods like bread.

Stefan De Keersmaecker is a health and food safety spokesman at the European Commission. He said, "insects are nutritious⁹." He also said that insects can help us change to a more healthy and sustainable diet and food system.

There are two battles Veyet must win. He needs to win over public opinion and learn how to combine the taste of insects with other foods.

He said that he must find the right taste as well as the right food combinations. He said that is very interesting to do and any cook would tell you the same.

Words in This Story

prawn – n. a large shrimp¹⁰

mealworm – n. the larva of a darkling beetle

grasshopper³ – n. a plant-eating insect that has long legs used for jumping

flavor – n. the quality of something that you can taste

sustainable – adj. able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed

larva – n. a very young form of an insect that looks like a worm

beetle – n. a type of insect with wings that form a hard cover on its back when it is not flying

1 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 prawn   

n.对虾，明虾

参考例句：

• I'm not very keen on fish, but prawn.我不是特别爱吃鱼，但爱吃对虾。
• Yesterday we ate prawn dish for lunch.昨天午餐我们吃了一盘对虾。

3 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

4 grasshoppers   

n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的

参考例句：

• Grasshoppers die in fall. 蚱蜢在秋天死去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are usually a lot of grasshoppers in the rice fields. 稻田里通常有许多蚱蜢。 来自辞典例句

5 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

7 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

8 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

10 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。