Enlarge / Chicatana ants have a nutty, fatty flavor. They are consumed in parts of Mexico to add texture and flavor to dishes. (credit: Changqi Liu)

Edible insects, like ants, are considered a delicacy in many cultures, as well as being very nutritious and an environmentally sustainable source of protein. But many of us have a longstanding aversion to consuming insects. In hopes of changing that aversion, chemists at San Diego State University (SDSU) have analyzed the flavor profiles of different ant species and found that not all edible ants taste alike, according to their presentation at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans.

Several years ago, the French chef David Faure created an insect-based tasting menu at Aphrodite, his Michelin-starred restaurant in Nice. Adventurous diners could sample "crickets in a whiskey bubble with cubes of French toast and pears" or "squares of peas, carrot foam, and mealworms." The Michelin critics didn't share his enthusiasm for insect haute cuisine and took away his Michelin star in 2014. Aphrodite closed its doors for good in 2016.

Faure's gambit might have failed, but a 2018 study suggested that he had the right idea about appealing to Western diners' love of luxurious indulgence, presenting the fare as an exotic delicacy rather than as an environmentally sustainable protein source. (Food production accounts for as much as 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, with much of that due to livestock. Farming insects could reduce those emissions significantly.)

Enlarge / Scientists at the University of Nottingham have discovered how to create different colors of blue cheese. (credit: University of Nottingham)

Gourmands are well aware of the many varieties of blue cheese , known by the blue-green veins that ripple through the cheese. Different kinds of blue cheese have distinctive flavor profiles: they can be mild or strong, sweet or salty, for example. Soon we might be able to buy blue cheeses that belie the name and sport veins of different colors: perhaps yellow-green, reddish-brown-pink, or lighter/darker shades of blue, according to a recent paper published in the journal Science of Food.

“We’ve been interested in cheese fungi for over 10 years, and traditionally when you develop mould-ripened cheeses, you get blue cheeses such as Stilton , Roquefort , and Gorgonzola , which use fixed strains of fungi that are blue-green in color," said co-author Paul Dyer of the University of Nottingham of this latest research. "We wanted to see if we could develop new strains with new flavors and appearances."

Blue cheese has been around for a very long time. Legend has it that a young boy left his bread and ewe's milk cheese in a nearby cave to pursue a lovely young lady he'd spotted in the distance. Months later, he came back to the cave and found it had molded into Roquefort. It's a fanciful tale, but scholars think the basic idea is sound: people used to store cheeses in caves because their temperature and moisture levels were especially hospitable to harmless molds. That was bolstered by a 2021 analysis of paleofeces that found evidence that Iron Age salt miners in Hallstatt (Austria) between 800 and 400 BCE were already eating blue cheese and quaffing beer.

Enlarge / Identifying the compounds that give fermented coffee its unique flavor and aroma could allow more people to enjoy it. (credit: Samo Smrke)

Hardcore coffee aficionados are always on the lookout for the next big twist on the world's favorite caffeinated beverage, and these days it's fermented coffee that is turning heads and tickling taste buds with its distinctive fruity notes. Scientists in Switzerland conducted experiments with fermented coffee in hopes of identifying the specific chemical compounds behind the beverage's unusual flavor profile.

"There are now flavors that people are creating that no one would have ever associated with coffee in the past,” said Chahan Yeretzian , a scientist at the Coffee Excellence Center at Zurich University of Applied Sciences, who presented the research during a recent American Chemical Society meeting in Indianapolis. "The flavors in fermented coffee, for example, are often more akin to fruit juices.”

Most coffee is a little fermented since it happens naturally as wet-processed beans soak, breaking down enzymes and producing sugars. It also makes it easier to remove the husk and pulp. In this case, we're talking about green coffee beans that have already been through that initial processing. The beans are then soaked in water spiked with carefully selected strains of yeasts and bacteria and left to ferment for a couple of days. Often fruit or other flavors are added during this stage or the beans are fermented in barrels previously used to store whiskey, rum, or other liquors. Then the beans are washed and dried, and roasted as usual.