The Similipal kai chutney made with red weaver ants by the tribal people of Mayurbhanj district in Odisha was awarded a geographical indication tag on January 2, 2024. Food, drink, and craft products with a geographical connection or made using traditional methods can be registered and protected as intellectual property through the geographical indication (GI) tag. Darjeeling tea was the first Indian product to get a GI tag in 2004.
According to Down To Earth, many indigenous people in Mayurbhanj district go into neighbouring forests to harvest kai pimpudi (red weaver ant). They sell these at village markets and haats (fairs), Due to their high demand, they get around Rs 400-600 for a kilogram of live kai pimpudi.
Red ant chutneys are also found in several other states like Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh where Adivasi communities practice immensely diverse food practices which are based on locally available resources and techniques. At one point, the chutney was also touted as a possible panacea for Covid. The chutney is well-known in the region for its medicinal and nutritional benefits.
Ordinarily, red weaver ants, or Oecophylla Smaragdina, are a species of insects humans are wary of. They are noted for their incredibly painful sting, which leaves painful blisters on your skin.
The red ant chutney has also garnered some amount of global fame. Chef Gordon Ramsay was going through Chhattisgarh for his documentary on Indian food in 2018, where he sampled the chutney, loved it, and added it to his menu.
Eating bugs is healthy for the environment as well as the palate. According to numerous research and studies, incorporating insects as a protein source could rescue the earth. Insects would replace the protein found in animal sources such as cows, which are high in the heat-trapping gases carbon dioxide and methane.
Insects have been used as a source of food for ages in communities across the world, and they are known to be quite nutritious. In fact, eating insects has a scientific term for it: entomophagy. From ants to crickets and silkworm larvae, communities have used them in their diet for a long time.
While insects have been fairly common on plates in many parts of the world, it is only recently that restaurants in the West is waking up to the joys of bugs. More restaurants around the world are experimenting with bugs on the menu, and guests now have the opportunity to learn why these sources of food are so popular.
For instance, Chef Joseph Yoon, the founder of Brooklyn Bugs, is attempting to popularise eating insects through a variety of inventive dishes such as cakes made with cricket powder. In the Paris restaurant Inoveat, Lyonnais chef, Laurent Veyet, adds dehydrated mealworms and crickets for crunch and flavour to dishes.
Not just insects, wild edible food has taken off across the world in a big way. Over the last few years, foraging walks for wild foods have exploded in metropolitan areas all over the world. There are many walks that you can sign up for and discover the tradition of wild edibles in communities across India. There are now festivals that showcase the wealth of wild food.