For days there has been a test of courage at “The Perfect Dinner” (VOX) in Graz. First, microbiologist Lisa revealed her specialty – insect breeding. She runs her own company for grasshoppers and mealworms. To the amazement of her guests, she puts some of her “products” on the plate on day 4.
“It’s alive!”: Stunned Christoph (37) bends over the imaginatively decorated plate on Lisa’s dinner table. “That’s right, that’s not a laurel leaf,” confirms Bella (62): “That’s a grasshopper!” – “A leaf locust,” corrects Lisa gently. What follows is an excursus on the nature and care of this exciting insect, garnished with information on insect breeding in general and on the subject “Future Food”, i.e. future world nutrition in particular. “Like a biology lesson with food,” is Verena’s conclusion. The focus should be on the menu:
Motto: “Find your courage”
Photo: RTL
“The Perfect Dinner” host breeds worms
However, the menu has it all. True to the menu motto, it is primarily something for the brave. What ends up on the plate is what the hostess Lisa (32) does professionally: After working as a laboratory assistant, university lecturer, gastro employee and consultant in the kitchen studio, the 32-year-old runs a farm in Carinthia in addition to an institute for adult education in Germany insect and worm breeding.
“For example, we produce food for wild animal and hedgehog sanctuaries,” says Lisa, clearly enthusiastic: “About two tons of worms and around 6,000 grasshoppers every month.” For two years now, the nutritionally valuable beings have also been approved as human food and are a major topic for future world nutrition.
Photo: RTL
“The perfect dinner”: Verena tries “out of pure politeness”
When it comes to the current tasting, they arouse a great deal of alienation at first – whether in an apple and caramel mix with chestnut soup or heavily salted with chicken in bacon. “It horrifies me,” Bella admits, and Verena also tries “out of politeness.” The gentlemen are more courageous: “Yummy, I could eat three more,” Niclas praises the fried grasshoppers on lamb’s lettuce. “Bit Like Popcorn”Christoph comments on the fried mealworms.
Lisa will surely be remembered as an advocate of courage and a love of experimentation: “I love trying out new things”. This is not limited to dessert bowls, for which she dips balloons in liquid chocolate (and garnishes them with mealworms “killed” in the freezer) and a caramel sauce drainer made from a hanging cucumber – in a long, meandering form, this simply means “letting go of beliefs and patterns “.
With this, her approach (and the initially horrified looks of the guests) elegantly fit into the current show offer of the broadcasting family with slight deviations: In Lisa’s “Perfect Jungle Test” she does not receive any stars, but 30 points. But at least there is enough food for everyone.
