About Sebastian Holmes

Grub chef Sebastian Holmes

So far in my career as a chef, insects are my most exciting culinary adventure. Along with Thai cooking, working with and eating insects is one of the most fascinating ways of experiencing food I’ve ever come across. It’s so exciting to be able to welcome new people to entomophagy and introduce this collection of some of my favourite insect recipes.

One thing I’ve never understood is why people think of ‘insects’ as one entity. There are in fact 1,900 known edible insects on the planet, and each and every one has its own distinctive qualities and flavours. It’s a whole new food world to explore and experiment with.

As a chef, it was easy to fall in love with the versatile nature of insects as cooking ingredients. I actually believe that they’re one of the most overlooked and therefore wasted ingredients in the world today (in particular the Western world). So I was delighted when Neil and Shami invited me to the pub to talk about cooking with crickets, grasshoppers, mealworms and buffalo worms. A few bowls of insects sat on the table between us (confusing everyone else in the pub), but I was undaunted. I’ve always been passionate about cooking, and I love being creative in the kitchen, so having a new ingredient to play with was thrilling – as was the challenge of getting insect cuisine on the Western culinary map. Generally in cooking, I find myself intrigued by the unknown. I’ve often stumbled across things that I love, and then spent my time trying to perfect my knowledge of them – and it’s especially exciting if it’s an ingredient or style of food that not everyone in the world is familiar with.

I consider my career a long one, and in my heart I’ve been a chef since I was 13 years old, when I took work experience in kitchens near where I lived in Oxfordshire. Since then I’ve rarely been out of a kitchen. A little later I learned the intricacies of my trade by training in British and European restaurants. All of this early involvement gave me a real taste for the hustle and bustle of a professional kitchen and from a very early age I knew I wanted to be a chef. In 2008 I went on a culinary odyssey, travelling to Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji to experience the culture and food.

On my return I managed to squeeze in another passion, and studied for a degree in journalism at Kingston University while simultaneously working in kitchens around London. When I graduated in 2012, I landed an amazing job in a cult Thai restaurant called The Begging Bowl in Peckham, London, learning from head chef Jane Alty (who worked with David Thompson at Nahm in Bangkok). It was here I learned to cook to an exceptionally high standard – I left three years later as sous chef having fallen totally in love with Thai cooking. I realised that Thai food is something I want to continue learning about for the rest of my life.

As well as moving on to work with Shami and Neil at edible insect company Grub, I left The Begging Bowl to become a head chef and launch Thai street food and barbecue restaurant The Smoking Goat in Soho, London. It was an instant hit, with round-the-block queues. Encouraged by the enthusiasm, I’ve now set up my own pop-up restaurant concept. The focus is on homemade Thai curries and noodles, all crafted from scratch.

All of this Thai experience (coupled with the fact that insects are a popular food in Thailand) will explain the many Asian influences in this book. But you’ll also see South American flavours, British and American dishes, and European classics. Throughout, I’ve tried to make the dishes and ingredients as interesting and accessible as possible. In some cases, the insect is the star, in others it’s there to add texture, flavour and protein. At the end, you’ll find cocktail recipes by Grub friend Thom Lawson. Thom consults for numerous London restaurants and has a talent for designing bar menus and cocktails, even with insects.

Insects are a wonderful ingredient to work with and I hope the breadth of recipes in this book will inspire you to embrace insects in the kitchen, just as I’ve done.