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Creepy-crawly cuisine

Natascha Mirosch

Public Bar and Restaurant chef Damon Amos samples one of his roasted scorpions.
Public Bar and Restaurant chef Damon Amos samples one of his roasted scorpions.Gillian van Niekerk

It's surf and turf, but you're unlikely to see this dish at your local pub.

From Monday, Public Bar and Restaurant in Brisbane's CBD will be catering to the dietary desires of entomophagists (insect eaters) with a dish of wood-roasted scorpions with "lobster snow", seaweed, pickled ginger foam and scampi.

Public's chef Damon Amos last week said that mealy worms were going on the menu; now he's added roasted scorpions.

Public Bar and Restaurant will soon start serving wood-roasted scorpions with lobster snow, seaweed, pickled ginger foam and scampi.
Public Bar and Restaurant will soon start serving wood-roasted scorpions with lobster snow, seaweed, pickled ginger foam and scampi.Gillian van Niekerk
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“We really need to push the idea of alternative sources of protein," he says. "It might freak people out but this is not a new thing - people have been eating insects longer than they have farmed."

The scorpions have a "unique but not overpowering" flavour, according to Amos. Mealy worms are a little like rice bubbles. But of all the insects Amos has recently tasted, cockroaches are his preference. However, they will never be on the menu because people associate them with "dirty rubbish".

The insects are supplied by entomologist Skye Blackburn in Sydney's western suburbs.

In the near future, Public will be introducing crickets, a tarantula "sushi roll" and local bees with smoked chicken, salted honeycomb and edible flowers, as well as a range of insect based cocktails.

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