Scorpions and grasshoppers can now be found on the menus of upscale French restaurants, just as those concerned about the world’s increasing demand for protein are looking to insects as one solution.

Of course, the French would use a fancy word – entomophagy – when it’s insect-eating to you and me.

For millennia it’s been the preserve of peasant peoples in many parts of the world. But today it’s beginning to make in-roads in the self-proclaimed capital of haute cuisine.

In Nice, Michelin-starred chef David Faure offers an “Alternative Food” menu at his Aphrodite restaurant. Mealworm and crickets share the billing with pate de foie gras.

And now in the hip Montmartre neighbourhood of Paris, Le Festin Nu (The Naked Lunch) bistro gives customers the chance to select from a variety of entomological treats.

To accompany your glass of vin naturel (organic wine), you can try palm weevils with beetroot and oil of truffle; water scorpion with preserved peppers and black garlic; or grasshopper with quail’s eggs.