“Compost Cuisine”: Article from AlterNet.org
From Alternet.org
I just came across this article via Rodele’s facebook feed, and I love, love, love it. Ever feel like there has to be a way to make more use of the those scarps headed for the compost pile or down the drain? Well, here’s your inspiration.
Exploring a movement called “compost cuisine,” this article written by Anneli Rufus for Alternet examines creative ways chefs are finding ways to use food that might typically wind up in the compost pile. From the article:
Such waste-not ingenuity is part of a new movement among chefs who are taking sustainability to new heights by gazing into the depths: that is, at what would otherwise be deemed not fit to eat. While we’ve heard of snout-to-tail, “whole-animal” restaurateurship, the practice of creating fabulous dishes from stems, seeds, skins and other usually discarded plant parts gives “bottom of the food chain” a whole new meaning.
“When you have high respect for how things are raised and produced, you’re not going to throw any parts of them away if you can help it,” says Baker, who was named Esquire magazine’s 2010 Chef of the Year and is the executive chef at Gather restaurant – also in Berkeley. “If we’re using the whole animal, then why not use cauliflower leaves, carrot peels, corncobs and cornsilk?”
So, what kind of ways are they using the would-be scraps? The article is full of example. Here’s just one:
At Origen, Leighton and co-owner Daniel Clayton boil fruit cores and peels into syrups to use in sodas and cocktails. Ditto fennel fronds. Bumpy Brussels-sprout ends, spinach stems and other typically discarded produce parts are boiled into stock, puréed into mousses, diced and sautéed and served au gratin.
Read this and all the other examples by clicking here.
What are some ways you keep food out of the compost pile? Here’s a post we did a while back about an idea for over-ripe peaches. Tell us your ideas! We’d love to include them here.
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Wow, that is an incredible list of ways to use scraps! Some of those are above my skill level, for sure, but I love the ideas of using soured milk for baking and mushy tomatoes for ketchup. That makes perfect sense and it saves something that I would’ve thrown away in the past. I’m learning about canning and preserving this year, and I think things like ketchup or watermelon rind pickles (or other rinds, possibly) will be good compost-cuisine projects. Maybe even make “ketchup” from fruits, like plums or peaches? We’ll see. Lately I’ve been making sure to do these two things: use up dry, stale bread by making croutons or bread crumbs. I love to add the breadcrumbs to pasta with olives and caramelized onions–it’s super cheap and so good. And I always use the rind from parmesan cheese that’s about gone in soups, stews, or chilis. Just toss the rind in the pot and let it simmer. I call it the parmesan bone, and it adds a lot of flavor.