16-09-2014
The beautiful dish called Solaris –portrayed by courtesy of its author, Pietro Leemann – is an example of how you can profitably use all the parts of an ingredient, in this case tomato seeds. Lisa Casali tells us how even chefs can offer virtuous examples and precious lessons on how to reduce food waste
The economic crisis has had at least one positive effect: we waste less food. Indeed, waste has undergone a significant reduction in the last few years, both for economic reasons and as a consequence of various initiatives across Europe that were aimed especially at making consumers aware. The home sector, in Europe, represents 42% of the food waste, producers 42%, the restaurant industry 14% and sales 5% (both wholesale and retail). Restaurants are undoubtedly very careful to waste as little as possible, first of all for economic reasons. However, there’s still a small percentage of waste, mostly due to a purchase of products that exceeds the demand, and left overs on the plate. What are the best practices for a more efficient use of food? I asked three chefs for whom environmental sustainability is a daily matter collecting their experience and recommendations: Alice Delcourt (Erba Brusca), Igles Corelli (Atman), Pietro Leemann (Joia). They all agree in saying that reducing waste starts from the choice of very fresh and seasonal ingredients and from a planning of the menu that should consider the use of all the products available, including waste products. Leemann, for instance, has three dishes in the menu of Joia that give value to three parts of the tomato (pulp, skin and seeds) because each element needs to be interpreted as an ingredient and can find a use that will give it the highest value. For the confit cherry tomato sauce the tomatoes are peeled and emptied, the skin becomes a crispy chip similar to a petal, used to garnish a vegetable cream, the tomato seeds, finally, are the protagonists in Solaris, a summer vegetable terrine.
Tomato skin chips – photo by Vincenzo Lonati taken from La cucina a impatto (quasi) zero – Gribaudo
The B side of food – photo by Vincenzo Lonati taken from La cucina a impatto (quasi) zero – Gribaudo
Tecniche, ingredienti e iniziative della ristorazione attenta all'ambiente e agli ideali di Expo 2015, viste da Lisa Casali
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Environmental scientist and sustainable cooking expert, she's the author of blog Ecocucina on D di Repubblica and of 5 books including “Tutto fa brodo”, "Autoproduzione in cucina" and "Cucinare in lavastoviglie"