Friday 7th February 2020
Waste Not Want Not
Here in the valley, we love food which, in turn, means we dislike food waste!
We work very hard in our canteen to make sure we use everything we can. We sat down with our chefs to find out just what our canteen are doing to minimise food wastage.
“All the beef we use in the canteen is from our own farms and we try to use every last bit of meat, including the bones! We make a bone broth or a stock which we use to make our gravy for the staff roast on a Wednesday. It takes two days but it’s well worth the wait!"
We buy food supplies daily from local, trusted suppliers that are close to us and share our values. This means we only order what we will use without having excess leftovers. We also buy seasonally from these suppliers that grow, rear or make everything we use in the canteen. Keeping food miles this low is extremely important to us.
We save all the trimmings from our root vegetables, such as onions or carrots, for our stock pot which minimises the need to put in extra veg. Any leftover veg from our roast Wednesday becomes bubble and squeak for lunch the following day and we make surplus veggies or other food items into soups, chutneys or purees. We can do this at the height of their season to maximise flavour and extend the season. I love doing this with broad beans, wild garlic or tomatoes.
We make Crostini from our leftover Sourdough and freeze them sliced, ready to be used during the busiest days. If we have any whole loaves of bread left over, we sell it to the staff at a reduced rate and if there is still any left, we turn it into breadcrumbs ready for future recipes!
If we are cutting fish into portions and there is any trim, we use that for fishcakes, fish pie or croquettes which are always popular dishes on the menu when they appear.
We treat the freezer like it’s our best friend because, when it comes to keeping wastage to a minimum, it is!”
We'd love to know any tips that you have for reducing food waste in your kitchen.
