Marcus Clayton’s tips for cooking sustainably
When cooking, I like to try and use as much of the product and reduce as much waste as possible.
As you are cooking it’s good practice to work with a waste bowl. Put your ‘scraps’ in there, and after you can have a look to see what you can make with them. It might be a stock from all the trimmings for your next meal or dried carrot peelings to make a powder – or fried for a vegetable crisp.
Herb stalks can be saved and used as a bouquet garni – a herbaceous bundle which you add to stocks, soups and sauces to give an extra layer of flavour.
Vegetables/fruit that have gone past their best can be cooked down with a touch of sugar and vinegar to make a homemade ‘chuckney’.
Old bread can be dried and blitzed into breadcrumbs for a chicken Kiev.
Other sustainable practices include cooking with the seasons to reduce food air miles and to support your local farmers. Everything tastes better too when it’s in season (and the less time it takes to get to your plate, the better: fresh is best).
Also any plant-based waste can be composted to give back to the soil/earth: you can easily start your own or take food waste to a local recycling depot where they have a compost section.
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