10 rules for cooking without waste
A well thought out expense
Do the shopping day by day, evaluating quantities and times of deterioration well.
Especially now that you are on vacation, you may decide at the last moment to dine out or at a friend's house. And, in the refrigerator, the food purchased in abundance "ages" and to a large extent will have to be discarded at the time of use. The problem would not have arisen if the expenditure had been done in a thoughtful way and day by day.
A lot or a few? The right
Cook well-measured portions on the appetite of diners.
On vacation, despite the good intentions of the vigil, we move less and, except for the most avid sportsmen, we assume more "comfortable" habits and more relaxed times. Our body therefore needs less calories. Cooking the "right", therefore, without exceeding the number of courses and in "size" is important for a healthy balance and for a better use of resources: less food, fewer calories, less waste.
Nothing is thrown away
Use all the parts of a product giving space to creativity.
Knowing how to use in an appropriate way every part (or almost) of a product is a sign of attention to sustainability, but above all it opens up new experiences and the discovery of unexpected flavors. Not everyone knows, for example, that pea pods can become a tasty drink or that the pumpkin skin put in the oven is better than a chip. Experiment, therefore, with prudence. For those who do not trust their abilities, they can follow the instructions of chef Aliberti who has reused his philosophy of cooking.
Store, store and keep
Learning the art of conservation extends the life of food.
A good use of the different compartments of the refrigerator, placing the products paying attention to the different temperatures, is a small and easy trick that improves the preservation of food. Even combining one food with another can generate unexpected or undesirable effects: for example, apples accelerate the ripening of other fruits.
The time of things
Check the expiration date thinking about when you will use the product.
Plan, plan, establish: on vacation are verbs we would never want to hear. Just relax. But a minimum of programming at the right time helps not to waste time, money or food. Looking at the expiry date of the products requires little effort, let's face it. And even think about whether we will eat ricotta at dinner or in a week. A small choice, a great saving.
Less is better
Choose thinking about the next.
Packaging is undoubtedly an important factor for the good preservation of food, but when it is too much it is too much … A good expense also starts from knowing how to choose the product protected by an effective but not excessive packaging and that is easily recyclable. If a package is made of different materials, recycling it correctly (where do I throw it?) Becomes a challenge that is almost impossible to overcome.
The next day is even better
It is a "grandmother's" device, but no less valid even today: the advanced food is not thrown away. This was a stupid habit that we bought thinking that it was reprehensible to do, just like our grandmothers did, that is to reuse the next day. Meatballs or meatloaf, for example, are spectacular examples of intelligent re-use of food the day before. What you have not finished at dinner can become a perfect component of the picnic on the beach of the next day.
On the beach (or in the mountains) you can do without it
Limit the use of dishes, plates and cutlery.
Even on the beach or on the mountain trails we have the right to our comforts. Sure. But it is not necessary to reproduce the same lifestyle even in those places. A picnic is fun even if the table is not set at home. Less crockery, cutlery and plates means moving more easily, having fewer items to wash and therefore consuming less water (scarce resource) and less detergents (highly polluting). This is also anti-waste attention. Obviously the plastic must be banned.
Outside the home, don't waste the opportunity
Choose the restaurant as a conscious gesture.
On vacation you go more often to the restaurant. It is a beautiful occasion for conviviality, but above all it is an opportunity to learn about a fundamental element of the place where we find ourselves. Cuisine is history and culture. Through the kitchen we know the typical products, the life habits of a city, we discover new flavors, we explore traditions and human typologies. Choosing where to eat is therefore almost as important as visiting the monuments and attractions of the place. It is an opportunity for knowledge not to be wasted.
Ask and it will be given to you
Do not be ashamed to ask for food that has not been consumed.
Abroad it is a practice that has always been in force, but in Italy we are struggling to adopt it. But asking the restaurateur to adequately package the food we have made is not only our right but it is also a healthy and right habit. Nowadays there are more and more restaurants where this good practice has come into use, but we customers must learn not to be ashamed and to ask for it when it is not proposed to us. The important thing is that the container is suitable for storage. Many Italian restaurants have equipped themselves with a special container – Refuge its name – which Fipe has made available to its members. Ask for it.
The anti-waste recipe of chef Franco Aliberti
100% courgette
Ingredients
3 stems of courgette plants, h2o, salt, 3 courgette leaves recovered from the stem, zucchini cream, 5 courgettes, extra virgin olive oil, half shallot, salt pepper
Method
Clean the outside of the stems with the help of a potato peeler. Cut them diagonally so that they look like half a pen, cook the leaves in salted water for about 3 minutes, cut them thin. Add the sliced zucchini, pour ice or cold water and cook.
For the cream: in a frying pan wither the oil with the oil, add the sliced zucchini, pour ice or cold water and cook over medium heat until cooked and evaporated. Mix by adding oil, salt and pepper. Cook the half pen in salted water for 2 minutes and finish cooking in the pan with the leaves and the cream for another 2 minutes.
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