JOIN THE ZERO WASTE BRIGADE

JAMIE’S TOP TIPS FOR REDUCING FOOD WASTE ARE:

• FOR POTATO PEELINGS, roast off and serve as a starter or snack. “Soak the potato peelings in water overnight and the next day, place in a roasting tray with rosemary, salt and olive oil and bake,” he says.

To start looking at fruit and vegetables differently, Jamie recommends introducing a bucket in prep stations, and as vegetables are prepared, put the peelings in it rather than the bin.

“The tendency can be for staff to peel potatoes over the bin and so they’re not noticing what’s going in there and they are thrown away. If you use a bucket, you can have a look and see what ingredients you have. So, if there’s a pile of potato peelings, have a look on the internet and see what recipes you can make.”

• PROCESS THE CORE OF CABBAGES through a 3mm grater on your food prep machine. “If you make coleslaw, you’ll be slicing cabbage and grating carrots. Cut the core out and put it through the veg machine on the grater which you’ve already been using for the carrots and mix into the coleslaw. The core is valuable – if you don’t use it, it’s the same as taking eight cabbages, picking one out and throwing it away,” says Jamie.

• BLEND CHICKPEA WATER (aquafab) to make vegan mayonnaise or vegan meringues. “If you’re making meringue, whip it for much longer than for mayonnaise,” he adds.

• BLEND AND DRY EXCESS FRUIT to make “fruit leather”. “I worked with juice bars and looked at ways to use the pulp from juicers. We blend it, add maple syrup, place on a flat tray and put in an oven on a low heat. As the moisture comes out you get this fruit “leather” – it’s a chewy sweet snack.”

• MAKE VEGAN ICE CREAM from over-ripe bananas. “Slice them, freeze them in pieces on a tray and blend. Add coconut milk if needed and it becomes ice cream. Flavour with walnuts.”

• TURN EXCESS BREAD INTO BREADCRUMBS using a grating disc or bowl cutter.