Get Sustainable In The Kitchen
On top of 'pandemic' and ‘pivot’, ‘sustainable’ is bound to go down as one of 2020’s most-used words. From fashion to food, never has working to eliminate waste felt so high priority. At PRESS, we believe in sustainability in and out of the kitchen but sometimes it can be hard to know where to even begin!
Here are some top tips to get more sustainable in the kitchen from celebrity chefs. They will benefit your health, as well as the environment and planet too. Win, win!
Make the most of your freezer
Jamie Oliver: Freezers are like time capsules for food, it’s like pressing pause. I love freezing herbs before they go to waste. Just chop them up and pop them in an ice cube tray with a little olive oil, whack them in the freezer and they’re like little flavour bombs, ready to be used. You can freezer other stuff too, like batches of homemade curry paste and leftover coconut milk – perfect for making a curry in no time at all. When I buy beautiful, fresh chillies, I always grab a handful and put them in the freezer. Once it’s frozen, it goes completely hard and then you just need a fine grater to grate the chilli over a curry, salad, grilled meats and fishes. If you’ve got some fruit that’s about to go bad, put it in the freezer chopped up in a container and use it to make puddings and smoothies. Winner.Create an ‘eat me soon’ box
Jimmy Garcia: Prevent food waste by creating an ‘eat me soon’ area in your fridge. You could do this by getting a Perspex box and labelling it to ensure you store all of your food with an impending use-by date in it, which will stop you from forgetting about items that could be saved, and it might inspire you to try out a new recipe.
Buy frozen fruit
Ligia Lugo: Not only will it last longer – you won't end up throwing fruit that was forgotten in your fridge or counter for weeks – but it can also be just as nutritious or more so than fresh ones because they were picked at peak ripeness. I like to buy frozen mangoes, berries and peaches.
Eat with the seasons
Laurie Gear: It sounds obvious, but bears repeating: all food will be in greater supply, invariably cheaper and at its best quality while in season.
Be mindful
PRESS recommendation: When we're thinking more consciously about what we're eating and when, with more forward planning, we naturally start to think more about our consumption and what we actually need in the week ahead, which in turn can really help to reduce household food waste as it allows more time to avoid buying convenience food, which can lead to so much excess you just don't get round to eating.
