Chef and mixologist Arina Suchde’s book, The No-Waste Kitchen Cookbook, is an invaluable guide for individuals wanting to change the way they handle food on a daily basis
We have the convenience of buying essential groceries just by tapping on our phones and getting neatly packaged items delivered at our door. While this is an incredibly simple way to shop for groceries, it comes with limitations relating to both quantity and quality.
Many of the platforms have a minimum required quantity prescribed for online purchases which means that we may have to buy more than our requirement especially in case of herbs and exotic vegetables/fruits. This could mean that we end up with items that cannot be consumed before they lose their freshness. Ultimately wilted and shrunken, they end up in the bin.
As per a 2021 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, households in India waste 50 kg of food every year per person. Of late, scenes and pictures of food scarcity brought about by natural and unnatural calamities only serve to underscore the privilege of accessing the food we desire without any obstacles. When we thoughtlessly throw away such food, the cost of such loss is incalculable.
A new cookbook that celebrates sustainable cooking practices, The No Waste Kitchen Cookbook: 75 Recipes to Begin Your Zero-Waste Journey by Arina Suchde (HarperCollins India), offers the many ways in which we can reduce the wastage of resources from our kitchens. The book also offers tips on how to grow our own herbs besides recipes for basic pantry staples that can be made at home, thereby cutting purchases as well as ensuring preservative-free condiments on your table.
Ways to waste less
The book brings to mind Aroona Reejsinghani’s Tas
From making curry with prawn shells to making chutney with ridge gourd skin, Indian kitchens had a tradition of doing the full root to shoot routine before it became a world-wide movement. However, as foodways became increasingly homogenised, traditional food practices in the country slipped to the sidelines. With the zero-waste movement gaining acceptance, these traditions are now making a comeback, bolstered by books such as No-Waste Kitchen Cookbook.
In the introduction to the book, Suchde, a Mumbai-based chef and mixologist, writes, “My aim was to reduce food waste with minimum effort and time, while sparking that excitement of discovering new uses for otherwise overlooked components of fresh produce...I wanted to contribute to reducing environmental impact while also educating people about the different ways in which produce can be used, whether for cooking for around the house.”
Innovative ways to use leftovers
Underscoring the importance of sustainability in the kitchen, the author mentions that one of the smallest steps towards sustainability is to waste less while also cautioning that it cannot be achieved overnight. What it requires is consistent efforts over a period of time in the way we approach the use and management of the resources available to us. She writes, “We need to work towards it by making small changes in our daily lives. It should not feel like a punishment or an inconvenience but instead make us question why we haven’t been doing this all along.”
Suchde, who took note of the waste generated in her own kitchen, started exploring ways to save food. She introduced the concept of zero-wastage cooking through workshops conducted for home cooks as well as people who work in commercial kitchens. While doing this, participants shared ways in which they utilised the leftovers in their kitchens, making it an interactive experience.
Mumbai-based chef and mixologist Arina Suchde. Photo: Facebook
Divided into seven chapters, this unique cookbook looks at innovative ways to use those leftover peels, discarded seeds, roots and shoots, the cores and skins — all those things normally gathered and tossed into the bin. The foods conjured out of these discards range from pesto to canapes, hummus to faux ice-cream, that would tempt you to buy a banana or two, or a broccoli or cauliflower head, just to use its peels or stalks. Who’d have thought that the fine silk from a corn cob can be fried and used as a garnish or that you could make vegan kheer with pumpkin or watermelon seeds?
Making use of scraps
In the sections devoted to discarded parts of the plant — skins seeds, roots, shoots — recipes show how peels, pea pod shells, broccoli and cauliflower stalks, watermelon rind can be transformed into dips, marinades, garnishes, salts, halwa and even faux meat. Interestingly, the author provides multiple ways in which a single discarded item, like potato peels or citrus shells, can be used in different ways to create sweet and savoury items. We see how lime or lemon peels, usually discarded after extracting juice, can be used further to make citrus-flavoured salt, syrup, salty preserve or even play a part in a fruity vinegar made solely out of fruit peels and cores.
The author encourages readers to think creatively to come up with ideas to use discarded parts in innovative ways. The book also details various ways in which scraps can be turned into plants with a little care and attention, opening up an endless source of fresh greens from within our own homes.
In the section on teas and infusions, the author reveals how the tough and leathery skin of pomegranates can be harnessed to yield a flavourful tea. The other recipes in this section include those with intriguing ingredients like corn silk, apple core and peels besides avocado pits. Yet another section lists recipes for cocktails that can be whipped up at home. An added bonus in the book is the tips provided after the recipes to try out variations or experiment with other flavours.
The No-Waste Kitchen Cookbook offers easy recipes that help in cutting down and eliminating kitchen waste. It is an invaluable guide for individuals wanting to change the way they buy and handle food on a daily basis.
