THE LORD OF LEFTOVERS
THE LORD OF LEFTOVERS
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LESS BIN. MORE WIN.
Every year, we throw out nearly a billion tonnes of food.
A billion is one of those numbers that doesn't mean much in abstraction so let me put it another way; it's a fuckload.
Australians are the worst wasters, annually binning over 100kgs per household. For some context, 100kgs is a dangerously obese middle-aged man of below average height. The Americans by comparison, only bin a chubby pre-pubescent boy (about 50kgs).
There's an obvious and terrible environmental impact here, but that's not my primary motivation. My primary motivation is the joy of taking a bin-bound ingredient and turning it into something sublime. At the risk of sounding a tad arrogant, think of me as the Rick Rubin of cookery; taking the Johnny Cash of food and and giving it a hugely successful second wind.
Or perhaps the Quentin Tarantino of the kitchen; taking the John Travolta of ingredients and making them hot again.
So here on this blog (spag blog?) I'll be showing you how to think resourcefully in the kitchen. It's not just about leftovers, I'll be showing you how to make the most of every animal that dies for your dinner, the best way to store food, and everyone's favourite, "Can I still eat that sausage?"
FINISH THE ANIMAL
YOU STARTED.
You'd be pissed off if someone killed you for their dinner and only ate your buttocks, wouldn't you? So, if you're going to eat a bit of animal, eat every bit of animal. Don't just cook the fillet and move on to the next animal. Leave the next animal to frolic just a little longer and finish the one you started. Learn to love the liver, kidneys, tongue, fat, bones, brain... all of it. And not just because it's resourceful, do it because there's a whole world of tastes and textures you're missing.
FOOD IS PRECIOUS
BUT YOU DON'T NEED TO BE.
These are not sacred weigh-it-wrong-and-everything-turns-to-shit recipes. Far from it. I'm here to encourage you to adapt, improvise and overcome, like some kind of gnarly kitchen commando. If I say leftover pork and you have a leftover beef, fuck it, have a go. Wing it - just don't bin it.
