1 KALE
“Don’t throw kale stalks away. You can batter and fry them (see p 23), or try pickling them. We do the same thing with beetroot stems.”
2 BABY CARROTS
“Baby carrot tops make a great pesto (see p 23). If you have excess stalks, blanch them, squeeze out the water and freeze them to use later.”
3 JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE
“Some recipes say to peel Jerusalem artichokes, but you just need to give them a good scrub under cold running water. ”
4 FREMANTLE OCTOPUS
“Fremantle octopus is known worldwide as the most sustainable octopus, due to the trapping methods used, which attract no bycatch species.”
5 BROCCOLI
“Broccoli stems are great for a stir-fry. At the restaurant, we’ll save them up, then serve them as a side dish, maybe stir-fried with some lemon butter and sprinkled with pecorino.”
Some waste warriors are born, not made. This is the case for Perth-based chef Melissa Palinkas, who has earned herself the reputation as one of the most sustainable chefs in the business.
“We grew up quite poor, so my mother instilled in me the importance of not wasting food from a young age,” she says. “When I started working in restaurants, the waste in hospitality was quite hurtful to me – all these things that went into the bin. I worked in a fine-dining restaurant where they only used the tips of the asparagus and the rest went in the bin. Over the years, all these things built up, so when I got to own my own place, I wanted to be as mindful as I could.”
