Matt Stone is Australia’s leading sustainable chef. His rise to the top of the culinary world has been rapid since he starting cooking in Margaret River in 2002. He is currently the Executive Chef at Melbourne’s Brothl, the country’s first no waste café and has teamed up with ENJO for a Healthy Living Campaign, encouraging Aussies to keep it clean in O’15.
Here are his top tips on how to have a sustainable kitchen.
1 Use seasonal fruits, vegetables, meats and fish. When produce is local and in season it will all ways taste better, be at its cheapest and most nutritious.
2 Use stalks and leafs from vegetables. Beetroot stalks and leaves chopped up and cooked with some onions, garlic, butter and spices makes a great side dish or pie filling. Broccoli stalks are great roasted and the tops of the spring onions can be cooked with your greens. Soft herb stalks are amazing to cook with, parsley, coriander and dill. There are a lot of uses for all parts of our vegetables.
3 Invest in good storage containers and jars. Airtight containers keep food fresher for longer and can be re used. Jars are great to use when picking, fermenting and making jam.
4 Buying in bulk saves lots of money. Grains and pulses in bulk saves lots of packaging and money. When stored in jars or airtight containers they will last forever.
5 Do not use chemicals when it comes to cleaning. Food and chemicals certainly do not mix. Keep it clean and green!
6 Composting your organic waste. It’s a great way to stop it from going into land fill and can be put back into the soil to grow food.
7 Buy a good food dehydrator. Its a great way to minimise waste and get the most value for money with you food. It’s simple to dry orange skins, left over herbs and vegetable to make tasty heathy powders to add to dishes that your cooking.
8 Sprouting seeds and legumes at home is super cheap. Lay a wet cloth on a tray, cover with eg: lentils and cover with another wet cloth. Leave for 4 days rinsing the cloths each day. Great to use in salads.
You can view Matt’s exclusive video recipes at www.enjo.com.au
What are some of your top tips for a sustainable kitchen? Tell us below!..
