Hello friends,
I have once cooked on a live TV show and when the camera wasn’t on me, the TV host walked up to me and asked: “But do those things actually taste any good?”. He looked intimidated by the idea of eating cauliflower leaves or banana peels. Or carrot peels.
So… does trash taste any good? Probably not the right question. Let’s rephrase the whole thing here. Certain parts of produce should not be called waste or trash, just because we have decided that they will be going to waste. Radish leaves are not grown to be a waste, we turn them into waste. Potato doesn’t create waste unless you peel it. These are all things that we USUALLY throw away. Mostly depending on the way you was taught, on the culture, or on the way of using the said ingredient.
I’ve started paying attention to food waste after a few years in the industry, and my interest was propelled in a restaurant where we used lettuce stems to make a salad, parsley stems instead of parsley, or quince seeds to make flavoured oil. I’ve finally seen someone approaching ingredients from a different standpoint and bravely using all parts of ingredients in dishes executed to a very high level.
No one would dare to call it ‘trash cooking’, as the point wasn’t to use trash in cooking, but to search for flavour in places we haven’t looked before. How many of us look at a bunch of parsley and think ‘oh, what a lovely stems they have’? Yes, not many. Yet they contain flavour and that means that they should be utilised, and not wasted.
One of the most commonly wasted part of fruit (technicaly vegetable, I know…) is a watermelon rind. How many of you have ate it before? Put your hands up in likes. Watermelon rind tastes like a cross between cucumber and squash, with a light refreshing, slightly grassy flavour. The perfect stuff for many things from pickles and ferments to soups and salsas. Watermelon rind gazpacho anyone? I won’t even give you a recipe for that, just replace the tomatoes with watermelon rind and proceed as usual.
The recipe I will give you though, is a watermelon rind salsa. Why salsa? Because salsa is a multi-use thing. It goes with so many things, it can be the perfect side or garnish, and it’s one of the most adjustable things ever. Salsa can take it all. Herb stems? Salsa. Cucumber peels? Salsa. Watermelon rind? Obviously, salsa.
The important thing with any salsa is to balance the flavours. There is a mix of sour(acidic) and salty flavours complimented with fresh and bright flavours from herbs, brought together with a fatty element, which is most often EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Add some chopped or grated vegetables, small amount of onion and you have a salsa done in 10 minutes.
Use herbs of your preference, but make it a sensible combination that naturally works, e.g. mint and cucumber, coriander and tomato and so on. If you are not sure, just use parsley, which is perhaps the most versatile of all herbs as it works with just about any vegetable. Add chives for extra magic. Play with levels of acidity and find your own preference. Adjust this recipe to your taste. You can’t f*ck up the salsa because if the taste is slightly off, you can always add a bit more vegetable to it and fix the seasoning.
Watermelon rind salsa
Ingredients
200 g Watermelon rind, clean without skin or flesh
100 g Extra Virgin Olive Oil
40 g Shallot chopped
20 g Parsley chopped
20 g Apple Cider Vinegar
2 g Salt
Instructions
1. Use a small knife or a potato peeler to peel off the dark green skin off the watermelon rind. Discard the green skin as it is hard to work with. Clean the watermelon off any bits of red flesh, so you end up with the mostly white/light green rind.
2. Cut the rind into tiny dice (brunoise style), or simply use a coarse grater to grate the rind if you don't have the knife skills.
3. Chop the shallot into the smallest bits that you can. Finely chop the parsley, including the stems.
4. Mix everything together and add olive oil, salt, and apple cider vinegar. Use immediately or keep in fridge in an airtight container for up to three days.
Easy peasy, right? Perfect way to upcycle all those odd bits in small amounts.
The recipe can be downloaded below.
I will be happy to hear whether you tried this and how you liked it.
Also, what kind of a recipes would you like to see here? What is it that you waste often? Let me know.
You can reply directly to this email, or leave a comment here.
Until next time,
Vojtech
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