Waste not you carrot tops: tasty tips to minimise food waste

Buy less, repurpose more, culinary expert tells Shanthini Naidoo

We cannot afford to waste an ounce of food, says author and culinary expert Mary Rolph Lamontagne. "Yet 40% of all fruits and vegetables grown in the world are wasted," she says.

After 20 years in the hospitality industry, Lamontagne, who grew up in Canada, trained in Paris and now lives in South Africa, has written a recipe book with guides to minimising food waste.

"More and more people are not cooking. We are buying pre-made, cut and packaged food. We don't know the basics of food preparation, like using vegetable greens to make a chimichurri sauce. We don't even buy carrots or beetroot with the tops on anymore," she says. "Greens are often healthier than the root vegetable."

Waste not your carrot tops

Carrots, Lamontagne adds, are the most wasted vegetable in a household. "If carrots are shrivelled up, it means they've lost moisture, not that they've gone bad. They are perfect then for roasting. Or soak them in water to plump them up again. Otherwise, grate them and add to a sauce or stew."

Lamontagne says kitchen waste could be eliminated in the household and in commercial kitchens. "Butternut seeds, cauliflower leaves and potato peels, which people throw out, can be roasted and sprinkled with sea salt and herbs. They're delicious as a snack."

Her book, EATS (Struik Lifestyle, R250), is categorised by colour and shows how to use ingredients in many ways. The Reds chapter has beetroot, tomato and apple, and each ingredient boasts its own range of dishes, like beetroot tart with baby rocket, tomato and fennel soup with cheese croutons, and apple-stuffed pork chops.

"My favourite recipes are the corn fritters with creme fraiche and the Tanzanian eggplant curry. I studied in Kerala and Delhi to understand curry mixes, and they are great for using with whatever you have at home."

Save on your grocery bill

For budgeting, Lamontagne says buying less, freezing and repurposing are the best ways to reduce the grocery bill.

"Ginger is often wasted because you use a little and then don't need it. So grate it and freeze it, then use what you need. Add sweet potato to waffle mix and butternut to a cake mix.

"Buy smart. If a recipe asks for buttermilk, don't buy a litre and waste half of it. Mix vinegar into milk, and eliminate the baking powder. This serves the same purpose as buttermilk. It's about learning how to treat the basics well. Grow your own herbs and vegetables because if you see how hard they are to grow, you will have more respect for the ingredients. Get your hands dirty."

She says buying in bulk is a bad idea unless you have a plan for it, like canning. She suggests roasting or blanching, freezing and refrigerating fruit and veg.

"Anything with high water content goes mushy, like onions and potatoes, so you can't really freeze them. But just about everything else can be flash fried, like eggplant, and frozen. Freeze bananas out of the peel to preserve them."

Toss your leftovers on the compost heap

Lamontagne stresses composting leftovers because food waste and vegetable peelings do not decompose in landfills. "They just create methane gases, which are worse than Co2 because the environment for decomposition is not right. Find a pig farmer who will take your leftovers or compost it yourself at home. You need about a metre of space for a compost bin. In a compost heap, there is no methane and it all goes back to nature where it belongs."

Most of all, she says: "Be prepared to do a little work. It is frightening how little people want to do with what they put into their bodies. Parents aren't teaching kids to appreciate good, whole foods. Everything you buy ready made is full of sugar. Never give up on preparing and eating good food."