Nosh with a conscience

Hilary Biller attended a gourmet dinner with a difference — the ingredients used were destined for the bin

28 May 2023 - 00:00

It was the type of offer that piqued interest: an invitation to a multiple-course gourmet dinner. Except this one was to be made using ingredients destined for the bin.

The NOSH Odd Plate Dinner, hosted by HTA School of Culinary Art in Randburg, Johannesburg, was to be expertly prepared and presented, a collaboration by principal Carien van Tonder, chefs, lecturers and second-year students. Through their combined talents and professional expertise, they would give salvaged, unloved food a gourmet makeover.

The ingredients were to be collected/rescued from three Shoprite stores which support the NOSH initiative. The items were only due to arrive a day before the event, so planning and prep time was at a premium. It was a daunting task for the HTA team, what with more than 40 people paying R350 per person for this unusual and impactful experience.

The NOSH Odd Plate dinners are the brainchild of Hanneke van Linge, director of NPO NOSH Food Rescue, whose aim is to reduce food insecurity by diverting, repurposing and redistributing surplus and planning events like the one to which I'd been invited. Apart from bringing in much-needed funds, they raise awareness and, partnered with HTA School of Culinary Art, are part of the “Conscious Catering” movement.

THE NOSH ODD PLATE DINNER MENU

Canapés

Mushroom Soup, Black Pepper Yoghurt

Sweet Potato Chips, Mexican Mayonnaise, Rice Cracker, Avocado Mousse, Pickled Cucumber Radish

Charred Pineapple, Guava Gel, Shaved Fennel Cheese

Starters

Grilled Vegetable Carpaccio, Red Cabbage and Apple Slaw, Chilli and Lime Dressing served with Buckwheat

Slow Roasted Carrot, Carrot and Butternut Puree, Fermented Carrot, Bran Sponge, Yoghurt Paneer

Main Course

Crumbed Aubergine, Arrabiata Sauce, Pickled Baby Onions, Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Blistered Tomatoes

Orange Baked Salmon, Baby Potato Galette, Spinach Puree, Mixed Vegetables, Charred Scallion, Granadilla Chermoula

Desert

Banana and Macadamia Nut Butter Mousse, Crisp Kataifi, Coconut Crumble Salted Caramel Popcorn

Chocolate Quinoa Cake, Orange and Berry Frozen Yoghurt, Strawberry Salsa, Toasted Meringue

THE SALVAGED FOOD RECEIVED

Chef van Tonder explains what they received and how it was used in the menu:

Frozen egg whites — we used these as a binding agent in many of the courses, as well as in the mousse, the cake and for the meringue in the dessert.
Oranges, a pocket with a couple of spoilt fruit covered in mould which we discarded. The rest were perfectly usable in the dessert and the Glühwein welcome drink.
Orange sweet potatoes used to make the gnocchi in the main course
Avocado used to make the mousse canape.
Quinoa, cooked and used as the base in the chocolate and quinoa cake dessert.
Coconut flour used as a binding agent in the gnocchi and to crumb the aubergine slices in the main course, as well as for the coconut crumble in the banana dessert.
Apples and red cabbage for the coleslaw in the vegetable starter.
Baby potatoes, thinly sliced. The 2kg pack fed guests with crispy potato galettes in the salmon main course.
Baby spinach. As we only received one bunch, we decided blending it into a purée made the most sense and best value of the veg in the main course salmon dish.
Vegan marshmallows. We melted them down and used them as the setting agent/gelatin in the banana and macadamia nut mousse dessert.
We received a selection of yoghurts that were a day past their sell-by date and used them in the paneer for the carrot starter and in the frozen yoghurt for the chocolate quinoa cake dessert.
Bruised baby tomatoes. We managed to turn these into an amazing arrabiata sauce as the bruising meant they were ripe and sweet.

THE VERDICT

On a cold, rainy evening, the warming cups of mushroom soup with an appetising hint of lemon grass were a great welcome, along with the avo mousse on sweet potato chips and the charred pineapple, both so attractive and well presented.

I enjoyed the mix of textures in the grilled vegetable carpaccio, the buckwheat a great addition, adding crunch to the starter. The slow-roasted carrot starter didn't score marks on looks, but tasted good, except for the bran sponge which was sweet and felt out of place on the savoury plate.

For mains, the crumbed aubergine with arrabiata sauce was delicious, as was the pickled onion. The sweet potato gnocchi was a little on the chewy side, yet one remains cognisant of the need to use the ingredients to add to the dish. And one cannot criticise too harshly knowing the background of the food story. Rather, it's about embracing the ingenuity of the team behind the creations.

The baby potato galette on the salmon dish was a highlight of the meal, crispy, creamy and delicious, as was the granadilla chermoula, which added a pleasant sharpness, sweetening the saltiness of the dish.

For me and the other diners, the chocolate quinoa cake was a highlight, such a pretty compilation. The quinoa added a different dimension of texture to the cake, which was beautifully finished off with the yummy frozen yoghurt, the toasted meringue adding a nice sweet crunch to the dessert. We just wanted more.

FOOD WASTE IN NUMBERS

The South African is population 56,72-million people (2017)
12-million people go to bed hungry, about a quarter of South Africans, and this figure is growing daily.
Of the 31-million tonnes of food produced in South Africa annually, 10-million tonnes are wasted.
In South Africa, half a kg of food per week is thrown away per household.
Total household food waste in South Africa annually is between 25 and 50 tonnes.

NOSH Food Rescue needs your help and encourages anyone who would like to assist in making a difference to visit the website for more information. The team would love to do an Odd Plate Dinner near you.

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Nosh with a conscience