Whatever Life Gives You...

This article is part of "The Vocal Cooks Collaborative" - A series of stories and recipes by inspirational storytellers and cooks from around the world.

The inimitable Judey Kalchik leads the initiative.

Each story and recipe has a taste of a different life. This one is... quintessentially... BRITISH!

I hope you enjoy it.

Scroll to the bottom for links to 2 other creators in this collaboration.

Click here for an index of all story-recipes.

..................................................................................................................

What on earth is this your mum has given me to eat? Said my boyfriend, who is now, thirty years on, my husband.

He wasn't being rude.

He was just confused.

On his dinner plate were a rasher of bacon, some mushy peas, and a crumpet - amongst other delights, but we remember those three items sticking out as the most random.

Yes.... err... it's a thing we do. I grinned at him, slightly embarrassed. This was the first time he had been round to our house for dinner, and he had got the scraps from the bottom of the fridge. I remember thinking, Mother! Could you not have just done a normal meal for him? The answer when I enquired later... Certainly not.

In all honesty, the Queen could have been coming for tea, and she would have been given the same as my boyfriend. Food was sacrosanct. Waste Not. Want Not. A message stamped into our fibre from generations that had come before us—ancestors who had survived wars, rations, and hardships. To throw food in the bin was an action that was the by-product of greed and excess.

It would not be tolerated.

Moving on a couple of decades, I found myself running a huge supermarket. Millions of pounds worth of food pass through my doors monthly, and, like every supermarket and food shop in the world, a percentage of it went out of date and into the bin. Even half a percent of a few million quid is A LOT.

Now, when I started running food shops, there was also a rather dedicated corporate team of people doing everything they could to make something out of the waste. The environmental concerns surrounding food rotting in landfills had become a problem that needed to be tackled at every level. Given my family values around food waste, this was something that captured my heart, my attention, and my resolve. I helped in any way I could, including mobilising my whole team to ensure we exited unsold food from our business in practical, purposeful, and often.... innovative ways.

We donated much of it to local charities; what we could not donate turned into animal feed, or where possible, we gave it away to colleagues in-store for free. There were occasions when every local town park had scraps of pumpkin and corn on the cob scattered liberally about the place for the birds and the squirrels.

Waste Not. Want Not.

One of the ways we innovated was by sharing recipes.

Should the supply chain be overburdened with a glut of potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, or whatever, we would look at what we had and forage for ideas on how to upcycle it or extend its shelf life. Fresh produce is a particular fascination. Sometimes there are only so many fresh tomatoes a community can eat, and there were times when we could have eaten tomatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and still have a surplus.

Along with a few others, I took to preserve what I could whenever possible. I even set up an Instagram account to showcase and share: timeforsomethinggood.

We had some great successes. We jammed, chutney'd, and pickled... as people possessed. It was very satisfying. Especially when winter came around, and you had homemade preserved summer produce on hand to accompany your winter comfort foods.

Preserving is like giving your future self a hug.

However, some produce posed quite a conundrum for us.

Lettuce, for example. What on earth do you do with a glut of lettuce?

Isn't it just for a salad?

Ok...Sure, I had seen chefs griddle a little gem as a side to the main dish, but that was not preserving or extending its shelf life.

I was very skeptical about how lettuce could be included in our recipe food waste mission until I was introduced to the wonder of...

Lettuce Soup.

It was a revelation! (Don't scoff... or rather... err...do!!)

Lettuce soup tastes amazing. Fact. Think of leek and potato soup, and you have got a decent benchmark for its flavour. If you get the seasoning just right, there is nothing more comforting than a bowl of this soup. Honestly, it is creamy, silky, and holds a great depth of flavour.

It also means that short shelf-life lettuce can be made into a delicious meal, and whatever is left can be frozen to eat another time.

It is also simple to make - unwanted/surplus lettuce and some store cupboard ingredients. That's it.

I used up whatever came my way, not all of it from waste from my store. A lot of it was just lying around, ready to be used in my garden, other people's gardens, hedgerows... all over!

For example, I have a very abundant sage plant in my garden, and it struck me that there was such a lot of edible goodness going to waste that I really should use it more keenly. So, I picked the beautiful leaves and made Cheddar and Sage Scones to accompany the lettuce soup.

They are beautiful warm with butter.

Just a simple English Scone Recipe (I got mine from JamesMartinOnline) with added cheddar and sage.

Basic Scone Recipe:

450g Bread Flour/ Strong White All-Purpose Flour

5tsps baking powder

100g Butter - cold and diced

pinch of salt

300ml full-fat milk

Method: Put flour, baking powder, and full-fat butter in a bowl and rub to make breadcrumbs. Add the cheddar (circa 200g depending on the strength) and sage (a handful, chopped) and bring together with the milk. Make the dough into a round, place it on a greased baking tray, and slice through before crumbling more cheddar on top and decorating with spare leaves.

Bake - 200C/180c fan/ 350 F - 20 mins or until risen and brown.

Beautiful. Unusual. Enjoyable and indulgent. Again, basic store cupboard ingredients elevated into something more than usual—an excellent accompaniment to many soups.

Being mindful about food is a brilliant principle, and I thank my parents for instilling it in me. Rarely two meals are ever the same in our house. We make the best of whatever comes our way. No matter what the raw ingredient is - we have learned to adapt and innovate with some beautiful creations emerging from our resourcefulness.... and google!!!

Food Upcycling is great fun. It is creative, experimental, rewarding, and tasty. Throw into the mix that it is also financially and environmentally savvy... and everyone is a winner! What is not to love?

We all must eat... why not make the best of what we have?

✌❤

********************************************************************

Previous contributions in this collaborative series:

and...

Enjoy!