Chefs launch recipes to use up leftovers

Top chefs are joining forces in an effort to stop Londoners throwing away edible and tasty leftovers.

Oliver Rowe, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, and Gary Rhodes have all contributed recipes to a new website designed to help people use up food waste

Around a third a food bought in London currently ends up in the bin, which is a “serious scandal” according to Rosie Boycott, chair of London Food.

“Everyday in the capital we chuck out around 400,000 apples, we chuck out three quarters of a million slices of bread,” Boycott said.

“We can’t go on doing it, the planet can’t take it, climate change can’t take it. There just isn’t enough food to go round”

The recipes have been put together to help people use up the food they’re most likely to throw out, including bread, meat, fish, rice, and potatoes.

Speaking at the recipes’ launch, Oliver Rowe said one reason so much food is thrown away is because people believe they have to follow recipes precisely.

“We think everything has to be exactly like it is in the recipe,” Rowe said.

By contrast, all the recipes in the project are “basic ideas” where ingredients can be substituted and you don’t need to have the exact amount stated.

The recipes from the project are available for free download from http://www.recycleforlondon.com/reduce-reuse/recipes/index.jsp.