Le Gaspillage, what a wonderful word it is ( gas.pi.jaz). What does it mean , well Waste, waste of any kind , but here we are talking about food waste.

We spent a couple of days last week in Lyon the self proclaimed capital of La Cuisine Française. We had been forewarned about the French initiative to cut down on Food Waste. As of January 1 st 2024, municipalities must provide the population with ways to dispose of food scraps, expired food, garden waste etc. Previously, it was only those who generated more than 5 tonnes of organic waste were required to separate it.

This bin in Lyon was the first that we had seen and of course this being France it was already covered with graffiti. Currently there isn’t a fine for non compliance but as food waste accounts for 16% of total emissions from the EU food system AND food waste and food loss generates about 8% of human caused emissions annually. Home composting is widespread in Italy, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium but in the UK it is voluntary with some local councils providing small bins for food waste. We are currently in the Savoie region of France and have yet to see a composting bin, though we are required to take our normal trash to local bins, one for paper, one for glass and one for general waste, I think in the winter they look like TeleTubbies!

Food waste in the UK is high as well with approximately 76 kg being wasted per person in 2021! The highest wasters were according to WRAP ( waste reduction charity) were those who eat out a lot, or have a lot of take aways, or were following diets such as Paleo, Atkinson, Gluten free, vegan vegetarian etc. The greatest waste seemed to be milk, chicken, bread, eggs, fruit and vegetables!

Being of the generation Waste Not Want Not, I don’t throw food away. I actually put the blame to much of the waste onto the shoulders of governments, with the introduction in the first instance of USE BY DATES! This was subsequently changed to BEST BEFORE! One milk company stopped using dates of any kind recently to the SNIFF TEST ! Good for them, the only ones I would truly worry about is chicken and fish. However, most homes have a freezer these days so I usually buy in semi bulk ( meat and fish) , pack, seal and freeze. Even if the product has Freezer Burn ( not packaged properly or been frozen for too long) it is still edible,( make a fish pie or a stew). Most dates on packaging is there just as a guideline , Yogurt that is two days past its date will still be fine and probably for several days beyond that. Sugar, salt, Vinegar, Olive Oil, Worcestershire Sauce, Hot Sauce, Tabasco, the industry says they need dates, but are still fine for a very long time.

The way forward is to reuse Left Overs! when my kids were younger we would go to Club Med on Holiday, where a very creative kitchen would create new dishes, using leftovers! Consequently, when I did this at home, the answer to “ What’s for dinner” sometimes would be a CLUB MED!

Here are some ideas for LEFT OVERS.

The Lettuce looking a bit sad? Use it as a basis for soup, any kind of green stuff, Romaine, spinach baby gem are great, simply chop and melt in butter. Add other vegetables ( frozen peas make a wonderful soup. I’m well known for what I Call Refrigerator Soup. I make this by using up the contents of my refrigerator, when I am going away for any length of time,I always start with salad, but it could included any vegetables ( think of mixed vegetable soup / minestrone) stock for the soup can be a stock cube, want to make it a cream soup, use up yogurt, cream, milk.

Cooked food leftovers can of course be recycled as well and made into something new and exciting. Think of Tuna Niçoise, it doesn’t have to be made with Tuna, try cold salmon, or mackerel , or you have the veggie part, add boiled eggs and tinned Tuna. Cold cooked Salmon can be made into a salmon quiche. currently Poké bowls are in fashion, again, using cooked salmon, tuna, pork, beef, lamb, prawns eggs etc. add a stock and veggies, any will work but add chillies, coriander, fresh ginger, spring onions, lemon grass, kale, broccoli, chard, the list goes on!

And then don’t forget Fried Rice, I always seem to have left over rice.However for a while a few years ago, Care Homes were told not to serve reheated rice to their resident! Why?

Bacillus cereus a toxin grows in rice and the illness can cause some nasty symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The symptoms will usually set in just a few hours after eating your meal but will also normally not last for long. However this is not just for Rice but for any cooked foods that have not been refrigerated, so storage is important.

I love fried rice and is so simple to do, if you have left over rice. Scramble some eggs, quickly cook some vegetables ( or you might have some leftovers) or use a packet of frozen Mixed Vegetables ( defrosted), ham, fish, prawns along with Pak Choi, onions, coriander , just add to the rice and there you go! Might not be authentic but Oh So Good!

And why throw away Bread? Bread is WONDERFUL, it freezes really well, take it out of the freezer, put it back it doesn’t mind and no health risk. Or use it to make French toast, Bread Pudding, Bread and Butter pudding, or dry it to make posh breadcrumbs ! Why throw milk away, half a bottle of milk left over and you are going on holiday ! FREEZE IT! Defrost when you come home for that cup of tea! AND EGGS! If you are going away for a week, the eggs will be fine, but they also freeze, crack them open , freeze them and use them when defrosted for scrambled eggs! And CHEESE, I have so much cheese in my freezer, I buy French cheese when on offer, it all freezes well, don’t bin it!

And Finally! I saw this idea the other day just perfect for my extremely smelly Camembert cheese, which is desperately crying out to be used. Wrap chunks of it in Nori ( dried Japanese seaweed), dampen the Nori, wrap it around the cheese, egg and breadcrumb, deep fry. Result? Well maybe, just maybe my cheese was a tad too runny and SMELLY! And of course you can buy breaded cheeses, might just save you time and energy! But I will try it again !

During our stay in the mountains in La Belle France, we decamped for a few days to Lyon, the gourmet capital of France. Situated between the butter-loving regions of Alsace and Lorraine to the north , the cream, cheese and charcuterie region to the North East and the vegetable and olive oil-based cuisines of Provence and the Mediterranean, Lyon has blended them together to create its own rich heritage of French cookery.

Whilst in Lyon, we went to Las Halles…… the stomach of a city and here it was Les Halles de Paul Bocuse, a world famous chef ( 3 Michelin Stars) who had been based in Lyon.

However, I have to say that we were both marginally disappointed, a market it was not, but a very smart conglomeration of expensive food stalls, with almost no one there buying! But as no one was there, it gave us ( me ) ample time to roam and look! But we didn’t buy!

Having gorged our senses on all of this, lunch ! But why do we always forget that in France, LUNCH really does mean a full blown lunch! However we saved ourselves for the evening.

Up until now I had been totally unaware that Lyon had been once the centre of the European silk industry. In the 1400 and 1500’s it really was a boom town, with tunnels and passageways leading from the weaving district down to the river. The business was mostly destroyed during the revolution with those artisans who survived moving to Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the UK. It rebuilt itself with revolts along the way and of course modernisation and so Lyon still produces fine silk today. As with any industry, others piggyback alongside. With maybe 25,000 silk workers needing food, small restaurants sprang up and these were called BOUCHONS. These catered to the silk industry and were family run businesses and many are still in operation today, serving traditional Lyonnaise cuisine.

One of the culinary delights is something called “ cervelle de canut” or translated as “Silk Workers Brains”! And despite its gruesome name is a treat. Soft white cheese mixed with white wine, a dash of sour cream and some herbs. To be eaten by dunking in some crusty bread. At the time this was the original Take Away lunch for all of the silk workers!

Daniel and Denise is a typical Lyonnaise Bouchon and in fact there are three locations, one in the old town which is where we went.

Another typical aspect of cuisine Lyonnaise, and although introduced during the 16th century, it was the 19th century that saw the introduction of the pot Lyonnais that is still known today. Like the traditional bouchon restaurants, the history of the pot Lyonnais is wrapped up in Lyon’s history of fine silk production (which dates back to the Renaissance). The skilled silk weavers, called les canuts, of the La Croix-Rousse district of Lyon, would typically eat at bouchons after finishing work and, in a fittingly French fashion, they were equally entitled to 50 centilitres (17 ounces) of wine per week paid by their employer. However, the ever resourceful restauranteurs had a ruse! A glass pot was created with a thick bottom Therefore, the ‘pot’ started out as a 50-centilitre glass bottle that would be filled with wine from a barrel. However, in1843, the measure changed from 50 centilitres to 46 centilitres. Therefore the owners were able to make one litre of wine stretch to fill two pots and have a glass leftover for themselves. The pot’s typical glass bottom was consequently thickened to compensate for the missing 4 centilitres!!

We went to a DanieletDenise closest to where we were staying and we were not disappointed, though I have to say that Himself was marginally less adventurous than normal!

I had to start, Bones with Escargot (YUMMY) whilst he had the Pǎté en Croute, this was followed with Calves Liver saignant for Himself and Scallops with boudin noir for me! All in all it was a good meal in an interesting location and would go again.

Meanwhile I have been working on my Cheese Tart, which is fast becoming my signature or go to dinner.

Therefore I have been updating my Tarte Abondance. For those of you who have already made this Tarte, then here is the update. It is important to use a mixture of cheeses and the ones I use are perfect as they melt really well, whereas, cheese like cheddar, which is a great cheese, just doesn’t work.

Now I start with a layer of 3 onions chopped and lightly sautéd and on top of that the filling as for a quiche. I use a 500 grams melange of Comté, Abondance and Beaufort (plus 1-2 Oz of plain flour mixed into the cheese).These are local to me in France, in the Savoie, they are available in the UK but tend to be pricey, but worth it. I then also use 300 mls dpible cream and 4 beaten eggs. Use the above for a large Quiche type tart along with a green salad.