Changing eating habits, reducing impacts on the environment and using techniques to make full use of food. The actions are part of sustainable gastronomy, a specialization of cuisine focused on more responsible practices for food production and the best use of natural resources.
It’s no surprise that sustainability has changed the food market. In the ranking drawn up by the United Nations (UN), Brazil occupies the tenth position among those who waste the most food in the world, throwing away around 27 million tonnes of food every year.
At the same time, Brazil does not go unnoticed when it comes to hunger. According to the report “The state of food security and nutrition in the world” (SOFI), recently published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in 2022 70.3 million Brazilians suffered from moderate food insecurity. 21.1 million people faced severe food insecurity, without access to food.
Zero waste
The full use of food is a topic of debate in the kitchen. In traditional cooking, peels, seeds, vegetable stems and greens often fill up scraps after preparing recipes. These ingredients may seem destined to be discarded, but there are still those who see them as new functions in the kitchen.
In addition to having a negative impact on the environment through improper disposal and increased food insecurity, wasting ingredients that are part of the “unconventional parts of food” group can also cause nutritional losses for the consumer.
“If you buy a food, you buy the peel, the seeds and everything else together. If you start throwing away these parts, you are throwing away an ingredient that often has more nutrients than the food itself,” says Maristella Sodré, specialist in eduK and cook kitchen specializing in sustainable gastronomy.
In some cases, as in the case of bananas, the peel contains more vitamin C and twice as much potassium than the pulp of the fruit. Among the benefits, eating banana peel fights constipation and helps regulate blood cholesterol.
To start changing eating habits and introducing unconventional ingredients into your daily life, Sodre emphasizes that it doesn’t take much effort: in principle, adequate food hygiene would be enough. Being willing to try new preparations and flavors is another step to take.
“During preparation, you will have even more food, more texture and more flavor to add to your dish,” adds the chef.
And breaking the stigma that everything healthy tastes “bland” is easy too. Using the ingredients you already have in the fridge or pantry, combined with the right seasonings, you can create surprising recipes.
Thinking of making the daily menu more accessible, sustainable and waste-free, cook Maristella Sodre taught Guia da Cozinha a delicious recipe for banana peel crazy meat with pink puree. The dish makes eight servings and the whole family can try it again and again. Check it out below:
Crazy meat recipe with banana peel and pink puree
Time: 1 hour
Performance: 8 servings
Difficulty: average
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of potatoes with peel
- 1 large cooked beetroot in the skin
- 3 crushed garlic cloves
- 50 g of leek
- 6 banana peels (cut and marinated in soy sauce or lemon)
- 130 g chopped green pepper
- 130g chopped red chilli pepper
- 130 g chopped yellow pepper
- 300ml homemade tomato sauce
- 200 g of onion
- Sesame oil for frying
Preparation method:
For the puree
- Cook the potatoes and mash them, skin and all. Save the residue from the peels and the cooking water from the potatoes;
- Place the beetroot wrapped in aluminum foil in the oven at a temperature of 180°C and cook for about 1 hour;
- In a blender, blend the potato and beetroot peels with a little cooking water;
- Brown the mashed potatoes with the garlic, butter, salt and pepper and the beetroot juice with the peels blended in a blender with sesame oil until you obtain the desired consistency.
For banana peel crazy meat
- In a pan, brown the onion, chopped leek and peppers for about 2 minutes;
- Add the already cut and marinated banana peels and leave to brown for about 1 minute;
- Add the tomato sauce, let cook for 3 minutes;
- Add salt and desired seasonings and you’re done.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
