More respect, please! Dealing with food in the catering trade

What can the food service industry do to reduce food waste? Chef of the Year and organic chef Jeremias Riezler in conversation with 'Sustainability. Rethink.

Ascientific study concludes that over half of food waste in the catering industry could be avoided. How would you assess this - is it feasible from a practical point of view?

Some things would certainly be feasible. Some vegetable scraps, such as kohlrabi or beet leaves, can be used to make spinach, for example, according to the "leaf to root" principle. White cabbage stalks also taste good if they are boiled until soft and deep-fried. There are many ways to get even more out of food. But many people don't do this. Because it's the more convenient way and it's quicker to tidy up when the leftovers are thrown away. If you look at it economically, every restaurateur is also throwing money away. The real problem is that they have no respect for the food. And food is far too cheap.
With conventional products, e.g. the sprayed kohlrabi, I don't want to eat the leaves either. In the organic sector, it's a sin to throw them away. In the conventional sector, on the other hand, people probably prefer to peel them generously because of the sprays. You don't want to eat that either. Factors that play into the issue are conventional cultivation, creativity and the amount of work involved.

Whatchallenges do you face as a host when it comes to avoiding food waste in your business?

Of course, the guest has to eat something like this first if you put it on the menu, e.g. the kohlrabi and spinach, otherwise it's no good. The guest also has to get involved with what the chef serves him, sometimes dare to experiment. Leafy vegetables in particular are not as popular as tomatoes or cucumbers, which, in contrast, sell like hot cakes.
Meat is a different story. It is a little more expensive to buy. And here, chefs are trained much more - in their apprenticeship or profession - to work very precisely, to cut a 200g piece of meat very precisely and to produce as little leftover meat as possible. To make sauce from small leftovers etc. But when it comes to vegetables, I keep noticing that there is no respect at all. Chefs should learn in their apprenticeship and vocational school that they are food and not just products. Everyone talks about products and luxury products, but they are food. To deeply embed that what we have on our plates is essential. In contrast to so many consumer goods that we don't need at all to live. If you value food more, you treat it differently.

In the course of your career as a chef, youhave gained insights into a wide variety of catering establishments. Has your personal relationship with food and food waste changed during this time?

The different stations certainly had a lot to do with it. I once worked in a luxury hotel in Switzerland where an incredible amount was thrown away. The bread and leftovers from the buffet alone: it was insane. Everything ended up in the organic waste garbage can. No farmer picked anything up, which happens all the time, and not just in luxury hotels. You could make dumpling bread from old white bread, even if it was only for the staff's meals. But that would involve a lot of effort.

Whatcould help restaurateurs to be more mindful and possibly also more creative with food and avoid waste?

The buffets are a major factor. Due to hygiene regulations, food has to be changed and thrown away in a very short time. A lot goes to waste. Whether it's a fast food restaurant or a hotel, the guest's expectation is that the buffets are always fully stocked, from the first to the last guest. If not, there are complaints or bad reviews. Buffets have always been a thorn in my side. That's why we avoid them as much as possible. Alternatively, filling buffets with small containers would of course require more manpower, which is often in short supply.

Internationally, there is a growing movement towards "nose-to-tail" utilization, i.e. the complete utilization of animals. This is a trend that takes up what used to be taken for granted. What does it take to revive this trend in gastronomy?

The "nose-to-tail" story is actually very old, but has fallen victim to industrial agriculture. People have started throwing prime cuts from Argentina, for example, onto the European market. Nobody asks what happens to the rest of the animals. For some time now, things seem to be slowly but surely turning around. In Kleinwalsertal, the direct marketing of meat has regained importance in recent decades thanks to the "Walser Buura" association. Whole animals, e.g. calves, have begun to be marketed to the catering trade again. However, in order to utilize everything and make meat loaf, meat loaf or meat loaf, you need a skilled worker. And there is a well-known shortage here. Most things require know-how and time. Against this background, the nose-to-tail story will probably not become widespread. A large hotel with 200 beds will find it difficult to cook nose-to-tail.

Doesour steak culture offer classic "nose-to-tail" recipes to men and women? Beuschel, oxtail soup, head meat, etc.? What is the demand situation here?

Our "steak culture" is of course a problem. We haven't followed the trend for 14 years and only offer local organic meat. When we changed the menu to this, there was naturally a lot of discussion. We heard from regular guests: "We've always eaten steak for the last 30 years." That takes perseverance and education. With beef, we have 3% steak. The rest is braised meat, sausage meat and parts of classic Austrian beef cuisine. Strangely enough, Tafelspitz has quite a good image in Austria. In general, however, there is a great need for discussion. For example, we have reintroduced the Sunday roast and only let hotel guests choose between this and a vegetarian menu on this day. It seems to me that eating steak and fillet of beef all the time is slowly reaching saturation point. It's not exciting to eat something like that.

Apart frommeat, do we also need a revival of "leftover cuisine" in gastronomy?

There are actually quite a few recipes. Gröstl, dumplings - that's nothing more than using leftovers. Meat dumplings are made from leftover roast meat. However, this requires more effort in terms of craftsmanship. Paradoxically, however, often no real leftovers are used. I have never worked in a business where they made their own bread cubes for dumplings from old bread rolls, because it also involves a lot of work. There is nothing in the catering trade that you can't buy ready-made as a convenience product.
What's more, the value of food has shifted dramatically in contrast to the value of working time. Food used to be very valuable and hourly wages were low. Today, wages are very expensive and food costs relatively nothing. Naturally, food falls by the wayside.

How doyou deal with leftover food in your company?

Since we started working with organic vegetables, I always had a guilty conscience about throwing away the cuttings. There was no farmer willing to collect them, so we bought our own pigs. They spend the summer in the pasture and the winter in the barn with a run. They get the scraps from the vegetables, e.g. kohlrabi peelings, cauliflower leaves. In return, I get bacon back, have fun with the animals and the animals are doing well.

It is also importantto pay attention to seasonality when handling food carefully. Are you also tackling this challenge?

We pay a lot of attention to seasonality. For example, we buy seasonal fruit in large quantities, such as strawberries, and prepare fruit purée from them for later use. And in winter, it's simply cabbage and turnip time. We have all kinds of them then. But no peppers, no tomatoes and no cucumbers. It's a similar game to steak. People ask why there's no cucumber salad in winter. And we educate them about seasonal produce, radishes, cabbage, turnips, etc. We have to make people more aware of this. Supermarkets and all markets in general don't make it any easier for us because everything is always available. Which makes it difficult to understand seasonal fluctuations. It takes a lot of talking. It's nonsense to buy strawberries at Christmas. Or we don't even start with exotic fruits.

Whatwould you recommend to readers to avoid food waste when eating out, but also at home?

One tip is to start experimenting. And to think about what you can do with a cabbage stalk. I see a lot of potential in the "leaf-to-root" story. And with organic vegetables, a lot can actually be eaten, including the outer leaves of salads, for example. And if you take this into account and consider how much of the outer layers of conventional vegetables are generously thrown away, an organic lettuce is not that much more expensive.
Root vegetable scraps (carrots, celery, parsnips, onions) can be saved, e.g. collected in a container in the freezer, and used to make vegetable stock. Leftover onions can be steamed, pureed and used for sauces and soups. Think to yourself, it's still food that I'm holding in my hands, even if it's 'vegetable waste'. However, the prerequisite for this type of recycling is that you cook fresh.
It's all a question of respect and appreciation. Food should actually be a status symbol. And not the expensive grill on which many people then put cheap meat.

Andfinally, I would like to ask you to continue the following sentence: if I, as a chef, had one wish for the future, I would wish that...

...society focuses on food again and sees what is essential for life. Because it is simply the MEANS TO LIFE.