Chef takes root-to-fruit approach in new book
For chef Tom Hunt, sustainability starts with eating for pleasure, not just for nutrition
Born of a sense of abundance rather than sacrifice, chef and writer Tom Hunt’s first foray into reducing food waste was a meal for many.
In making hundreds of dishes with organic produce that otherwise would have been lost to the dumpster, his so-called Forgotten Feast extended beyond the fundraiser itself. Bolstered by the fact that as an individual he had made a measurable difference, it ended up being a catalyst.
“The reason I set myself on this journey of climate-change campaigning and focusing on food sustainability is because I fed those 200 people and there was a massive ripple effect from that one event,” says Hunt.
“The Forgotten Feast was about celebrating the solutions rather than talking about what’s wrong and celebrating good food in its entirety from root to fruit.”
Over the past decade, Hunt has created an integrated approach to eating — one that emphasizes both enjoyment and the environment.
His second cookbook, Eating for Pleasure, People, & Planet (Interlink Books), taps into “holistic” thinking. As with his salvaged spread, the book is “a celebration of plenty” first and foremost.
“I’ve written it to be actionable and as simple as possible for people to follow,” says Hunt, “which is why the three key principles — eat for pleasure, eat whole foods, eat the best food you can — are quite loose and philosophical ways to approach food rather than it being a really strict and basic list of things you can do to improve your impact on the environment.”
CHORIZO-SPICED NEW POTATOES WITH JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES AND APPLE
Serves: 4
1 lb 2 oz (500 g) new potatoes 10 1/2 oz (300 g) Jerusalem artichokes (optional, otherwise replace with more potatoes)
Glug of oil, for roasting
1 tsp (5 ml) caraway seeds 2 tsp (10 ml) coriander seeds 2 tsp (10 ml) cumin seeds 2 tsp (10 ml) sweet paprika 1 1/2 tbsp (22 ml) smoked paprika
The food system — from soil to table — generates roughly one-quarter of the globe’s greenhouse gas emissions. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says that if food waste were a country, it would be among the top three carbon emitters.
But while some food and farming practices are responsible for environmental damage, Hunt says others can do the opposite by promoting biodiversity and regenerating the Earth.
While acknowledging that the global climate problem requires large-scale action, Hunt highlights ways to create change from the kitchen. With affordability and availability of ingredients, and flexibility and simplicity of methods as unifying threads, the book includes recipes for morning meals, “slow food fast” lunches and dinners, sharing plates, salads, sweet treats and pantry items.
“The two main barriers when it comes to people wanting to improve their food are time and money. So I’ve always had those at the forefront of my mind when I’m devising my ideas and manifesto,” says Hunt. “Because I’ve come to this through food waste, saving your food waste is not only one of the best things you can do for the climate and the environment, but it’s one of the best things you can do to save money.”
Hunt opens each recipe chapter with “anti-recipes” — an invitation to not only invent your own dishes, following charts and guides if you wish, but to gain the confidence to adapt any of the other recipes in the book.
Coloured by the nose-to-tail butchery movement, his rootto-fruit philosophy starts — but doesn’t end — with whole-food eating. Using all edible parts of plants and composting the rest is part of the picture, but Hunt takes it further by viewing food as part of an integrated system.
“I sometimes say it’s a cookbook about farming and regenerative agriculture,” says Hunt. Underlying all his work, he adds, is the desire to reconnect what we eat with its source.
Recipes are from Eating for Pleasure, People, & Planet by Tom Hunt, published by Interlink Books.
Pinch of red pepper flakes 1 apple, cut into eighths 6 flat-leaf parsley sprigs, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped, optional
Aioli to serve, optional
Sea salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
(175 C).
2. Place the new potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes, if using, in a roasting pan. Drizzle with the
PAN-ROASTED RADISHES WITH LABNEH, FREEKEH AND RADISH LEAVES
Serves: 2 as a light meal,
4 as a side dish
1/2 cup (125 ml) freekeh 1 bunch of radishes with leaves 1/4 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice
Extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup (180 ml) labneh or yogurt
1 tbsp (15 ml) coconut oil or organic canola oil
1 tsp (5 ml) nigella seeds
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper oil, sprinkle generously with salt and scatter with the spices.
3. Toss well to make sure everything is well coated and roast in the oven for 50 minutes, then add the apples and return to the oven for 10-20 minutes, until everything is crispy and cooked through.
4. Serve as they are or toss in the parsley and splatter with the aioli for extra unctuousness.
1. Place the freekeh in a small saucepan, cover with plenty of water and cook for 15 minutes until cooked through, but still chewy. Drain through a sieve and return to the pan.
2. Add the radish leaves, lemon zest and juice and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Mix gently together and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl and spoon the labneh on top.
3. Heat the coconut or canola oil in a heavy-based frying pan over high heat, being careful not to let it smoke.
4. While that is heating up, cut the radishes in half. Add the radishes to the hot pan, season with a pinch of salt and fry for just a minute until they are slightly blistered and bright red in colour.
5. To serve, arrange the blistered radishes on top of the labneh and sprinkle over the nigella seeds.