In Conversation... with Gerard Bertholon, CREA
Jo Austin talks to Gerard Bertholon of Cuisine Solutions on ways in which he is attempting to reduce food waste and boost flavour
the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates U.S. food waste to be about 30-40% of the food supply. Most food ends up in landfills and much of it is fruit, vegetables, roots and tubers.
At Cuisine Solutions we are challenging this, especially the waste of the parts of fruits and vegetables that are normally thrown away. We have developed an extraction process in which we cook the peels, leaves, husks and seeds using the sous-vide technique at a low temperature, for a long time. It extracts the flavours and produces a very pure product that retains all the natural minerals and nutrients. We then cryoconcentrate.
Cr yo concentration is the process in which water and solids are separated during freezing. Dr. Bruno Goussault started experimenting with the technique several years ago and has trained numerous chefs in it worldwide including three-star Michelin chef Yannick Alleno, who is using it for 80% of his sauces. He takes a traditional French sauce and using extraction and cryoconcentration makes them tastier and healthier by using less butter, sugars and fats.
You can use 100% of the cucumber.
The peels, seeds and the inside all have a different taste. You can make a sauce or a dressing and add cryoconcentrate at the end to add flavour.
Most recently Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud brought their chefs to Cuisine Solutions' Culinary Research Education Academy (CREA) in Washington D.C. for training by Dr. Goussault.
We work with over 140 fruit and vegetables including corn husk and hair, onion peels, artichoke petals, mushroom caps, celery peels, carrot peels, cucumber peels, clementine, blood oranges, tomatoes, beet skins and fennel. The process creates healthy sauces because we retain/preserve minerals and nutrients through the freezing process and using it in a sauce can intensify flavour without the need to add fats or sugars, so the result is low calorie but an amazing flavour.
You can taste the freshness and can actually get more flavour from the peel than the centre. The peels and skins also hold many of the nutrients and minerals. Mixologists are starting to use the technique to add flavour to cocktails.
In the air, people say food loses its taste. We believe that with cryoconcentration it is possible to elevate the dining experience for all passengers.