You won’t want to bin this article as Jamie Oliver and Hotpoint are offering a tasting menu of all made up from waste food at their pop up Fresh Thinking Café.
Fresh Thinking Café by Hotpoint and Jamie Oliver
Based on the top 10 most wasted foods in the UK with the most common being bread, salad and vegetables Jamie Oliver and Hotpoint have teamed up to show people that you can make meals out of left overs.
Why though?
Hotpoint and Jamie Oliver, want to get the nation thinking differently about the food in their fridges, as there is far too much waste.
Did you know
- nearly a quarter of Brits waste food simply because they forget what they had in the fridge.
- UK households are throwing away almost 10% of their food shop each week which equates to £271.44 of edible food every year.
- roughly a third (1.6 billion tonnes) of the food produced globally is wasted every year.
“Throughout the summer we’ve been on a mission to get the UK to think differently and get creative with the leftovers in their fridge and cupboards. People from all over the country have submitted some brilliant recipes based on the top 10 wasted foods and we’re thrilled to be serving a handful of these in our Fresh Thinking café and offering up some inspiration for how we can all think differently about the forgotten food in our kitchens.”
Jennifer Taylor, Head of Brand for Hotpoint
So Hotpoint and Jamie Oliver will be popping up in Bethnal Green with their Fresh Thinking Café for two days only (10-11 October) to show diners how waste does not have to be waste.
“Good food is a beautiful thing, it brings people together, it can cheer you up, and it can give you all the goodness you need to fuel your day – which is why me and the guys at Hotpoint don’t think any of it should be wasted! I’m really excited to share tips for cutting food waste, and beautiful recipes that celebrate ingredients that often get thrown away. Together with Hotpoint’s waste-savvy equipment, I want to show everyone how easy it is to cut unnecessary waste in the kitchen, and dish up delicious food at the same time.”
Jamie Oliver
Stop waste at Fresh Thinking Café
Diners will be able to enjoy a tasting menu of delicious dishes, inspired by the most commonly top 10 wasted ingredients in the UK which are:
- Bread
- Bagged salad
- Fresh vegetables
- Cooked leftovers
- Fresh fruit
- Milk
- Eggs
- Cheese
- Meat
- Fish
At the end diners can “pay-as-they-feel” for the dishes, with all proceeds being donated to FoodCycle, a charity fighting food waste, food poverty, and loneliness through community projects up and down the country (Donation suggestions £5 – £50 per person)
Hotpoint and Jamie Oliver hope that people will leave with a Fresh Thinking way of how to use forgotten food in their kitchens.
Jamie Oliver Q&A: Tackling food waste at home
Why is this campaign so important?
“As you can see from the stats, reducing food waste is a massive challenge. And it’s something I really care about, particularly as, with just a few simple tricks up your sleeve, it can be so easily avoided. The most powerful weapons against food waste are knowing how to cook, shopping well and, of course, storing food properly. Leftovers just need a little bit of clever thinking and you can nearly always rustle up something amazing.”
What are your tips for keeping food fresher for longer?
“First up, you need to know what’s in the your fridge, so nothing gets forgotten at the back. Keeping it nicely ordered is the first step, making sure you always select the best place for your food. Heat rises, so keep meat and fish on the bottom shelves where it’s cooler, dairy products in the middle and things like condiments and homemade salad dressings at the top (and inside the doors) for quick inspiration when you open it up. As a rule of thumb, set your fridge at 4°C or below. Store leftovers with clear labels, including dates, so you know how long you have left to use up food in a new recipe. Keeping veg in a separate crisper drawer is essential for keeping it fresh, the Hotpoint one filters ethylene gas that veg naturally produces, keeping it fresher for longer – it’s so clever.”
Where do you start, when cooking with leftovers?
“Sometimes, when you look in the fridge and see random bits, it can be hard to know what to do. But cooking with leftovers is a brilliant way to get creative. If you start with a basic idea like pasta or an omelette, you can easily mix up the veg you want to use to add flavour. Soups are a great place to start, too – especially hearty Italian soups like Pappa al pomodoro (bread and tomato soup) because you can use stale bread. The same for big salads like Panzanella that you can put your twist on, and make croutons from any bread that’s on the turn.”
Visit Fresh Thinking Café
Book a table via the Hotpoint website via here.
However if you are unlucky not to get a spot the café will also be accepting walk in’s on those days.
When: 10th – 11th October 2018
Where: 133-135 Bethnal Green Road, East London
Read my blog when I visited via
“I love going out discovering new and existing restaurants, theatres, immersive experiences and so much more but I also love staying in and discovering new gadgets, gaming and cooking.
