Hotpoint brings to London for three days Fresh Thinking Cafe. It was officially opened by Jamie Oliver on 9 October with the pop up being in East London till 11 October
Hotpoint Fresh Thinking Cafe
What is it about?
Hotpoint popped up with this pop up as they want to make people rethink differently about the forgotten foods in their kitchen and being creative and cooking with any leftovers rather than binning.
“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
Did you know:
- A quarter of Brits (24%) admit they waste food simply because they forget what they have 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.
Did you know that the top 10 wasted ingredients in the UK are are:
- Bread
- Bagged salad
- Fresh vegetables
- Cooked leftovers
- Fresh fruit
- Milk
- Eggs
- Cheese
- Meat
- Fish
So forget sell by dates look and smell your food before binning. Even though it might look a little limp, it can actually still be re-used in some case.
Hotpoint about them
Hotpoint sells a wide range of appliances suits the needs of every kitchen and home. All their home and kitchen domestic appliances have been designed with the latest innovations, intelligent technology and functional stylish design, offering our customers outstanding performance from washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers, cookers, fridges and freezers. They also offer a wide variety of high quality small domestic appliances for the kitchen and home including slow juicers, coffee machines and vacuum cleaners.
Wheelie binned myself down to Fresh Thinking Cafe
So when I got an email invite to attend Hotpoint Fresh Thinking Cafe I just had to wheel on down.
I and other diners on the day got to taste a menu of delicious dishes with recipes which have all been submitted by members of the public all of which use the top 10 most commonly wasted foods in the UK.
The food cooked on the day will be cooked using surplus food from local suppliers.
All diners who visit will have the option to pay as they feel at this popped up ‘Hotpont fresh thinking café’ with all proceeds donated to FoodCycle, a charity fighting food waste, food poverty, and loneliness through community projects up and down the country.
£5 Buys tablecloths and decorations to create a welcoming environment each week
£10 Provides a nutritious community meal for 7 guests
£20 Rescues 2 tonnes of surplus food, equivalent to 4,700 meals
£40 Stocks a project’s store cupboard with essential spices and oils to make the food super tasty
£50 Helps train a team of volunteers to ensure the safety and wellbeing of guests
Last year FoodCycle transformed 270 tonnes of surplus food into nutritious meals for the community.
Let’s eat
The table was laid nicely and upon the menu sat a recycled wooden plate.
For starters I had this lovely cauliflower dish. The cauliflower puree was bliss so creamy and tasty. In fact this dish tasted a little like cauliflower cheese.
Chicken croquette
I loved this dish with the left cooked chicken used making a croquett. Simple but yet tasty.
Next was the mains.
I loved the salmon with the grain gave the whole dish a great texture with the softness of the fish to the crunch of the grain.
The bulgur pizza was interesting even though looked amazing and did taste and look fresh I did not eat it all as I personally did not like the pizza dough but that is only because it is not to my taste.
The vegetable rostis was interesting and one that any vegetable lover would love I am sure.
The desserts was what I really was looking forward to as I love sweet stuff.
The salted caramel mousse was absolutely delicious however as much as I love dessert and salted caramel it was far too much for me as was rich but wow.
The banoffee pudding was like a bread and butter pudding but with the added banana flavour giving it a real edge. I would of never thought about using banana in a bread and butter pudding before but I certainly will do in the future.
Plus whilst there diners could learn some facts about certain food waste by throwing food items in this bin from the basket.
For example did you know that over 20% of the 263 million tonnes of beef produced globally is wasted.
Also whilst at the Fresh Thinking Cafe I got given some tips on storing food and not to waste food.
- Fridge should be set at 4°C or below
- Food in the fridge should be stored with:
vegetables in vegetable drawer
meat and fish on the bottom shelf
dairy items on the middle shelf
left overs should on the top shelf
why though? as heat rises - Make a list of all items in fridge and labelling them
- Use left over food to create soups, pasta or omelettes
I certainly will be using these tips.
In the end of the day Hotpoint and Jamie Oliver hope that this pop up will inspire people to think about how to use forgotten food in their kitchens from now on and forever.
As I say waste not want not.
Thanks to The Academy PR for informing me of this great pop up. All views are my own honest opinion
“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.
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