Every year, World Food Day is celebrated on October 16 to focus on saving food and water. With hunger being used as a weapon in war and conflicts, finding ways to curb is the need of the hour. Today, restaurants and hotels talk about the innovative ways they use to support zero waste management.
Saving every drop
To save water, ITC Hotels prefer soaking vegetables instead of running water over them. “This helps clean the veggies by allowing the residue to settle,” shares Rajdeep Kapoor, area executive chef, ITC Hotels, adding, “Thawing frozen products overnight or for a period of at least 10 hours allows us to minimise the use of running water.” Kapoor also ensures that food is prepared in batches, based on number of guests in the hotel, restaurant reservations and guaranteed banquet. Additionally, mushroom trimmings are minced to be used in a puff, while meat trimmings are used for sauces or patties and peels of vegetables are used to strengthen a stock. “Water from the kitchen is recycled and used for horticulture,” he adds. Radisson Hotel Group gives water conservation a prime importance. “Thawing of frozen items and meat is not done under running water, instead, it is pulled out of the deep freezer ahead of time and put into thawing trays in a cold room. In most cases, vegetables are washed in large containers instead of under running water. We install and operate our automatic dishwashers only in hotel areas where the load is high and try to use the machine on a full load. We stack all soiled dishes by decoy system and once we have a substantial load ready, we operate our dishwashers to clean them," says Rakesh Sethi, corporate executive chef, South Asia.
Trims for salad
Some hotels, like Crowne Plaza Okhla, have an in-house bio-methanation plant where organic food waste is microbiologically converted into biogas to be used in their kitchen. “To reduce food waste, we use banana peel for a traditional thoran, broccoli stems for coleslaw, cucumber peels for tzatziki sauces and leftover almond pulp for cookies. We also enforce no-bin days in our staff cafeterias,” informs Ashutosh Bisht , executive sous chef from the property.
Use ‘em all
{{/usCountry}}Some hotels, like Crowne Plaza Okhla, have an in-house bio-methanation plant where organic food waste is microbiologically converted into biogas to be used in their kitchen. “To reduce food waste, we use banana peel for a traditional thoran, broccoli stems for coleslaw, cucumber peels for tzatziki sauces and leftover almond pulp for cookies. We also enforce no-bin days in our staff cafeterias,” informs Ashutosh Bisht , executive sous chef from the property.
Use ‘em all
{{/usCountry}}Pullman New Delhi Aerocity adhere to the “nose-to-tail” and “root-to-stem” cooking principles, making the most of every ingredient. “While cooking, we follow a zero-waste policy. For instance, Oriental Chicken Clear Soup stock is made by simmering chicken bones and trimmings along with water and aromatic ingredients. This extraction process creates a flavourful chicken broth,” says Sandeep Kalra, director of culinary at the hotel.
Scraps to soups
Hilton Mumbai International Airport has set up a bottling plant to reduce water wastage. “We give new life to leftover banquet and restaurant food by tossing grilled chicken or sausages into fresh salad creations for the coffee shop’s lunch,” says Altamsh Patel, executive chef. Barun Singh, executive sous chef, Grand Hyatt, Gurugram ensures zero food wastage in creative ways. “Veggie scraps, like carrot peels and onion ends, are turned into a sambar. For our palak aur malai ka shorba, we also make the most of vegetable scraps like stalks and ends by transforming them into a nourishing soup,” says Singh.