Arina Suchde’s “The No-Waste Kitchen Cookbook” brings to the table the importance of not wasting food, especially in a world which is still grappling with poverty and starvation.
The book shows its readers ways to be creative about their food choices and begin their “zero-waste” journey. Suchde has penned down 75 recipes for those wishing to adopt conscious cooking in their culinary expeditions.
It is interesting how the author explains her journey from ‘trash to treasure’. She talks about the most common problem in our kitchens — food wastage. The figures quoted in the book that ‘an average person in India wastes 137 gm of food every day’ or ‘In Indian homes, 50 kg of food is thrown away per person every year’ are alarming and set us thinking.
Suchde talks about ‘trash cooking’ in her various food workshops conducted across the country. She also throws light on the difficulty of changing people’s mindset when it comes to responsible cooking.
Coming to the recipes offered by her, the Gujarati-style masala roti, leftover Rajma hummus or the instant roti laddoos are a delectable read. Do not miss the parts where she mentions the use of natural dyes or multipurpose citrus cleaner in making the cooking experience more enriching.
The best part of the write-up is how the author takes us to a space which has long been overlooked by us. For instance, who knew that pea pods, which are often discarded, make for excellent soup, or the carrot and potato peels work wonders as chips, flavoured salts and creamy pesto?
“The No-Waste Kitchen Cookbook” has been published by Harper Collins and priced at Rs 299.