Chen Wenzi Environmental Information Center
The first meeting with Huang Yinxuan was in the kitchen of an old-fashioned house on Toad Hill, where she was preparing to make chocolate red wine chiffon cake. The air is filled with the aroma of food, the sweetness of chocolate, the aroma of cake, the temperature of baking, the laughter in the house with the tranquility outside the window, in front of the food, the mood is relaxed and happy.
The cake on this day uses two special ingredients, red wine is left after the vintner opens the bottle for guests to try; spiced chocolate is imported on fair trade, and the manufacturer has a large inventory left because it is not loved by Taiwanese consumers. It's a work of leftovers, authenticity, and a dessert chef. Huang Yinxuan generously and happily shared her experience in leftover food, and when it came to seriousness, she did not forget to justify the name of leftover food: "Leftover food, really not all food that is about to spoil".
Pick Food Up is the founder of eco-kitchen Huang Yinxuan. Photograph: Chen Wenzi
<h1>There's a story behind every leftover</h1>
After the 80s, Huang Yinxuan studied in the Department of Insects, the institute is related to marine life, accidentally embarked on the way to the chef, the most concerned is food and ecology. Subsequently, she went to Italy to study for a master's degree in slow food, and after returning to Taiwan, she founded Pick Food Up (pronunciation: handhe) ecological kitchen to promote the leftover food movement. Leftovers and specials (products that are difficult to sell after food grading) are common ingredients in her desserts.
Huang Yinxuan is using leftover food and genuine products to make chocolate red wine chiffon cake. Photograph: Chen Wenzi
The average person's imagination of leftovers is very vague and simple, about the bread that is about to expire in the supermarket, or the dim special vegetables in the supermarket, but these are not the materials used by Huang Yinxuan.
Huang Yinxuan's leftovers, each of which has a different story behind it. In the case of "Purple Rice Pudding Pagoda", the purple rice used is a local brand grown by the indigenous people of Taiwan, and the manufacturer cannot package it into a whole package of leftover ingredients. The lower tarpies are edged with toast, and because of the hard texture, sandwiches are often cut out.
Some French toasts are made using only egg yolks, and the egg whites have nowhere to go; the diamond horns sent by others are not appetizing; and so on, the nutritional value and freshness of many leftovers are not inferior to normal products, but in the wrong production and consumption system, they have become obsolete products. If cooked by a chef, they can also become moving foods, placed on the table, and attract people to eat.
Leftovers are chiffon cakes with genuine chocolate wine. Photograph: Chen Wenzi
<h1>Bringing leftovers back to life is a challenge and a pleasure</h1>
But it's not easy to get leftovers back to glamorous. The source of leftover ingredients is unstable, and it is difficult to control the items, quantity and quality, and there is no way to make reservations in advance. However, these variables are the fun for leftover chefs who love to cook and dare to challenge.
Huang Yinxuan, who interned at Instock's leftover restaurant in the Netherlands, had such an experience. Someone placed a wrong order, mistakenly ordered a large number of smoked salmon, and the manufacturer sent the endless smoked salmon to the restaurant. So, for the whole week, the leftover restaurant's meal was smoked salmon. From half-cooked to fully cooked, from pastries to dim sum, the chefs are fully committed to the fullest.
What a test for chefs! "That's also fun," Huang Yinxuan laughed, "if you don't like it, you will think, what to do; if you like it, you will look forward to it, I want to try this and do that today."
Leftovers test the chef's creativity. Leftovers / Extras + Genuine = Gourmet. Image credit: Pick Food Up combines eco-kitchens
And the test also exists on the consumer side. Some consumers like to see fixed dishes and fixed quality on the menu. Huang Yinxuan said that there are many customers in leftover restaurants, and their consumption reasons are different because they like changing menus, agree with the concept of environmental protection, or agree with chefs' cooking skills.
Because the source of leftover ingredients is unstable, Huang Yinxuan can't set the recipe first and then collect the ingredients. Conversely, to collect ingredients before thinking about recipes, ready-made recipes on the market are not useful, and you can only innovate and research yourself. Fortunately, Huang Yinxuan has sensitive taste buds, "It's very difficult to eat, I won't invite everyone to eat it." She laughs and says, "I just love doing this kind of thing, I love thinking about different recipes."
Because the leftovers cannot predict the quality and quantity of ingredients, the chef has to innovate the menu from time to time, and the ingenuity is even higher. Image credit: Pick Food Up combines eco-kitchens
<h1>The leftovers movement is starting to commercialize and still have difficulties </h1>
The average person has too little imagination of leftover food, and the most common way for the public to think of is to collect spot food and donate it to others as a solution.
"How much of this food is really being used?" Huang Yinxuan asked, "Even if it is donated, if it is not properly made into real food, many ingredients will still be discarded and eventually returned to the environment."
Back to reality, how receptive are Taiwanese consumers to leftovers? At present, there is no fixed storefront in the ecological kitchen, in addition to the fixed stalls in the farmer's market, it also accepts irregular orders for activities. Huang Yinxuan said that the sales degree of different markets varies greatly, and some markets that advertise pure organic cannot be stationed, and can only operate in small quantities.
Taiwan's imagination of leftover food is still stuck in "fast-to-die food", and it is still difficult to promote it, and it can only be operated in small quantities. Image credit: Pick Food Up combines eco-kitchens
Another problem is the acquisition of extraneous products with leftover ingredients. Huang Yinxuan often asks manufacturers to provide ingredients that are still edible after packaging defects or sampling, but some are worried about disputes over the sale of spot products, preferring to destroy them. Take the Dutch Instock leftover restaurant as an example, due to long-term cooperation with supermarkets, although there is no fixed ingredient project, the supply is relatively stable.
Making leftovers not just leftovers, but foods that people can love from the bottom of their hearts, seems a bit further down the road. At present, Huang Yinxuan does not have too long-term planning in addition to continuing to work and short-term internship at Silo, a zero-waste restaurant in the United Kingdom. After all, leftover restaurants aren't as easy to plan as traditional restaurants, she said.
The green tea, honey apple, golden date, four season oranges, and canned pineapple used in fruit green tea are all special products. Image credit: Pick Food Up combines eco-kitchens
Is a leftover feast from a pasta, a main meal, dessert, to a drink, a pleasure or a test? It depends on what you think. Image credit: Pick Food Up combines eco-kitchens