If I could live off of an endless supply of roast potatoes I probably would.
Personally, I blame my gran. A roast dinner queen in her own right, she would always make sure I got to “test” the potatoes before the meal.
Ten testings before sitting down to eat and then another pile of golden tatties later – not counting the later late-night snacks – it was clear I had a problem.
However the piles of meat and brussel sprouts, those I could take or leave.
And I do not think I am the only one.
Millions of food items binned
At a time of the year when family expectations and traditions merge, it is easy to get swept up in a festive of generous giving.
While this is not a bad thing on its own, when this extends to the food, a lot can usually end up wasted.
In the UK alone, five million perfectly edible Christmas puddings, two million turkeys and 74 million mince pies are binned.
That is not even counting the extra nibbles, cheeses and vegetables.
Thankfully we spoke to some culinary experts to get tips on how to make use of all the Christmas goodies, start new traditions and why there is fun to be found in it all.
Read on to find out:
- Ideas to use up your leftover food
- Why creative cooking is important in getting the family around the table – even if it is unpalatable
- Why the drinks industry is caring about this too
Thinking creatively reduces food waste
Restaurant owner of Aspire in Portsoy Jill Christine Mair is no stranger to leftovers.
In the restaurant set in a mid-19th century church, she is constantly trying creative ways to use up different foods.
“We keep all our peelings from all our vegetables so we can put it all into a stock pot,” she said.
“We try not to waste anything like that so even the turkey bones are getting used.
“It makes fantastic soups and gravy.”
Four months into running the business this year, they started to look at plates coming back to the kitchen and cutting back a little bit.
Now almost a year after opening, nearly all their plates are coming back clean.
She added: “Nobody wants food waste. We try and minimize it as much as we can.
“Somebody out there has produced what you have and you don’t want to go and put that in the bin as well.
“You just have to try and think out of the box.”
Christmas dinner leftover ideas
For creative ways of using Christmas dinner leftovers, Jill’s out-of-the-box thinking did not disappoint.
Some of these included:
- Using leftover cheeses to make mac and cheese – perhaps adding bacon or turkey
- Samosas made with filo pastry and leftover meat, cranberry sauce and stuffing
- A turkey curry
Jill suggests using Christmas pudding in a trifle. Image: Jill Christine Mair - Bread and butter pudding made using croissants or panettone (and maybe even a cheeky bit of Baileys)
- Trifle with fruit cake and any half-cut fruits
- Selection box chocolates could also be chopped up and put in a traybake
On top of this, she advised people not to overbuy and added: “Have fun, be creative and use anything up.”
Generational Boxing Day Pie
For some individuals, this creative thinking has become a family tradition.
Bridge Centre Cafe outreach manager in Torry, Lynn Geldart, said in her family, they called it the Boxing Day pie.
All the roast leftovers would be chopped up and put in a pie dish with some pastry on top.
She said: “It is one of the best pies you can have.”
Coming from a farming background, Lynn said she and her family were very aware of food waste.
The Aberdeenshire resident added: “We grew up eating very seasonally so there was no wastage and we knew the value of vegetables because we’d helped plant the seeds and nurture them.”
Food and cooking is about connection
Over the years this has stood Lynn in good stead for thinking of new ways to use up food at home and professionally.
A great lover of batch cooking and advocate for frozen vegetables, she said with the rise of fast food we have become lazier with cooking.
A skill which she argues is important not just nutritionally and economically but also for our family lives.
Lynn said: “We’ve lost that sitting around the table and family time.
“It’s about more than food – it’s about connection.
“There’s an awful lot of family breakdown now because that’s not happening.
“The more we can do to get people sitting together at a table the better society in general and family relationships will be.”
For those looking to try something different this year and creatively use leftover food, Lynn encouraged people to be bold.
She added: “Don’t be frightened. You might mess something up once but you learn.
“Even if it’s burnt or unpalatable, even if you’re laughing over it, there’s a connection and I think that is invaluable.”
Home cocktail-making tips
In recent years there has also been a wave of awareness across the drinks industry about the amount of recycling and food waste being produced.
At Orchid cocktail bar on Langstane Place in Aberdeen, they are trying some more scientific methods to double their yield and half their orders of imported citrus fruits.
However, for waste-saving methods at home, Orchid general manager, Ryan Way, said not to discount things usually thrown away such as fresh mint stems.
“They’re actually full of flavour,” he said.
“And if you can macerate that in some water and sugar, you’ll end up with quite a nice deep earthy minty syrup which will go great if you want to chuck it into a mojito at home.”
He also said using freeze-dried berries goes much further than buying fresh and investing in sustainable local spirit brands – from companies such as Glen Garioch Distillery – all helps.
Conversation