Fruits and vegetables: what we throw and that we should yet test in the kitchen!
Gaspacho with tomato and pepper skins, vegetarian couscous with black olive stones or baba with pineapple peel syrup, here is a meal simmered with peelings or leftovers.
"It's a pity to buy good quality products and have to throw a big chunk of them. So some chefs like Ghislaine Arabian tried to put the peelings to the map, to make beautiful and good dishes. It's ecological and economical, "says Sonia Ezgulian, author of Les peelings, 10 ways to accommodate them and Waste, 10 ways to accommodate them, editions of the Epure.
Quality products
The skins of fruits and vegetables contain vitamins and fibers. But it is important to check that your food remains are still consumable. It is therefore preferable to choose fruits and vegetables from organic farming or untreated to avoid pesticides and other chemical treatments. Also, wash and brush before cooking.
With fruits, what do we do?
Citrus skins can be confit with sugar or vinegar (for terrines). You can also use the whole skin to prepare candied orange peels or chocolate orangettes, for example.
For the fruits With pips, you can work them in chips (cook your mixture of apple peels with powdered sugar) or in jelly thanks to the pectin present in the cores, the skin and the seeds of apples.
For the fruits with stones (cherries, apricots, peaches, etc.), use the stones to make liqueurs.
With tomatoes and aubergines a little wrinkled, you can for example prepare a ratatouille.
It is even possible to make melon bark jam (recipe of a traditional jam).
With vegetables, what do we do?
With potatoes, you can do everything. Americans savor potatoes skins by preparing potato peels au gratin with melted cheese.
The pods, you can cook them in soup (soup of pea pods). Please use the mills to vegetables to remove all the filaments.
The tops, you can work in salad or even in a quiche or omelette.
The stems (parsley or coriander), add them in your broths or papillotes. You can also prepare a scented oil with tomato stems.
Dare also the remains of animal products. Prepare broths, smoked and other poultry carcasses or shellfish heads and peel.
With a little imagination and taste, everything is possible in the kitchen.
