Food waste is a tremendous problem in 2018.
While food bank use in the UK has reached its highest rate on record (with 1.3 million three-day food supplies delivered to people in crisis last year), humans waste approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of edible food worldwide. Further research from FareShare – the UK’s largest food redistribution charity – has shown that only 17,000 tonnes of the 270,000 tonnes of edible surplus food in the UK is redistributed to charities.
The fight to beat food waste will take time, but the first step to success is knowledge and awareness. On the roof of Selfridge’s, Michelin-starred chef Dan Barber (of Blue Hill in New York) hosted a resoundingly successful pop-up, WastED, last spring, showcasing a holistic, ‘zero waste’ cooking approach. Following suit, Ikoyi will serve two unique tasting menus championing waste products from the restaurant’s kitchen next month.
A West African-inspired fine dining restaurant in the new St James’ market development near Piccadilly Circus, Ikoyi will host two ‘The Staff Food Waste Project’ dinners, on Sunday 13th May and Sunday 27th May. Each of these dinners will feature four courses of experimental dishes designed by the restaurant’s chefs: promising to harbour big flavour impact, using only waste products from Ikoyi’s kitchen.
Priced at £45 per person, The Staff Waste Project’s four course menu will include dishes such as ‘Lamb Skin, Pistachio & Flower Sandwich’; ‘Caramelised Fish, Sorrel & Corn Pottage’; ‘Octopus Head Miyan Taushe, Fermented Jollof Rice’; and ‘Milk Solids, Spent Cameroonian Coffee & Salted Zobo Caramel’.
Tickets for both dinners are available from eventbrite.co.uk. Further information on Ikoyi can be found here.
Photo: Thea Lovstad
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