The amount of edible food discarded in our industry is staggering. It’s an unconscientious – if not unethical – business practice. At Northwest, nothing can go into our compost bin until it goes through us. We act as caretakers of neglected trims and pieces of otherwise very edible food with beautiful potential.
Our wall of “house-made” spices are powders of trims that are roasted, dehydrated, and pulverized. From (washed) ginger skins, lemon, orange, lime rinds after juicing, mushroom stems, pineapple cores, herb stems, even charred eggplant skin, these powders are making their way into many of the school’s pastry and culinary creations. They are highly aromatic, unique, and an alternative to the ubiquitous black pepper or smoked paprika. Most importantly, our students have bought in to the mindset of total utilization. It also has opened up a new creative and crafty muscle – and one very good for business. As we ended our Fall 2017 semester, we calculated that nearly 300 pounds of trim had been saved and repurposed.