Surplus Food: Why it is worth using every scrap
An interview with Chef Ramael Scully by Lara Monro
Photography by Wanderhatch and Sam Nightingale for I Have Eaten It at Refettorio Felix and courtesy of Scully Restaurant
As we wake up to the catastrophic impact mankind has inflicted on the environment, we are (slowly but surely) taking more precautionary measures to try and rectify the damage already done. Reducing agricultural emissions — largely methane and nitrous oxide — as well as food waste will play a significant role in climate change mitigation. As a result, food sustainability has become an important and popular topic. In 2021 Wahaca, the Mexican restaurant chain made an environmental statement by replacing avocado with British fava beans - introducing the Whacamole dip to the menu. While Too Good To Go, the world-leading anti-food waste app aims to “inspire and empower everyone to take action against food waste” by connecting consumers with surplus food from local restaurants and grocery stores that would otherwise be thrown away. This movement was magnified by COVID 19.
When leaders around the world started to announce lockdown measures at the end of March 2020, large scale suppliers were left with tons of produce at risk of going bad. Online sales for supermarkets rocketed while wholesale suppliers, pop-ups, restaurants, neighbourhood cafes and butchers started assembling food boxes in an attempt to generate revenue as well as utilise surplus perishable goods.
A notable example is Scully at Home: a unique dining experience created by Ramael Scully of Scully Restaurant. The ex-Ottolenghi and Nopi chef is a visionary with a bold, veg-centric menu. In May 2020, he pledged to reduce his food waste by at least 25%, boasting a circular economy in the kitchen and bar, to ensure food or drink is rarely wasted.
Lara Monro spoke with Scully for Table Magazine to learn more about his journey as a chef; how his mothers Asian cooking left no scraps, why using surplus food in his restaurant has its challenges and how he recently agreed to create a 3-course menu for the Arts project I Have Eaten It, organised by Open Space, with surplus food provided 24hrs prior to the meal.
Have you always been concerned with food waste; exploring how best to utilise it within your cuisine?
S: Just to clarify, when you say surplus food, you mean food waste? The term surplus is a new one for me!
L: Yes!
S: Thank you! It has always been an important element of my life. Growing up in Asia, my mum taught me the importance of using waste food. She would use the whole chicken, the feet and everything else! I started working in the kitchen when I was 16 as a kitchen porter, slowly making my way to cheffing. During this time, I’ve seen so much waste. A lot of the big restaurants, especially the ones with stars. I do get it: the finesse, the finishing off. But what scared me was the lack of interest in all of the waste that was leftover - why did no one want to utilise this, creatively? It is important to note that when I first started cooking, in the 80s and 90s, there was not so much knowledge around all of this. We didn't have visionaries telling us how to use waste, how to be smart and inventive with it.
So who would you say were the visionaries?
The Scandinavian chefs started to get air time and inspired Western cooking for sure. They questioned Western chefs, challenging them on all the waste - showing us that we could make a sauce from all the things that were going in the bin! I am grateful to have worked in countries around the world; Australia and Russia (to name a few). In Russia, for example, before winter, they get all the root vegetables and pickle them to feed the family over the cold months. It was inspiring to see how important being self-sustainable was; how smart yet simple it was. Also, Dan Barber. He came to London in 2017 and hosted wastED LONDON on the rooftop of Selfridges. It really inspired me! Building on the UK's vibrant food waste movement wastED joined forces with local farmers, fishermen, suppliers and retailers to reimagine by-products at every link in the food chain - seems more normal now, but back then it was revolutionary!
Do you think having your own Restaurant helped to push your innovation with surplus food?
I think so. You start thinking a bit more, especially as it's your money going in the bin! For example, I'm super versatile with root vegetables. I work closely with my suppliers, they know that I like to have end of season produce. A lot of chefs like to use produce from the start of the season and by the end of the season, they aren't interested. As a result, my suppliers send a lot of second select items because they can't sell them to other chefs!
What do you do with your end of season, surplus products?
I preserve a lot of produce by dehydrating, pickling, making koji and also miso. As we speak, one of my chefs is slicing heritage carrots. He has been doing this for the last 2 weeks, slicing a 15-kilo box of second selection heritage carrots every day. They come in all sorts of colours: yellow, white, purple- they are beautiful and most importantly, they are still good - a little bit overgrown because they are a bit mature. But, that is OK!
So what will you do with them?
I will dehydrate them and in 2 months time, use them as a sweet and sour carrot whipped tofu dish.
What would you say are the most important qualities for running a successful restaurant?
When I started this restaurant I said to my head chef we are a London city restaurant, we can do all these funky things that normal restaurants do, like Fäviken, all the Scandinavians, or the Asian restaurants who are doing really cool-fermented foods. I had the confidence that we could pull it off and knew that in order to make it work, I needed to work closely with my suppliers and nurture as well as exercise my knowledge. I think knowledge is so important. I think it is also important to say that yes, I have saved 25% food waste through my restaurant but it is not easy!
Why is it not easy?
You really need to have your community and local council working with you. After the pandemic, it was so hard to find a garbage collector to pick up the waste. Usually, I work with Pale Green Dot. They would come to pick up the waste and recycle it but during the pandemic, it was a struggle to find drivers and the waste would sit there for weeks. So, you have to get the local council to do it and it costs money. Everything costs money!
You have worked as a chef all around the world. Are there any countries that inspired you with how they utilised surplus food?
Germany! They're so efficient. I lived there for a short time and noticed that it's all part of your tax. So, I feel like the government has a responsibility to do a little bit more to help us to go to that next stage.
I had the confidence that we could pull it off and knew that in order to make it work, I needed to work closely with my suppliers and nurture as well as exercise my knowledge. I think knowledge is so important. I think it is also important to say that yes, I have saved 25% food waste through my restaurant but it is not easy!
You are taking part in the Arts project, I Have Eaten It. Can you tell me a bit more about it?
It has been co-curated by Open Space Founding Director Huma Kabakcı and Artist Laura Wilson. The project will culminate in a 4-week kitchen takeover at Refettorio Felix, a charity based at St. Cuthbert’s Centre in West London that provides creative experiences around food for vulnerable people. It has been funded by Arts Council England and aims to spark discussion around the social politics of food in light of the pandemic. Using surplus food provided by The Felix Project, I Have Eaten It, has collaborated with 9 international artists to contribute an ingredient/recipe to the Tuesday lunchtime meals this February.
So where do you come in?
To help raise awareness around the project and charity, I will be creating a 3-course menu for the fundraising dinner on 24 February by using surplus food donated by The Felix Project.
And how did you get involved in the project?
I was cornered by Huma Kabakci when having lunch at Fallow and quickly realised there was no way I would get away with not signing up to this! In all seriousness, I really enjoyed the ideas around this project and the challenge that it would give me! I am excited to share my knowledge with Laura and Huma. It is great to work with different people, especially those who are interested and passionate. For many years I worked with some incredible chefs but they never really wanted to share their knowledge. I think it is really important to pass on what you know!
How do you feel about the fact you will get your ingredients for the menu only 24 hrs before serving the meal?
I am excited! I will cheat a little as I will prepare some of it in my kitchen and use a bit of ingredient that I already have, but that is only because it will go to waste otherwise - so again, it all comes back to always trying to use everything, effectively and creatively! So, please get your ticket for the event here and come enjoy a delicious meal cooked by myself and some budding sous chefs - all for a brilliant cause!
Food For Soul & Refettorio Felix:
The non-profit organisation, Food For Soul, was founded by chef Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore’s in 2016. In 2017 it partnered with Refettorio Felix to support vulnerable people with positive and warm therapeutic services, advocating the power of a shared meal of outstanding quality made with 100% surplus food. Since being established, Food for Soul has grown internationally, collaborating with Michelin star chefs and creatives to “shine a light on the invisible potential of people, places and food.” Their most recent endeavour boasts the opening of Refettorio Geneva, a gastronomic and solidarity project that will serve nutritious and balanced meals for people in precarious situations, isolation or exclusion, in partnership with Chef Walter el Nagar and MATER Fondazione.
Huma Kabakcı: is an independent curator, Founding Director of Open Space, and Co-Curator of I Have Eaten It. Living between London and Istanbul, her practice and interests lie in creating immersive experiences and a wider dialogue in collaboration with multidisciplinary practitioners.
Laura Wilson: is a Northern Irish artist based in London and Co-Curator of I Have Eaten It. She works with specialists to develop sculptural and performative works exploring the relationship between materiality, memory and tacit knowledge.
Chef Ramael Scully: was born in Malaysia (1979) to a mother of Chinese and Indian heritage and an Irish Balinese Father. He moved to Sydney at the age of eight, with his mother and sister, where he went to school and then later to catering college. After several years of cooking in Australia, Scully moved to London and started working at Ottolenghi Upper Street in 2005. He moved to Nopi as head chef when the restaurant opened in 2011. You can almost guarantee your experience at Scully Restaurant will be based on a wide range of culinary traditions from his family heritage. Having had the benefit of such a diverse cultural upbringing, not to mention his vast experiences from travelling the world; you can expect an explosion of flavours created and served in an informal yet refined setting.
