“Food scraps” that are not waste but superfood: let’s re-use them
Introduction: Superfood in “Food scraps”
What is a Superfood
Many of us are fascinated by superfoods, we read everything we can to understand what is the food of the moment that we must absolutely buy, because it is dense with nutrients and antioxidants. Today I did a search on the internet by entering the term ‘superfood’: using the most renowned search engine, in a few seconds I got about 336,000,000 results. These foods with multiple benefits, which however seem to be written with a copy-paste, all contain antioxidants, all contain vitamins, all contain minerals. But their true uniqueness is that they generate a colossal turnover. Everyone is free to spend their money as they see fit, but if we pay a little attention to traditional foods, often much cheaper, we could be doubly winners. Not to mention the superfood in food scraps, parts of the food that are considered waste, which can be surprisingly rich in beneficial properties.
So let’s look better in the garbage!
The icky water of yogurt
We love yogurt. Dense and with a soothing flavour, ideal for breakfasts and snacks, it is the perfect companion of your diet. But sometimes our beloved yogurt is not solid as it is supposed to be, yes I am talking about that water. I have seen so many people throw away with disgusted faces, ‘liquid’ that comes out of the yoghurt. So let’s discover our first superfood in food scraps.
What you see is not produced by extra-terrestrials, nor is it a sign of bad production practice, or a spoiled batch: it is simply the whey of the milk. The whey is formed thanks to the hard work of the lactic ferments, and it is, in other words, the part that remains after the milk has curdled and strained. This liquid, not much appreciated by consumers, is responsible for the slightly acidic taste, so characteristic of yogurt, but this is not the only property that it has. For those who are attracted to super foods, consuming it, should be a must: it has low fat and cholesterol, while it is rich in calcium, complete protein with all 9 essential amino acids, a substantial amount of B vitamins and of course probiotics. You cannot buy yoghurt, because it has always been considered one of the most remarkable super food, and not consume its whey: it would be like buying cheese sandwiches and not eating its cheese.
If you are eating the yoghurt classically, you can simply homogenize the watery and the solid part by stirring; or if you have drained the yoghurt because you need it thick, just collect the liquid and use it in soups, rather than in smoothies or ice cream: but do not waste that real superfood!
The disgusting ‘skin’ on boiled milk
If you drink frequently hot milk or if you are a yogurt-maker you know it already, that disgusting thick skin that occurs on the milk surface. So here comes our second Superfood in Food scraps. First of all in order not to run the risk of ruining a potentially beautiful day, I suggest you to leave a spoon inside the milk pan; or stir it often, thus allowing the water vapour to escape from this strange barrier formed on the surface. But have you ever wondered what is this film that we often discard without even thinking about it, because it is simply disgusting?
Milk is an aqueous system containing proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins that make it one of the few complete and perfect foods. By heating it, we activate various processes, including protein denaturation and fat transformation, along with vitamin degradation. Milk proteins are made up of caseins and whey, and we know they are very complex structures that can be influenced by heat. By heating the milk, we change the structure of the proteins; while casein gets coagulated, at the same time this strange looking film is being formed on the surface of your milk. The heat in this case does not affect the amino acid content, it is not a threat for getting your whole protein content. But this threat comes in reality when we throw away that skin (actually resembling a spider web), we actually eliminate the protein content of our drink.
Another complicated thing happens in the fat content. These are made up of short, medium and long-chain fatty acids, the structure of which is also influenced by heat; the concentration of short- and medium-chain fatty acids increases, and that of long-chain fatty acids decreases. Let's keep in mind that:
- Short chain fatty acids are very important for our immune system and for the health of the intestinal flora.
- Medium chain fatty acids are the only types of fats that are not deposited like adipose fat, but are introduced, without waiting for digestion, into the “system” to generate energy.
- Long-chain fatty acids such as omega 3, however, we do not find many in milk, so their decreasing content is not a great loss.
So even to get the most out of healthy milk fats, keep that skin tight. But how? You can simply remove this healthy but disgusting film and keep it in the fridge to use in meatballs, soups, curries and risottos as if it were heavy cream.
Aquafaba: Cooking water of legumes
I’ll say it right away, it’s not a super food, but its characteristics have led me to put it in the super category.
Who would have thought that with the cooking water of chickpeas, you could make excellent meringues, or mayonnaise! The first time I had my mother-in-law (she is Italian) taste the fruits of my experiment, she didn’t believe what she saw with her eyes and felt with her palate.
Yep, but we were talking about the disgusting things, weren’t we? The story of the aquafaba is quite original: its inventor, a French musician, looking for an alternative to the egg-white, wondered what could be “nauseating” as much as this one; and it was there that he saw similar disgust in the murky chickpea water. Luckily or by intuition, he experimented with the liquid, and the result was just amazing.
Although its ability to “act” to replace the egg in recipes is really something unique and phenomenal, the cooking liquid of chickpeas is equally good in the role of chicken stock while that of black beans is very satisfying when replacing meat stock. The old Italians used to say during the WWII times, when finding something to eat was a real challenge: “what doesn’t choke you, makes you fat”. But aquafaba is anything but caloric, and having nothing but surprising properties, surely it can’t makes you fatter. OK, good, so we can eat it whenever we want? Not quite right! All legumes contain anti-nutrients and phytic acid, and when you soak and cook them, these components are released in soaking/cooking water. For reducing their concentration you should prolong the time for soaking (at least 36 hours), and increase the frequency of changing the soaking water (every 6-8 hours), this method removes the major part of phytic acid content. Here’s another reason why you shouldn’t buy canned legumes, not only for safe aquafaba but for safe legumes too, because you will never know if they had been soaked properly, and in the food industry, soaking legumes for very long periods is not a common method. In this way, unless you don’t eat aquafaba in every meal, it won’t damage you.
Chicken cartilage
A good part of us live a sedentary life at the highest levels; others may be sedentary for most of the day, but then they do physical activity even very extreme, for two or three hours a week; and still others, most of them, instead, are overweight or obese. Do you know where these three categories meet? Arthrosis, arthritis and joint pains. There are many types of supplements to improve the state of cartilage and give relief to the patient, reducing pain. However the clinical studies carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of these supplements are a bit vague, there is no equally beneficial effect for all subjects; but they are still sold for various prices (can be also very expensive), and people continue buying them. Because they see a pill, not the legs of chicken or disgusting greasy parts. Have you ever heard the saying “does the organ feed the organ?” It means that if we have problems with cartilage, we can perhaps benefit from eating… cartilage. China, land of traditional medicine, teaches us how to take the best from chicken feet. But also in Portugal it’s normal to ask your butcher to give you the feet of chicken that you are buying. To be honest, I find them a bit disgusting, but I can still see the important substances that are good for your health. Also, I always tell you not to waste food, especially when it comes to animal origin food. So if you eat a chicken once a week or once a month, you should not waste even the leftovers! You can prepare a traditional and satisfying broth, made with the addition of vinegar and cooked for several hours, so as to let the bones release their collagen. Don’t forget that collagen is good also for your skin and hair. Et Voilà this was our fourth Superfood in Food Scraps. When you eat chicken the next time, think about it.
Fish fat and skin
According to the WHO, we must eat fish twice a week, one of which must be an oily fish. When fish is not intensively farmed, or lived in heavily polluted waters, can be an excellent source of various nutrients, of which perhaps the most important is omega 3. Omega 3 is used to practically improve every part of the body: from eyes to skin, from hair to brain and so on. Oily fish, is the best source of it among the whole food universe. But we cannot eat fish whenever we want, not only for their probable heavy metal toxicity but because overeating requires overfishing. It’s sure that overfishing is very far from being sustainable, it’s simply emptying the seas, as a result global fish stocks are exploited. And if omega 3 is good for us, we cannot just waste it. Having said that, we know that if it does not come from a low-quality farm, it often has a significant cost, and not everyone can afford to eat wild salmon twice a week. I think it’s clear where I want to lead you. We eat like kids: we think that edible parts of fish are only the fillets, all the rest goes to the bin. Those parts of fish that you discard with disgust, are actually excellent sources (perhaps the major ones) of omega 3, collagen and protein. I know that eating those parts requires lots of courage at the beginning. But you should comprehend that omega 3 supplements are not efficient as may do a whole fish. So, if you really can’t swallow, despite trying to close your eyes and nose, you could remove the cooked skins, blend them well and mix them with fish flesh, for example, to make delicious fish patties. But don’t throw away what it would cost you a whole lot of money just because it’s free and makes a little discomfort.
Watermelon rind
Have you ever tried to eat the white part of a watermelon rind? I like their slightly sweet and watery taste, which counterbalances the extreme sweetness of the watermelon. But if taste alone isn’t enough to change your mind, then take my next words into consideration: a 2008 university study showed that watermelon rinds contain citrulline, which is converted in the body into a very special amino acid that improves blood flow everywhere in the body. Yes, you got it, it is a natural aphrodisiac. If eating the rinds doesn’t attract you here are some valid ideas for using them. You can extract their juice and use it for enriching your smoothies, or you can even cook them instead of zucchini.
Joking apart, I want to invite you to reconsider what you eat, how you perceive it. The above mentioned issues show us how precious is our food. Even the parts are not supposed to be food, are rich of some very special property. So, to get all of what is offered to us let’s try to reduce drastically our domestic waste. And let’s try to make every small and big sacrifice to succeed in this purpose: do not be a picky-eater and try to buy less and waste even less.
In this blog you will often find suggestions on how to reuse leftovers, so you will not be alone and in case of doubt, send me your questions.
Enjoy your superfoods in food scraps and good revolution to all
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Summary
Article Name
The disgusting scraps that are... Superfoods
DescriptionHere is a series of superfoods that you can find right in the garbage, those parts of food which are disgusting and that we throw too carelessly
Author
Başak Bartu
Publisher Name
CHE Food Revolution
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