ORGANIC KITCHEN
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H
ave you ever picked a head of broccoli and fed
the remainder of the plant to the chooks or the
compost heap? Have you pinched the top from
a broad bean plant to deter black aphids, and thrown
the shoot on the ground? Do you cut and discard garlic
scapes in the hope that the bulb will fatten up, without
realising what culinary delights you’re missing out on?
The idea of eating all the edible parts of a plant isn’t
new. For generations, frugal kitchens the world over have
sought to waste nothing, especially during times of war
and famine. Some cultures take great pride in using every
possible root, stem and leaf, but our wealthy, modern
culture has become fickle. Frugality, although making
a comeback, has been a dirty word in home kitchens.
However, as is often the case with food, leading chefs
have taken a different view. In an effort to genuinely
connect the paddock to the plate, and to do justice to
well-farmed ingredients, the idea of ‘nose-to-tail eating’
has become prominent. The term was coined by English
chef Fergus Henderson, who in 2004 published a book
titled The Whole Beast, saying: “If you’re going to kill
the animal it seems only polite to use the whole thing.”
Around the same time, people like Hugh Fearnley-
Whittingstall (of River Cottage fame) were exploring
similar ideas and regenerative farmers like Joel Salatin
talked in terms of honouring the animal by using
everything but ‘the moo’.Honouring life force
Whether you are a carnivore, a vegan or simply
someone who wants to eat ethically, there’s no getting
around the fact that for humans to live, we must kill. If
I’m going to kill a plant in order to put food on the table,
it would be ethical and frugal to honour its life force and
usefulness by eating as much of the plant as possible.
There’s also the issue of food waste. In Australia
alone, around 5 million tonnes of food ends up as
landfill each year (enough to fill 9000 Olympic-sized
swimming pools). I’d expect that compared to the
general population, organic gardeners would do pretty
well on the food waste front, adding scraps to compost
heaps, chicken runs or worm farms. But while there have
been times when I haven’t had enough scraps to feed
my chooks, there have been times where I’ve become
lazy, and simply thrown leftover bits of veg in the bin.
We owe it to ourselves and the planet to eat those
parts of a plant that typically get overlooked, and
wasted. Let’s call it “root-to-leaf eating”, a kind of
nose-to-tail eating for plants.Root-to-leaf edibility
Before I launch into a guide to what non-typical
parts of various plants can be eaten, let me offer a
word of caution. Not all parts of every edible plant are
edible. Some plants have edible stems and toxic leaves
(for example, rhubarb). Others are only edible once
cooked and shouldn’t be eaten raw. Also note that
in conventional farming systems, some less commonlyWaste not
weoftenwasteedible partsofcommon vegetablesandherbs–
Justin Russell explains what we are missing out on.Facing page: Rainbow chard stems are often
FACING PAGE: THE GARDEN COLLECTIONthrown away but are filled with goodness.
(making every part count)