Events & News

Britian's Most Wasted Dinner Party

On Friday 27th of November, the Hairy Harvesters once again donned their chef hats, to enlighten us with their culinary expertise in UKHarvest’s very first zoom cook-along!

We raised over £2000, and had over 100 attendees join us for an evening of cooking and entertainment, including the team on board P&O’s Britannia, professional chef’s at the Clayton Hotel Cambridge, and a host of individuals and families cooking from home.

Our task; to cook a three-course meal using some of Britain’s most wasted food. While Simon graced us with staggering figures of the UK’s food waste, head chef Roger showed off his cooking skills, demonstrating how to safely prepare, cook and present a meal with pride.

To begin with, the guests tackled the Hairy Harvesters House Salad, made with the first 4 of our top 10 most wated foods. Bagged salad and fresh fruit and veg, are often wasted due to the unrealistic aesthetic standards that people have come to expect. Much of the ‘ugly’ or older produce is completely edible, however people often throw it away, rather than combine it into their cooking. On the other hand, much of the cheese we waste, is mainly due to incorrect storage.

The Hairy Harvesters catered for both meat eaters and vegans, with two delicious main dishes- including two more of the key most wasted ingredients; chicken and potatoes. The back and forth dialogue with questions flooding in from the live chat, allowed the viewers at home to learn from the expertise of the hosts.

Apple bread and butter pudding was the grand finale of the dinner party, containing the last four ingredients to make the prefect winter treat.

A big congratulations to the Hairy Harvesters, and everyone who joined us that evening!

Did you know?

Every year, we in the UK waste 6.6 million tonnes of food from our households, equalling around 9.7 billion pounds. To put that into perspective, we could build the empire state building 219 times a year, and still we would have money to spare!

Top Tip

Cheese, like the brie used in the main dish Chicken supreme, can last up to 9 months if stored in the freezer.