“We cooked a strange dessert”.This is one feedback we got after our Food Futures workshop last week in Laax around sustainable food, as we chose to make a vegan version of the French pain perdu, the French toast with recovered bread as an example of a recipe against food waste. In this workshop, we usually kick off by looking at facts around food production and consumption: did you know that the global food system is the single biggest contributor to climate change, causing 1/3 of global greenhouse gas emissions? We then question our food choices and brainstorm about sustainable solutions and actions to the food challenges we face today. Among those solutions, reducing food waste is key. According to the United Nations[1], almost 1 billion tons of food – 17 percent of all food available to consumers worldwide – goes into trash bins every year. Producing, transporting, and letting that food rot contribute more than 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitting country in the world. Good news is, as consumers, we can play a part in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions related to our food system by starting buying less and reducing (eliminating?) our food waste. That is why our Food Futures workshops always involve hands-on preparing of foodsave recipes. For this occasion we even cooked a whole meal together. What could be more satisfying than being able to measure, in your own kitchen, your impact on food waste solutions and the reduction of CO2 emissions?

A brief history of pain perdu

The history of French toast dates back to Roman times, when this dish was already consumed to avoid wasting stale bread. Over time, the recipe spread throughout Europe and evolved, giving rise to different variations depending on the country and era, and is now even offered in gourmet restaurants where chefs continually reinvent the recipe. The basic recipe involves soaking stale bread in milk, eggs, and sugar, then frying it and serving it with sugar, spices, fruits, or jam. Although the French toast is called French toast, it does not only exist in France. The English recipe closely resembles the French version, with bread dipped in a mixture of milk, eggs, and sugar, then fried in butter. However, the English have a tradition of adding cinnamon and nutmeg to enhance the flavor of the dish. French toast is often served for breakfast, accompanied by maple syrup, fruits, or bacon. In Spain, French toast is known as torrijas. Torrijas are traditionally prepared during Holy Week, a fasting period for Christians. The Spanish recipe differs slightly from other European versions. The stale bread is soaked in milk or sweet wine, then in beaten eggs, before being fried in oil. The torrijas are then sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, offering a unique sweet and spicy taste. In Germany, it’s called Arme Ritter, which means “poor knight”, and refers to a meal that can be prepared with limited financial means using inexpensive ingredients. In Portugal, French toast is a traditional Christmas dish called rabanadas. Contrarily to the French who considered this bread was, if not cooked, lost (“perdu”), the Dutch language seems to have a more positive view as French toast is called gewonnen brood (“gained bread”, since it is recovered), and that’s under this name that it can be found in Belgium or wentelteefjes in the Netherlands.

Are old recipes the new weapon to tackle food waste?

Originally a way to avoid wasting stale bread, French toast is, at least in France, a dessert that has definitely become a classic and that can even be found today on the menu of some gourmet restaurants. Easy to make, yummy and trendy, it seems that this could help us change the way we see food waste. And thanks to the Dutch, who are definitely our narrative changer just starting with the name!

What do you think is the best recipe to avoid food waste? Tell us in the comments!

Know a company for whom a FoodFutures workshop would be perfect? Let us know here : https://green-up.ch/de/workshops/
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_perdu
https://box-a-pain.fr/histoire-pain-perdu/
_______________________________________________
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/food