Matt Stone is one of my food heroes. He’s known as Australia’s leading sustainable chef, and he cooks with healthy, traditional, wholefoods, but in a way that makes everyone sit up and take notice. You may have seen him on ‘Recipes that Rock’ with Blur’s Alex James, or maybe you’ve been lucky enough to taste his food firsthand, at the Greenhouse (Perth), or Brothl (Melbourne, now closed), or at the restaurant where he is now head chef, Oakridge, in the Yarra Valley.
“Matt Stone is a once in generation genius – a culinary visionary whose sustainable restaurants make the rest of the world look years out of date”
– Alex James.
Matt started cooking when he was 15, and although he isn’t formally trained, he has been inspired by his massive cookbook collection, has worked with some really great chefs, and has travelled and cooked all over the world from a young age.
I first saw Matt cook five years ago when he was competing on Iron Chef Australia against Neil Perry, and I was totally blown away by his creativity.
At the time he was only 22 years old, and already a force to be reckoned with in the foodie world. He was working as head chef at Joost’s Greenhouse in Perth, and was showing Australia what could be done with fresh, sustainable, locally sourced wholefoods. I visited the Greenhouse in February 2011 with a group of friends, and I think between us all we tried nearly everything on the menu. And loved it all!
Then last year, when I was only a couple of weeks into the GAPS diet, I had to go to Melbourne for blog awards. I was pretty worried about what I would eat while away, but amazingly I ended up staying just around the corner from Matt’s ‘Zero Waste’, broth cafe, Brothl, and I was able to have delicious broths every day, and even could buy them to take away! Lifesaver!!
In September, Matt began working as head chef at a new, sustainable restaurant in the Yarra Valley, Vic, called Oakridge. He says, “I’m thrilled to lead the team into my chosen territory of truly modern, intelligent and innovative food ideas.”
I was able to have a chat to Matt over the phone, recently, and I asked him how he learnt to cook. He said,
“I’m still learning how to cook! Practice practice practice is the best way to learn how to cook. Listen to people and read lots.”
Good advice.
I also asked Matt to explain how he runs a sustainable kitchen, both at work and at home, as I think we could all benefit from his innovative ideas!
So here’s Matt’s 7 Top Tips for a Sustainable Kitchen…
1. Practice nose to tail eating: Don’t waste the bones from the meats you cook – use them to make delicious and nutritious bone broths! Roast the bones first for a fuller, deeper flavour. Add in the chicken feet and even heads for a great, gelatinous chicken broth, for example, that doesn’t waste anything. (If you’ve never made your own bone broths before, here’s how.)
2. Compost the scraps: Matt uses a Closed Loop composting machine, both at work and at home, which reduces organic waste by 90 percent in 24 hours, and converts it into an odourless, nutritious compost filled with healthy bacteria to enrich the soil. The soil is then used in the restaurant garden to grow their organic veggies. He highly recommends these composting machines, which are available in both commercial and kitchen bench sizes.
3. Grow your own veggies: Matt loves gardening, and grew up in a family that always grew their own veggies. So he is pretty excited about Oakridge restaurant’s organic veggie garden! He says that even though he loves cooking, he is happiest in the garden. If you don’t have a lot of room for a garden, there are plenty of things you can grow in boxes, such as lettuce, spinach, spring onions and herbs – just snip off the leaves as you need them. Also tomatoes, capsicum, bush beans, and even broccoli can be grown in small spaces.
4. Build relationships with suppliers: This is the way to source the best, organic, biodynamic, fresh, local meat and produce! Matt buys through local farmers in the Yarra Valley, and also loves the Preston Market. He recommends getting to know your local butcher, the farmers at the farmer’s markets, the people who grow the food you eat, the people that own the organic stores you shop at. Ask about farming practices, where they source their meat, where the produce is coming from and how fresh it is. If possible, visit their farms. Ask around to find out who has organic, biodynamic produce (not only are they the healthiest option but Matt insists they have the best flavour!), and ask about alternatives to plastic packaging.
5. Reduce waste packaging: Matt delivers reusable crates to the suppliers for them to send the produce in (for both meat and veggies), so that they’re not needing to dispose of boxes and bags at the restaurant. For the home cook, there are plenty of ways to reduce packaging while shopping, including taking along your own reusable bags, shopping at waste free bulk buying shops, and shopping at the local farmer’s markets or organic stores where food isn’t pre-packaged. Fresh meat and cheeses can be wrapped in waxed butcher’s paper instead of plastic (you can take your own paper or even containers to the butchers for them to put the meat into). Make your own breads or buy in paper bags or no bags. There’s lots more ideas for reducing waste packaging here on my Facebook page!
6. Buy in bulk: Buying things in bulk will have a huge effect on how much waste you generate and the cost will drop dramatically. Matt buys all his grains and pulses in large sacks then stores them in glass jars. If you need help working out how to bulk buy, read this article.
7. Keep your kitchen chemical free: Matt advises, “Food and chemicals don’t mix. When it comes to cleaning the home, ENJO products will help to keep that side of things chemical and waste free.” Not only can you use ENJO products with only water, no detergents, they will also last a lot longer than the usual throw-away kitchen cloths.
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UPDATE: Giveaway now over. Winners of giveaway are Alicia, Faye and Karen – they have been notified by email. Thanks for all the great comments!
Matt is now working with ENJO to help people ‘kick chemicals in the kitchen’, so ENJO have offered to gift a lucky Quirky Cooking reader with a Limited Edition “Matt Pack”! They’ve also offered two runners up prizes – here’s what you could win…
1st Prize – A “Matt Pack”
Included in this pack: Kitchen Mini, Kitchen Sponge, Kitchen Miracle, Fruit and Veg Cloth, All Purpose Cloth and 2 Matt Stone Tea Towels. The RRP is $149 and it’s available from 1st November to 24th Dec.
2nd & 3rd Prizes
A set of 2 Matt Stone Tea Towels (worth $25)
and a Fruit & Veggie Cloth (worth $25)
So if you’re working towards having a sustainable kitchen and would like me to send you one of these ENJO packs, comment below and share your best tip for cutting down on waste in the kitchen!
Winners will be randomly drawn via random.org on Saturday 7th Nov, at 8pm EST, and will be notified on this post and via email.
Thanks Matt, and thanks ENJO! Happy sustainable cooking, everyone 🙂
Never shop until your fresh food stash is empty. We make sure we have finished everything we have before buying more. Saves letting things go to waste because you feel like eating something different.
We don’t shop until all of our fresh produce is gone. Make up meals to use the last of everything, It saves things going bad in the fridge because you feel like eating something else.
Reducing food waste has been a big thing since getting our Thermomix 2.5 years ago. Buying only what we need and growing veggies and herbs. Anything we don’t use in the kitchen gets composted, used on garden beds (egg shells, coffee grind) or fed to the Guinea pigs and rabbits (we don’t have room for chooks!)
We and family grow vegetables/fruit and share with each other so there is no waste.
Eat seasonally – your fresh fruit and vegetables are much cheaper and healthier
I converted my home entirely to ENJO over 2 years ago. The best decision ever. My son is asthmatic and we haven’t had one hospital admission since.
Enjo is a little out of my budget at the moment but I love the mint color!!
My tips- vinegar and bi carb will get most things sparkling. A fresh lemon and salt acts as a scrub for hard mess! Boiling water poured over the toilet and bathroom floor leaves it germ free and sparkling!!
Also I get a fruit and veg box delivered once a week- the box is left out and reused by the company and the produce is all local!
I have a compost bowl underneath my sink so whilst cooking all my scraps get tossed into it. Then it gets taken over to our compost heap or to the chickens ☺
Great tips guys, keep them coming!
I purchased enjo cloths many years ago when my daughter had really bad asthma. Chemical free cleaning with enjo she came off her meds. Haven’t used the veggie cloths.
I am still learning so these tips have been wonderful. I don’t waste scraps by giving them to my dog. All the peelings and tid bits mixed into his food is not only saving waste but super healthy for dog. Thanks for all the tips
I am always looking for news ways to reduce waste in my house. In the kitchen I use a scrap bin for food waste. I have a huge vege garden in the back and use the waste to feed the garden and continue the circle of life. I freeze excess fruit and vege reuseable containers and recycle bags from cereal to use in the crisper for my garden vege. I would love to win these prizes. I love Matt and his recipes. ????????????
omg its so so true if we are more land and environmentally aware we could save so much of the world and be healthier for our familys
my only wish was for things to me cheaper as for the cleaning side id love to buy enjo but its my wish lists way out of our family reach make cheaper line xo
Learn how to store your perishables correctly.
Apples are the biggest kitchen waste in our house… Toddlers just taking bites! I pop them on the apple slinky slicer to make them more interesting, or ready to be turned into stewed apples ????
I love this and all his tips, many of which I use already.
My fave tips for clients are… – – – To keep a glass container in the freezer adding veggie cuttings and peelings as well as prawn shells & fish bones & skin etc when cooking. One its full makes yourself a delicious stock by simmering them i. A few Korea of water for a few hours. Then add this to soups, curries or even replace the water for rice & quinoa for a super nutrious power hit!
– Spend a little more and buy products in glass jars, meaning no nasty chemicals leeching into the contents, and you can reuse the jars for storage, perfect to freeze some excess stock from the tip above.
– Channel your inner-nana and when the oven’s on fill it up; with a rice pudding, toast some extra veg &/or bake some sweet potatoes for lunches. And then when it’s cooling down pop in some activated nuts to slowly dry out (max 50 degrees Celsius)
Happy cooking and cleaning peeps.
Sharon Xx
I love your blog, Sharon, thanks for sharing!! x
Just started on sustainability road but my tip at the moment is to use what you have in the fridge or freezer before heading out to the shops, stir frys are a great way to use leftover veggies. I haven’t tried Enjo products as yet, but it’s on the list
My biggest tip for saving waste is not buying your veggies in small bags at the green grocer. If you get a bag for every item, you are left with tons of plastic bags.
I always use fresh products and try to buy in bulk. If i do not use it in our cooking it either goes into composting or to the chooks. I don’t use chemicals in cleaning just bi carb soda and vinegar. If I get to many items from the veggie garden they are given to friends and family or put into the freezer to use in stock or sauces. Very little is wasted in my home.
I tear up deli paper and newspapers to line my compost bin, adds carbon and means my bin is much cleaner after I empty it!
I love my Onya mesh veggie bags, which I use for loose produce at supermarkets and grocers instead of the single use plastic bags they supply.
Plan a weeks worth of meals ahead and shop for what you need. Also plan a meal around the leftovers you will have
My top tip is growing your own and composting and owning a worm farm it then all gives back into growing more
Once a week, before I get groceries, I sort out the contents of my fridge into 3 piles. Food to be eaten straight away before the new groceries, food that can be stored in my broth bags (full of offcuts and stored in freezer) and any leftovers that can either be composted or fed to the pets.
Always keep food scraps which can be used to make stocks & broths etc. Keep bits & pieces left over from spiralizing & the mandoline & also keep bits of bones for broths. Freeze until you need.
Enjo Enjo Enjo!
For cleaning you should go!
Forget the rest
It is the best!
Enjo’s the way to go!
We recycle & re-use!
Using all of the vegies & fruits we cook up into a tasty dish.
Cleaning I love bicarb & water with a hint of lemon juice. A bit hard work and the kitchen comes up sparkling clean ✨
Ive had a worm farm for 12 months now so any left over veggie scraps goes to my worms and they love me for it i have then a great worm tea to put on my organic veggies.love it..
All my veggie scraps go to my worm farm and they in return give me a great worm tea to put into my organic veggies that im growing at home i just love that nothing gets wasted.
I have chooks so any scraps from kitchen go too chooks and we get eggs it’s great job for my kids and they get yummy eggs in return! I find meal planning helps as there isn’t impulse buying and we eat a balanced meal each night! I use enjo a lot around my house I just have never purchased the kitchen ones, I think it’s been a great investment and I don’t have the harsh chemicals in my cupboards especially with little ones! Good luck too all xox
Meal plan for 5 of 7 nights with the other nights being left overs or bits-a nights. If the kids don’t like what’s served up they can eat or have a bath, but I always have healthy deserts on offer to convince them to eat. Quirky jos cookbook and blogs about making chocolate have helped keep my fridge well stocked.
It is nice to read about someone who practises what they preach. Well done and I look forward reading more!
My 18 year old (after cleaning at a friends place with chemicals) said “mum its so hard cleaning with chemicals when I move out can you buy me Enjo”! I’m a massive fan of Enjo and can’t use anything else, it may be pricey to start with but some of my stuff is 5 years old so works out so much cheaper than chemicals in the long run and it doesn’t damage surfaces. Far healthier and better for the environment too.
I try to pre-prepare fruit and vegetables the day of or after purchase. Pre-steam and freeze veg and depending on what I’m using it for, I chop or puree fruits like melons, pineapples and kiwifruit. If its going into a smoothie it gets blended up and frozen in ice-cube trays.
If I make a stock or broth, the leftover veg and smaller bones go into the food processor and the dog absolutely loves them. If there’s a lot I freeze it and she has ice-blocks.
Skip a dinner on your meal plan and use that to eat up leftovers.
I have recently started using Bee Eco beeswax wrapped cloths – am loving not only the smell of beeswax in the kitchen, but also not using plastic wrap!
Save your organic veggie scraps in the freezer, once you have enough its quick and easy – no chopping required for next time you’re making a bone broth – add bones, veggie scraps and water and cook for 24 hours! Saves money too!
A real time saver for me is batch cooking a basic meal which can be frozen into portions and made into many different, magnificent meals!
Cook once eat twice (or more).
A worm farm for extra scraps, chickens for free range organic eggs, and a trip to New Zealand to teach NZ chefs how to be eco-cooks ☺
Use all leftovers before shopping. Do not give yourself permission to shop before all consumable fresh produce and meat has been used!
Being an older couple, I always make the full recipes so that I have another meal for the freezer, this will then give me a week off when we are really busy and have a lot on. I also save my veg ends in the freezer to make stock but I blend it raw, dehydrate it and have the most amazing stock powder to use any time and it means I can season the dish as I like as no salt in my powder at all
When we have a fresh juice, I save the fruit pulp separate to the veg pulp and when I have enough, I dehydrate the veg for stock powder and the fruit for fruit powder which can be used to flavour raw cakes or sprinkled over ice cream.
I am lucky to live on a farm with room to have a veggie patch and chickens so nothing pleases me better than the circle of sustainability of adding chook poo to the veggie patch to compost the soil and enrich the vegetables to make them grow and then in turn any of the vegetable scraps from the garden go back to the chooks to help them grow and be healthy to provide that rich chook poo!
A recent move to the country has left us with great plans to become more self sufficient. Reducing grocery costs and enjoying the fruits of our labour. The chooks are coming and will take care of much of the kitchen scraps. The eggs will be used and greatly enjoyed. Other bits will go to the mulch heap recylced with the chicken poo and into the greenhouse as fertilizer for our veg.
I buy food etc with as little packaging as possible, and reuse most of the packaging it does come with. I try to shop in places that allow me to take my own containers and prefer to store items in my fridge, freezer and pantry in reusable containers. Living in Canberra, single use plastic bags were banned some years ago, so my green bags always come with me.
I try to get the most out of any given item. Eg a simple lemon I zest and juice. Zest in the freezer and juice in an ice cube tray in the freezer. Then I quarter the leftover lemon and use it as ‘ice’ in my soda water for a couple of days. And then I pop it in the saucepan with the eggs when boiling (I swear it makes them soo easy to peel!)…AND then I throw it in my thermomix with the egg shells to clean the bowl! All that from just one lemon….not to mention the yummy foods that I cook with the zest/juice!
We are just getting into figuring out how to cut down food waste and have started making broth and also giving other food left overs to the chooks next door. We’re making small steps but at least we’re stepping in the right direction. Great post Jo 🙂
Replace cling wrap with alternatives. Put leftovers in containers with lids or a bowl and put a plate on top. Make your own beeswax wraps to cover the ends of cut veggies or over plates/bowls. Use damp tea towels to wrap fresh greens and herbs – they keep really well!
Reusable water bottles!!!
We are a large family of Seven and eat a lot of fruit and vegetables! We’ve recently started growing a lot of our veges and herbs! Our scraps go to our chooks and we get fresh free range yummy eggs! I’d love to buy Enjo products but sadly out of our budget 🙁
My top tip is to make a shopping day soup! Use up all of the veggies in the fridge and get it all in the thermie before the new lot of veggies moves in. If you don’t have enough to make a soup, chop the veggies you have and freeze for next week’s soup (or risotto!)