Sustainability in the kitchen - using everything from nose to tail.

Restaurant & Cafe Magazine reported on sustainability in the kitchen with MacLean Fraser in their September issue. Read on line here.

One of the best ways Kiwi chefs can be more sustainable in the kitchen is to make sure they are utilising as much of the produce they work with, including using all parts of the animal – offal included.  It can improve their bottom line, add flare to a menu and bring in customers. 

Beef + Lamb Ambassador Chef, MacLean Fraser, has a passion for sustainability and being a keen hunter has led him to have great respect for the meat that ends up in his kitchen.  He works hard not to waste anything and loves that some of the “nasty bits” can be used to create delicious dishes.

MacLean says that when cooking with offal it is imperative to get it spot on.  Generally, people have pre-conceived ideas about offal based upon their childhood memories – think boiled tripe and onions or over cooked lamb’s fry. However, as a chef, MacLean says it’s great to get creative in the kitchen using offal to make some really interesting menu items that can offer customers a tasty and exciting eating experience.

New Zealand beef and lamb offal are great to work with and having a good supplier is important.  Cuts like beef cheek are really popular now and readily available but being able to get your hands on some of the more niche cuts is important too.

One of MacLean’s most popular dishes at Artisan at Bolton Hotel in Wellington, is his smoked beef tongue with eggplant and black garlic, sweetbreads, baby veg, foraged weeds and a mustard jus.

The inspiration behind the dish comes from his desire to offer a real nose-to-tail experience to his guests by using beef cuts with different tastes, textures, and cooking techniques.  It aligns with his philosophy of reducing waste and using as much of the animal as possible.  He says that as a chef it is important to feel that he is honouring his passion and also allows him to tap into his creative side to ensure the dishes he creates are interesting and enjoyable enough to keep customers coming back for more.

Secondary cuts and offal might need a bit of extra work in the kitchen, but MacLean says it is well worth the effort to master the skills and techniques necessary to turn them into something special. Tongue is a particularly tough cut of meat and needs to be treated with care.  For his beef tongue dish, he slowly braises the tongues in stock with aromatics before pressing them and cold smoking with Manuka.

For service the tongue is then grilled and sliced and finished off by brushing it with an aromatic beef fat and seasoning.  The beef fat is another way MacLean practices sustainability in his kitchen.  He keeps all the beef fat trimmings and vac pacs them.  At the end of the week he puts them all together and renders them out – a bit like you would with duck fat - but adds aromatics such as garlic, peppercorns and thyme. It is then used in other dish components, bringing in extra layers of flavour.

Texture is added to the dish with crumbed veal sweetbreads.  MacLean says using veal is a natural choice as it keeps the flavour pathway beefy and being a natural by-product of the dairy industry, he feels that it should be utilised more.  Veal is a seasonal product so he stocks up when he can as he also uses veal bones to create a light flavoursome jus which he uses across a lot of his dishes.

To make the jus he uses the simple reduction method and because no flour is used for thickening, he will sometimes use pig trotters because of their natural gelatine with lighter based products such as the veal or chicken bones to get the perfect consistency.  The lighter flavour of the jus then allows the flavours of the main hero of the dish to shine through.

MacLean balances out the dish by adding a starch and a vegetable component which are finished to order by roasting in a little of the rendered beef fat and the mustard jus gives a kick of flavour. Locally foraged weeds provide additional freshness and colour, and being locally foraged, are sustainable with no food miles.  The dish is further elevated for presentation as it is served at the table under a smoke-filled cloche which adds an element of theatre to the dining experience.

For MacLean the reward comes from seeing his guests leave happy and knowing that he has offered customers an unforgettable dining experience while keeping true to his kitchen philosophy and reducing waste in the kitchen – which is better for the planet and his restaurant’s bottom line.