Before I Get Whey Deep

Yogurt, Labane, Butter, Cheese, Creme Fraiche: All these homemade dishes coming out of our soul food kitchen are exhilarating, so much better than anything store-bought. BUT. What to do with all the fucking leftover whey?

OK, I’ve kinda got that sorted out, kinda sorta. But a larger issue remains. Put simply, if you’re not a big commercial kitchen, the side benefits of whatever you’re preparing can be absolutely overwhelming. My modest list includes:

• The tallow remains from our bbq briskets. I could make confit til the cows come home with these quantities

• Oils used for deep frying. For the uninitiated, yes, you can reuse frying oils for a limited time and iterations. But you don’t want to know how much excess oil I have stashed here and there

• The infused olive oils coming off my various confits (shallots, garlic, tomato, jalapeno, habanero, potato, just to name a few). These olive oils can last a long time, have very distinct taste profiles, and are hugely influential in our cuisine.

• Pickling liquids

• Homemade vinegars

Bear in mind that this is just a partial list.

What I really need to do is to adopt a classic French bistro approach to what gets cooked in our soul food kitchen and (more importantly) what does not. I think that will help. To a certain extent. What I really need is a synergistic partner that collaboratively helps shape more of a circular economy. But now I’m talking another language, regrettably too much of a stretch, today, for much of the food industry. Who knows? Maybe one day.