Meet Stella Burton – The Resourceful Cook
Fresh off her dehydrator experiments last week, Stella looks back on her travels in Ukraine and Peru to show us how a change in perspective can turn kitchen “scraps” – like pineapple skins and cores – into delicious treats.
Global lessons in resourcefulness
One of the things I love most about travelling is learning how other cultures cook and discovering their relationship with food.
I spent two years in Ukraine and met some incredibly resourceful people. For a year, I lived with Misha and Lena. In the summer, we’d pick cherries, currants, and quinces from the trees, then spend hours around the kitchen table peeling, chopping, boiling, and bottling. The resulting jams, preserves, and compotes filled the shelves, ready to sustain them through the long winter. Nothing went to waste.
Probably the most resourceful person I ever met was Misha’s mum, who lived in Crimea. One hot summer’s day, we ate a whole watermelon between us and left the rinds on the table. Before I knew it, she’d scooped them up and turned them into a delicious jam. It completely changed the way I thought about food waste.
One Pineapple, Three Ways
Inspired by that mindset, I tackled a pineapple from my Food Works patron box this week, setting myself a challenge to use every single part.
Here is how one pineapple yielded three completely different treats:
- Something new: I used my new dehydrator to turn half of the flesh into sweet, chewy dried pineapple chunks – perfect for snacking!
- Something preserved: The tough inner core wasn’t thrown away; instead, I diced it finely and turned it into a quick, tangy chutney along with some leftover beetroot stalks I had in the fridge.
- Something familiar (with a twist): The outer skin became a refreshing spiced drink, inspired by the people I stayed with in Peru. I simply simmered the clean skins with a few hibiscus flowers and warm kitchen spices to make a refreshing, fruity brew.
One pineapple. Three distinct uses. It’s a wonderful reminder that there is often far more value in our food than we first realise, and that some of the best ingredients are the parts we usually throw away.
By Stella Burton
