France in Focus

My wife was delving in the town's cheese lady's fridge this morning & saw a huge vat of 'stuff'.
Apparently it was the rinds, plus a lot of the paste, of large Gorganzola rounds which the lady explained was due to be dumped as the locals would not eat it.
My wife & lady discussed the pros of rinds such as these & was offered the lot which was far too much to carry.
She ended up bringing home about 3kg of free cheese which she's portioned & which now sits in the freezer waiting for the right recipes.

I often look at the end bits of ham that seem to go into waste - but never plucked up the courage to ask. Would make a nice quiche (sorry Char and other vegetarians!)

niemeyjt wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 6:15 pm I often look at the end bits of ham that seem to go into waste - but never plucked up the courage to ask. Would make a nice quiche (sorry Char and other vegetarians!)

Doesn't cost anything to ask - we used to get free bones for the dogs from the butchers and supermarkets which we wouldn't have got if we hadn't asked.
(No need to apologise J.)

My missus always asks the local fish man for fish heads for the chooks & more often than not gets a few whoppers which when cooked offer up quite a bit of flesh which she freezes for future pies.
The chooks still appreciate picking over the remains

Here's another 'bargain'.
LidlyAldi's bags of yesterday's bread if you're lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
They usually contain loads of pain chocolat which make the most amazing chocolate bread pudding .
The rest are appreciated by the chooks.

Intermarché and the bakers if you're there near the end of the day virtually give away what's left of the days bready/cakey things as well. Baguettes actually freeze quite well.
If you mix the staler stuff with cooked up vegetable peels the chooks can have a nice warm winter dinner as well.

Our hens have a passion for lasagne. They get the dish the morning after for breakfast.

We rarely have left-over food - as usually it gets reheated and tastes even better the next day or so. Or there's enough to freeze for another time. Any waste from preparing food goes in a special bin to be taken up to the field, where we dump all vegetation from clients' gardens. If any wildlife then wants to eat it - it's their's. If there's any leftover fish pie, the feral cat is very happy to eat it outside. Any other titbits of leftover cooked food not suitable for reheating, also goes up to the field, but separate to the veg waste, as it probably attracts a different beastie. We have deer, boar, fox, big birds, and goodness knows what little critters - they're all welcome to dine there!