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According to Nenad Mlinarevic, sustainability is one of the basic concepts of today in the kitchen. Is this a trend in gastronomy that every chef should follow and will disappear again as a fad, like molecular gastronomy for example?
No, I don’t think it’s just a trend. As a sustainable cuisine, vegetarian cuisine has become something timeless. Molecular gastronomy was a good and fun hype for several years.
How does this show up in your daily life?
Our guests are interested in sustainability. For example, in our restaurants, they ask where ingredients such as fish and meat come from. Last week guests wanted to take home a piece of bread so we put it in a plastic bag. They said it couldn’t be done because it wasn’t sustainable. This shows that guests alone are dealing with the issue on a daily basis and finding new solutions here too.
What about the kitchens in your restaurants? Is sustainability an issue?
Yes, but not just in content and production methods. Because I see another dimension in the kitchen: the employees themselves… Today I have to manage my restaurants as a whole and think about working hours, shift work or four days a week. We must take good care of our employees because we will continue to need chefs in the future. Today they approach us with different demands than they did a few years ago. Just work from Monday to Friday. Only work during the day. It works 80 percent instead of 100 percent. Like many other restaurants, we are currently looking for people. In job interviews, people formulate their needs.
Are sustainable cooking and sustainable products also a topic in these discussions?
Especially when it comes to “New Tavern” applications. Chefs apply there because they are attracted to the upscale vegetable cuisine we serve there. Especially the younger generation wants to continue their education and gain experience in this field.
Was sustainability a priority for you when you founded “Neue Taverne”?
When we opened the restaurant a little over three years ago, the goal was not to invent the world’s most sustainable restaurant. We just wanted to open a veg restaurant – because guests at our restaurants and pop-ups kept saying our veggies tasted great. Sustainability became a key issue in the food industry when we opened the tavern, for example the big food companies were bringing it up. But then we realized: Hey, we’ve created something amazing! And today we contribute a lot to sustainability: 40,000 guests visit the tavern every year. And they all eat a sustainable lunch or dinner.
What is the difference for a chef between a vegetarian and a traditional cuisine with meat?
If someone switches to vegetarian cuisine, it means a big change because it is much more complex and cumbersome. It requires more creativity. Especially if you want to cook something exciting. Dealing with vegetables is more diverse. An example: A quality super cured meat needs a thin vinaigrette or a good jus – then it’s the perfect meal. On the other hand, it is not enough to whiten the carrot and glaze it with nagede. No guest would flash this, no one would pay 20-30 francs for such a meal. Today we bring together things we would never have thought of before: Jerusalem artichoke, coffee, lemon and malt, for example. We create new flavors and complexities with such creations. Our new chef at the “Taverne”, Fabian Fuchs, takes development further thanks to his experience.
In your two other restaurants “Bauernschänke” and “Neumarkt” you serve meat dishes – in “Neumarkt” sausages, in Bauernschänke sometimes in thin pieces. Are these two pubs less sustainable?
We pay special attention to the origin of food in all our establishments. We use seasonal and regional products whenever possible. For example, we prefer to buy chocolate from La Flor in Zurich rather than from Belgium. And we make sure we use Swiss meat.
Is sustainable cooking possible in luxury 2 or 3 star gastronomy?
It is important to treat products with respect. The question is: are you processing as much as possible or are you throwing out half of it? I learned how to handle everything from Hans-Peter Hussong at the Wiesengrund inn and from Andreas Caminada at Schloss Schauenstein. We make jus from the skins of vegetables, we pickle the stems of herbs in vinegar, we make jus from carcasses and bones. Now we make meatballs or breadcrumbs from bread. So I chop up old croissants, fill them with a frangipane mix of sugar, eggs, flour, and nuts, and then bake them again. This makes great, filled croissants.
How do you cook for your wife and you at home every day?
The refrigerator is usually empty (laughs). On the one hand, because I am not often at home. On the other hand, if I want to cook at home, I think of a recipe first and then go shopping. Sometimes it can be something as simple as a scrambled egg dumpling, but mostly in my private life I eat and cook a lot of vegetables.
You also cook for your partner’s events or special meals. Are you reconciling?
I have been working with Miele since 2017. We know each other very well. My partners work with me because they know what I’m doing and they want it. They will never force me to do something I am not comfortable with. In the past, we have succeeded in realizing many beautiful projects together.
Next season “MasterChef” will come in May and you will be on the jury again. Is sustainability a problem at «MasterChef»?
This season, viewers can expect some innovations and sustainability plays an important role as well. I’m not allowed to say more before the start on May 9.
You are a Miele brand ambassador. How can kitchen appliances support you in sustainable cooking?
In our restaurant kitchens, we actually use the Miele Steam Combi, developed for the home. They also perform very well in this professional environment where they are used for hours every day. We don’t have to change them for a long time. The longer we can work with them, the more sustainable it will be.
Source : Blick
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
