In a Helsinki bar, avoiding losses is part of everyday life, says top bartender Liisa Lindroos.
At Bardem, a cocktail bar located in the center of Helsinki, fighting losses is part of everyday life. Avoiding waste is important for the environment, but it also brings obvious savings to restaurants.
– After all, it’s always cheaper for the company to use the raw materials to the end, states the bar manager Liisa Lindroos.
According to Lindroos, already in the planning phase of the cocktail list, we think about how to use ingredients in more drinks and how to effectively reduce the amount of waste.
– Luckily, it’s starting to become the norm today that these things are thought through in advance.
Bar manager Liisa Lindroos tries to use the raw materials completely and thus avoid unnecessary waste. Henri Kärkkäinen
One example of comprehensive utilization of raw materials can be found in citrus fruits. Many consider citrus peels to be garbage, which they are far from being in the bar or restaurant world.
– Since we use a lot of fresh juices that are pressed from citrus fruits, we try to make use of the peels of the fruits. For example, we have grilled lemon peel in one drink, explains Lindroos.
Pea pods for pickles
To celebrate the week of loss, Bardem has developed a special Beauty and the Peast cocktail, which uses pickled pea skins. Pea pods are one example of a raw material that easily ends up in the trash, but which, for example, in the restaurant world, and why not the same at home, can be easily further processed.
The cocktail uses Discarded’s Chardonnay vodka. Discarded is an alcohol manufacturer whose idea is to use discarded raw materials in its products.
Company ambassador, advocate for waste reduction Mika Koivula notes that restaurants and bars produce a third of food waste.
– This is a problem that could practically be eliminated with planning and innovative methods.
Every alcohol product manufactured by Discarded uses two waste raw materials. Chardonnay vodka is created by utilizing the mash left over from the winemaker, which is created when the grapes are pressed.
– We take mash and distill it to a high alcohol content in the same style as all vodkas are distilled. In addition, the drink contains a small amount of distilled wine, which in turn comes from the production of non-alcoholic or low-alcohol wine.
Non-alcoholic wines are made in such a way that the alcohol is removed from the wine made in the normal way by the distillation method. Discarded uses this distilled wine in its own product.
– Distilled wine brings an oiliness to the drink and emphasizes grape juice, Koivula explains.
Beauty and the Beast Henri Kärkkäinen
Beauty and the Beast like Bardem
2 cl Discarded Grape Skin Vodka
2 cl of Hendrick’s Neptune
1 cl Nettle flavored dry Vermouth
0.75 cl pickled pea broth
1. Measure all the ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice and blend for about 20 seconds. Strain into an on the rocks glass with ice.
2. Garnish with pickled peas
Pickled peas
200 g of fresh pea pods
1 dl vinegar
2 dl sugar
3 dl of water
1. Wash and clean the pea pods. Place the shells in a disinfected canning jar.
2. Mix the sugar, water and vinegar together until the sugar dissolves in the liquid.
3. Pour the pickle broth over the pea shells and close the jar. Let it brew for a couple of days before using.
Recipe: Liisa Lindroos, Bardem
THE FACTS
Discarded Spirits Co. campaigned with more than ten top bars during waste week for reducing waste. Included in the campaign are:
• 305 – Helsinki
• Bardem – Helsinki
• Bar Mate – Helsinki
• Yeastie Boi – Helsinki
• Restaurant Nolla – Helsinki
• Liberty or Death – Helsinki
• The Firm – Helsinki
• Tima – Tampere
• Bar4 – Turku
• DeLorean – Jyväskylä