Seasonal Surplus Supper Club

by | Feb 28, 2025 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

On Monday 25th November, supporters gathered at Starfish & Coffee for FareShare Sussex & Surrey’s first Seasonal Surplus Supper Club. This magical evening showcased the potential of food, demonstrating innovative ways to enjoy what others may deem to be “waste”, for example transforming pumpkin and squash peels into pickles or crisp trimmings.

The incredible chefs collaborated to deliver a four course menu using surplus food from FareShare Sussex & Surrey. See a breakdown of the menu below…

Canapé – Potato & Marrowfat Pea Croquette

Potatoes are the second most wasted food in the UK, totaling an estimated 700,000 tonnes – so we really wanted to showcase this versatile vegetable.

Dried peas (and pulses/legumes in general) are a great source of affordable protein, with an extended shelf life as well as important crops for agriculture – they help fix nitrogen into the soil, solubilise phosphates, promote soil carbon sequestration, increase soil organic matter, improve soil structure and maintain soil biodiversity.

Served on a tartare sauce, which traditionally gets its acidity from lemons & gherkins, we were able to utilise pickled trim and skins from the pumpkin served for the main course to recreate that tartare flavour.

Surplus Potatoes sourced from FareShare Sussex & Surrey, Marrowfat Pea’s donated by Hodmedods, Herbs picked from Ama’s allotment, Garlic donated by Adam’s.

Beetroot, Black Garlic, Smoked Emulsion, Pickled Apple

Black garlic is an aged version of garlic, a great preservation technique (although a bit advanced) for improving the shelf life of a surplus of garlic. 

Surplus beetroot sourced from FareShare Sussex & Surrey, Black Garlic donated by Adam’s, Preserved lime and black garlic sourced from L&M’s Supper Club, Herbs picked from Ama’s allotment, Surplus Apples sourced from FareShare Sussex & Surrey.

Pumpkin, Grain-Otto

An estimated 12.8m pumpkins are bought at Halloween just for decoration and are ultimately left uneaten. We really wanted to showcase how delicious pumpkins can be, and that they’re not just for carving!

We utilised the whole pumpkin throughout the menu. The skin was pickled, trim from making beautiful presentation wedges deep fried for crispy-ness and incorporated into the puree that wrapped around the grains.

The guts and seeds were roasted heavily in the oven with star anise, chili, and garlic before being blended together with smoked paprika oil to make a pumpkin seed ‘XO’. Oat groats are a great alternative to brown rice and are grown in Britain. They are generally used as a cover crop between rotations.

Surplus Pumpkin sourced from FareShare Sussex & Surrey, Oat Groats donated by Hodmedod, Crème Fraiche donated by Adam’s, Herbs picked from Ama’s allotment.

Caramelised Apple, Crub & Creme Fraiche

Trim from the apple, including peel & core, were used to make a caramelised apple puree. The traditional crumble element was made from toasted breadcrumbs. From households alone, an estimated 25m slices (1.3m loaves equiv.) of bread are thrown away daily.

We wanted to present a different way of using up any surplus and how versatile it can be.

Surplus Apple sourced from FareShare Sussex & Surrey, Cream donated by Adam’s, Breadcrumb sourced from Starfish & Coffee

Thank you to everyone who attended this magical evening. We were able to raise over £1,000 for FareShare Sussex & Surrey! An even bigger THANK YOU to the incredible chefs who donated their time and skills to make the supper club a reality, showcasing their professional expertise and skills.

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We are already planning our next Seasonal Surplus Supper Club for Wednesday 19th March 2025, this time our venue is the popular brunch spot in Hove: Oeuf. Click the button before to buy your tickets. (P.S. subscribers to our mailing list get priority booking, don’t miss out!)

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