A yarn about orange fibre, life-long learning and supper clubs
This issue is a bit newsy and offers recommendations, with our seal of approval!
Waste is a blight on the food chain. Many thousands of tonnes of produce are thrown away each year through poor farming practices, picky supermarket buyers and anxious consumers confused by tags such as 'sell-by' and 'use-by'.
But in Sicily, an enterprising group of friends have created Orange Fiber, a start-up that takes tonnes of discarded orange peel after pulping for juice to create a high-quality textile used by fashion houses such as Sweden's H&M.
In 2019, the company worked with haute couture fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo (pictured) to create a shirt and skirt ensemble.
CEO and co-founder Enrica Arena studied in Milan and worked with the UN in Egypt before returning to her home city of Catania on the island's east coast and co-found this innovative business, creating from a need to reduce citrus waste and create value in the highly competitive world of fashion.
Orange Fiber's secret is to feed cellulose fibre to production lines, extracting high-quality cellulose from waste citrus peels and pulp which accounts for some 60% of the original weight of the processed fruits. Marketed as a green, sustainable fabric, the fibre is made to a patented recipe.
For more on Orange Fiber, click here.
READ, WATCH, LISTEN, LEARN … RECOMMENDATIONS
Life-long learning is a beautiful thing and means many things to many people. To some, it might allow time out to study sculpture, scuba diving or felt making. To others, it will mean following a Zoom cooking class, or perhaps in real life, taking a course in creative writing or maybe stand-up comedy!
Here are three upcoming events organised by friends of The Lemon Grove that I can recommend.
The Garden to Table
Cooking classes in Rome, Italy
Roman food hero Carla Tomasi is opening her house for cooking classes guided by the season and what her legendary garden has to offer. She grows a wide selection of vegetables in her fecund plot lying just 19km west of the Italian capital. Classes start with a trug, garden knife and life affirming walk through the fruit and vegetable garden, picking what is available for the day. Fresh, seasonal cooking at its best.
Carla signs off her emails as 'Cookery teacher since 1991/ Veg grower/ Cat rescuer/ Jammer/ Pickler/ Preserver'… and these are just five of her creative and human skills. Why wouldn't you want to spend time cooking and chatting with such a person! A few years ago a couple of us spent the day cooking with Carla, wonderful memories.
The house is easily reached by public transport from central Rome. Private and other group classes are also available.
For more information, email cookingwithcarla@virgilio.it
Follow Carla on Instagram @carla_tomasi
Pictures from top to bottom record a fun few hours I spent holding onto Clara’s apron strings and learning about baking, fish prep and orangello:
The morning’s haul from market and allotment
Focaccia ready for baking
Carla with the potato focaccia
Main course fish prep
Carla’s home-made orangello
At ease at the kitchen
Milk Street Cooking at Home
The Wide World of Winter Squash
With Sami Tamimi & Tara Wigley
What's on the Menu:
Butternut Squash M'Tabbal
Roasted Squash and Zucchini with Whipped Feta and Pistachios
Acorn, butternut, zucchini, delicata, kabocha: the world of squash is wide and rainbow-coloured. But these hearty, thick-skinned mainstays of wintry cooking often end up over-sweet. So how do you crack the squash code? With the help of guest chefs Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley, authors of the cookbook "Falastin" and previous members of the celebrated Ottolenghi team, the duo will share culinary inspiration about transforming squashes.
Sunday, November 20
1pm EST, 6pm GMT
Zoom Cost $29.95
Sign up for tickets here.
Use the code WINTER15 for a 15% discount.
Buy Falastin: A Cookbook, here.
COOKING THE BOOKS SUPPER CLUB
Africana by Lerato Umah-Shaylor
Debut food writer and supper club queen, Lerato (pictured) is bringing an explosion of flavours with grains of paradise, tamarind, chillies, coconut, citrus, apricots and more from her debut book Africana to the iconic CTB supper club on Sunday, November 6. The supper is held in East Sussex and is hosted by all round Renaissance goddess, Gilly Smith – podcaster, teacher, writer, and academic … ‘Get in quickly for this one’, says Gilly. It's bring your own drinks, and you'll be able to book a bed & breakfast, should that small glass of wine morph in to a large one!
Buy Africana here.
Here's a peek at some menu highlights:
Berber Buns
Lamb mince, Imperial Ras el hanout (North Africa)Aubergine Yassa (v, vg)
with Caramelised Onions, Lemon & Dijon
inspired by Senegalese Yassa (West Africa)Sticky Apricot 'Malva' Pudding
with Spiced Amarula Cream (South Africa)
Date: Sunday, November 6
Where: Lewes, East Sussex
Cost: £45pp, BYO
Stay: £60pp optional B&B
To book your place, email gilly@gillysmith.com
WHAT'S ON THE LEMON GROVE SHELVES?
Here, I'm sharing some recommendations of books, videos, films, and kitchen equipment I've bought into my house over the past few years, along with podcasts that I've been tuning into.
I shall let you know where items have been gifted or given to me.
Podcast: Taste of Place
I really enjoyed listening to this new podcast, Taste of Place, created by US-based Whetstone Radio Collective, part of the Whetstone community led by Stephen Satterfield, food storyteller and publisher. This narrative podcast aims to untangle our understanding of the past and investigate our relationship with nostalgia through the story of pepper. This first edition travels from Malaysia to London, exploring the Sarawak pepper, while the second edition looks at how the spice arrived in Europe in the 17th century, dominating this east-west trade route. Listen to the podcast here.
Podcast: Mic the Gardener
Mike Palmer is a professional gardener and broadcaster whose podcast invites gardening personalities and experts to chew over sowing and growing tips. He covers issues such as composting, allowing lilacs to thrive and which books to extract ideas and inspiration. This issue features Barbara Segall, a friend of The Lemon Grove, talking about her freshly printed book, ‘Secret Gardens of the South East', A private Tour’. I was gifted a review copy.
Listen to the podcast here.
Buy the book here.
Thank you for reading The Lemon Grove newsletter.
Also, I'm wondering - do you follow me on Instagram or Facebook? My Instagram offers snapshots of lemons, oranges, limes and many more in gardens, markets and kitchens, as well as images and thoughts from my travels and culinary adventures. I post to inspire and inform you, dear reader, and I'd love to have you follow and share. Go here: The Lemon Grove on Instagram.
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Bruce McMichael
Writer, Podcaster, Educator
Website: www.thelemongrove.net
Twitter: @lemonbites
Facebook: @lemongrovesocial
Instagram: @lemongrovepics
Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org