67: Embracing sustainability in a local food context | Desmond Shen, chef and founder of Tiffin Bicycle Club and Alter Native

Desmond Shen: “We basically tried not to throw anything away, and I think one of the steps to do that is to name the thing by its part, instead of just calling it ‘waste’. If you are trimming carrots, you take away the carrot head, end, and peel – and you call that that. You don’t call it ‘trim’, you just call it ‘carrot peel’. What are we going to do with the carrot peel? What are we going to do with the carrot tops? What are we going to do with the end bits of the carrot… Especially with meat, there are so many parts that you throw away – in a chicken, you have the cockscomb, the windpipe. Once you start calling it ‘waste’, you tend to not regard it.”

Desmond Shen, chef and founder of Tiffin Bicycle Club and Alter Native, shares about his food influences growing up, plus: *Decision to be a chef* *His interest in Asian flavours* *Creative process of pushing Singaporean flavours forward* *The importance of eating out and embracing kitchen failures* *Motivation behind starting Tiffin* *Reducing plastic and food waste* *His vegetarian menu* *Favourite technique for making vegetables delicious* *Challenges and considerations of serving food in a tiffin* *The Tiffin experience* *His upcoming project, Alter Native*

Desmond Shen: @tiffin.bicycle.club

Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles

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