Krugersdorp cooks go green
Cooks of all ages prove that cooking can be done in an environmentally friendly way.
Students from Krugersdorp’s Glass Kitchen Cooking School have taken up a national challenge to prove that cooking can be fun. They believe it is even more so when cooking is done in an energy-efficient way.
By entering the individual challenge called the Good taste, Electricity smart, Cooking Competition students of all ages have learned to cook good food while acting in the interest of mother earth.
“The competition is a partnership between Eskom, 49m and Pick n Pay to create a national campaign that focuses on creating awareness about energy consumption in the kitchen and helping to lower energy usage in domestic households as well as large commercial kitchens,” explains Margie Spencer, executive chef of the Glass Kitchen.
The winning cook stands a chance to win a dinner for themselves and five friends in the company of celebrity chef Justine Drake.
For a chance to win, students from the Glass Kitchen had to take a selfie with any of the four Good taste, Electricity smart dishes that they cooked from recipes provided by Pick n Pay.
In addition they also had to take a clear, quality, close-up photo of the dish itself and submit photos of it on the competition website.
What does the Grand Prize competition entail?
• Entries close 31 August.
• You can submit as many entries as you wish, but each dish only can be entered once.
• Public voting opens 1 September and closes 15 September.
• The entry with the most votes overall wins the grand prize – so make sure you get your family and friends to vote for your entries.
To become more environmentally savvy, here are 10 tips that you should try the next time you cook:
• Cover the pot to speed up cooking by six per cent.
• Use one-pot steamers and stacked steamers to cook meals on one stove plate.
• Chop your vegetables into smaller pieces to cook faster.
• Match your pots to the size of the stove plates to stop heat from escaping.
• Use the kettle to boil only the water you need.
• Cook in bulk and save time and money by preparing meals you can eat the following day as well.
• Don’t open the door unnecessarily while the oven is on as heat will escape. Be patient.
• Save time and electricity by defrosting food in the fridge and not in the microwave.
• Cook with ingredients that are at room temperature. This saves cooking time.
• Bake a few dishes in the oven at the same time.
