With bread one of the most common food items people waste Anna Matilda suggests seven ways to use those scraps that are too old to make sandwiches with.
Suggestions for using stale bread are among many Matilda, known as "Nanna" Anna, imparts in Everyday Permaculture, a guide to sustainable living for those living in rented accommodation or with limited space.
Matilda is the founder and creative director of The Urban Nanna, a permaculture education business that specialises in teaching traditional skills, crafts and methods of living.
She comes from a family fascinated with science, nature and art. Her parents taught her there were no unfixable problems, just ones we had not found solutions to yet.
"I learned to observe nature through the lenses of both science and art, and from each I learned that no matter how wild or chaotic something may seem, there’s always a system or reason for it."
Learning how to forage from her artist mum, she dreamed of being a "forest woman" living off the land and finding everything she needed around her.
She went on to study botany and horticulture at a tertiary level and then studied teaching and fine arts. She has also completed several permaculture courses.
"It is where everything I’d learned kind of slotted together and made sense."
So she began developing her skills in growing and preserving food, traditional handicrafts and foraging, which led to the creation of her business.
"I now teach adults these skills as a way of increasing public engagement in Earth-first eco-conscious actions."
Matilda also discovered she was autistic, which has helped her share her knowledge with a greater range of people.
"Watching someone have an ‘Aha’ moment is one of my greatest joys, and I love creating rich learning experiences for people of all ages and stages."
Her "Nanna" nickname came about due to some fun rhyming and from her eagerness to teach children in ways similar to how elders used to pass on traditional skills and crafts as part of everyday life.
In her book she seeks to continue to share those skills using ethics-based systems to help others live contentedly in a community that cares for the health of the planet and each other.
She introduces the principles of permaculture and sustainability before tackling the issues of community, energy, food, foraging, waste and moving in individual chapters full of advice, tips and recipes.
Bread has been a staple of human diets in one form or another for thousands of years, and there are just as many different recipes out there for making your own. Making bread is actually an incredibly energy-hungry activity, so each slice holds a tremendous amount of embodied energy. Throwing away stale bread, therefore, is wasteful from more than one angle.
As with many food commodities, high demand for bread leads to regular surpluses, which result in massive waste. Day-old bread has been sold cheaply or given to charitable organisations in Western countries for centuries, but better still is drawing on a variety of ways to use up stale bread so it’s no longer viewed as part of a waste stream that needs managing. Here are seven ways to use bread when it’s too old to make into sandwiches.
New Zealanders’ bread waste
• We throw away 29 million loaves of bread each year.
• Bread follows vegetables as the most common food wasted.
• Most common reason is it goes mouldy due to incorrect storage.
The book
This is an edited extract from Everyday Permaculture by Anna Matilda, published by Hardie Grant Explore. Available in stores nationally and online. Photography by Rochelle Eagle.
Bread and butter pudding
This is a great way to use up stale white bread, raisin toast or hot cross buns.
Serves 4
Ingredients
6-8 slices stale bread
1 cup milk
¾ cup pouring cream
2 eggs
⅓ cup sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter, cooled, plus extra butter for topping
½ cup sultanas (golden raisins)
1 tsp cinnamon
Icing sugar, for dusting
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Tear the bread into chunks.
Lightly whisk the milk, cream, eggs, sugar and melted butter in a bowl until combined.
Add the bread and sultanas and set aside to soak for 2-3 minutes.
Transfer to a baking dish, top with a few knobs of butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden.
Dust with icing sugar; serve with ice cream.
How to revive stale bread
This method of reviving stale bread works best on large pieces with lots of crust. It’s not ideal for sliced bread.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Run the bread under a cold tap until it’s wet all over but not soaked.
Place it on an oven tray and bake until the crust is crisp (about 10 minutes). Alternatively, warm it in a microwave. Wrap the bread in a clean tea towel and microwave it in 10-second bursts until it’s soft and springy (20 to 30 seconds).
Panzanella salad
Kind of like a deconstructed bruschetta, this salad is made with stale sourdough. The quantities are very loose, and you can adjust the proportions to your taste.
Chop some juicy, ripe tomatoes, spring onions or red onion and feta into a bowl.
Tear some stale bread into chunks and add.
Tear some basil or mint leaves, add them to the bowl and mix everything well.
Make a basic vinaigrette with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. The bread will absorb the dressing, so be sure to allow for this. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and mix well.
Set aside for 5-10 minutes to allow the flavours to meld, then serve.
Breadcrumbs
Break bread into smallish pieces and spread on oven trays in a single layer.
Toast in an oven at 100°C until thoroughly dried out (10-15 minutes).
Cool, then crush into small crumbs by rubbing firmly between your hands or running through a food processor.
Store in an air-tight jar in the pantry.
Parmesan crackers
These are best made with bread rolls or breadsticks. They’re brilliant for cheese platters.
Slice the bread into pieces 1-2cm/⅜-¾ inch thick.
Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil.
Lay the slices flat on a baking tray.
Grill (broil) on medium heat until golden (about 4-5 minutes).
Flip the slices over, sprinkle some parmesan on top of each one and pop them back under the grill.
Grill until the parmesan is bubbly and golden (about 3 or 4 minutes).
Transfer to a cooling rack. Once cooled, store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Old-school booze
Rye kvass is a simple fermented drink made with burnt rye bread, which takes on a stout-like flavour once brewed. It is mildly alcoholic, so enjoy it in moderation.
Makes about 4 cups
Ingredients
⅓-½ loaf stale rye bread
5cm strip of orange zest
5cm nub of unpeeled ginger, sliced
2 tsp raw honey
2 mint leaves
3-4 juniper berries
Method
Slice the bread into thick slices.
Toast in a toaster, under the grill or over flames until well toasted and blackened in parts.
Crumble the toast into pieces and place them in a large jar (it should be half full). I use a jar that holds 1 litre (4 cups). Fill the jar with cold water.
Add the orange zest, ginger, honey, mint and juniper berries. Seal and shake.
Leave the jar to ferment at room temperature for three to five days. Shake and "burp" the jar daily (open it to let the carbon dioxide out, then reseal).
Strain and bottle the kvass. Pop the bottles in the fridge for a couple of days to build up some bubbles, then enjoy.
Garlic herb croutons
These croutons are my favourite way to use stale sliced bread in the cooler months. Measure the seasonings with your heart — I use about 1 tsp of herbs and tsp of garlic powder per 4 slices of bread.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cut the bread slices — as many as you like — into 3cm/1¼ inch squares.
Toss them in a bowl with enough olive oil so that each piece is lightly coated.
Add some dried mixed herbs, powdered garlic, salt and pepper and toss until all the pieces have a herby coating.
Spread the bread in a single layer on a baking tray.
Bake until golden on all sides (10-12 minutes), turning the bread occasionally.
Serve with soups or on top of salads.
Leftover croutons can be stored in an airtight jar for up to a week, but they’re best eaten fresh.
