Sneak peak to Masterclass with Paul Svensson
Chef, creative leader and advocate for us to take good care of our planet. Paul Svensson is 48 years old, has three children and a cat. Paul is known for his work as a TV chef. In everything he does, Paul works with a focus on using everything and not throwing anything away. Is often hired as a speaker on the subject of sustainable cooking.
Paul Svensson
How do we cook a really simple and tasty everyday meal. And at the same time contribute to a sustainable development for both our planet and for people? We'll find out together.
Most people walk around on about 10 dishes in everyday life. It's really the opposite of how we should live. Both for ourselves, but also for how we need to change, we put cultivars, agriculture itself. If we could manage to vary these 10 dishes with a few different variants, it would make a big difference both for the environment and health.
You talk about something called biodiversity, something that may sound complicated. But it is about eating as varied as possible but also growing as different as possible. Then we can get a good variety of different nutrients, but, importantly, discover and maintain lots of new amazing food combinations and flavors! And in practice, it's actually about the products that you have at home.
By grouping the different ingredients, you can more easily get an overview of what is easy to vary with. So try looking at your meal by dividing it into these groups and see what you could vary by. It will give you almost endless options!
In the first group, we have chosen to add protein
Protein is actually not difficult to find variants on. Here are some suggestions for protein-rich foods that can be included in everyday food:
- Field bean
- Lenses
- Quinoa (very dense on protein and gluten-free)
- Minced plants (e.g. on broad bean and oats)
- Soybean protein
- Walnuts
- Beans in all its forms
- Cheese
- Game
- Minced beef/bird
In the next group, we have chosen to collect different types of cereals
Cereals are in many ways the natural companion of protein. But what alternatives do we have, for example, to the fantastic pasta? And did you know that it is possible to make a wonderful risotto on food wheat, where in fact the husk and germ contribute to an extra depth in the flavor compared to the rice.
- Food wheat (good for e.g. risotto)
- Oat rice (alternative to rice that is not so nutrient-dense)
- Barley groats, crushed (similar to couscous and bulgur)
- Pasta
- Rice
Then we look at the group of fats
A common misconception is that a low fat intake is healthy. This is often not true, in general we in Sweden eat a reasonable amount of fat, where about 30 - 40% of today's energy intake comes from fat. But too much of the fat we eat is of the type saturated and too small part of the type unsaturated fat.
Saturated fat:
Butter. We eat it mainly for the sake of taste. And just like with everything else, we should only eat it occasionally.
Osaturated fat:
Osaturated fat is also flavor enhancer and above all need to more often choose these fats.
- Cold-pressed rapeseed oil - available locally in Sweden
- Cold-pressed Camelina oil - available locally in Sweden
- Cold-pressed sunflower oil - available from Gotland
- Cold-pressed olive oil
And finally, we have the most fun and perhaps widest area, vegetables
The best tip when it comes to vegetables is to try to follow the four seasons we have in Sweden. Buy what grows near you and is in season. It not only gives you tastier, more nutrient-filled ingredients, but also a cheaper grocery bag.
It is not wrong to eat, for example, an avocado from time to time, but by trying to replace it with seasonal local vegetables, such as fava beans, we can both save money and the environment. Not to mention what fun flavors we will discover and how much more nutritious food we will eat.
So, by grouping different ingredients, you can now achieve amazing varied meals by choosing one thing from each group and then maybe two, three vegetables. You quickly have ingredients for a wonderful everyday meal!
But no meal is complete without a drink
What does biodiversity really look like if you talk about drink? Well one thing to stick with when talking about drink and ecosystems is nature's pollinators, the bees. Firstly, nothing works in nature without them and, secondly, they produce honey. A natural sweetener that goes well with lots of different drinks. In addition, it can taste very different depending on where the honey is produced. Because just like when you talk about wine, the expression terroir is useful when talking about honey. In vincontext, it is used to mark the influence of the grapes' place of cultivation on the finished wine, which is thus characterized by its geographical origin. The term is used as a loanword in most languages.
Bees love to forage on perennial trees such as apple, pear and plum trees. So here in Sweden we don't have a lot of grape vines, but all the more apple trees. Therefore, we have very good opportunities to produce different drinks based on these types of fruits. Apple orchards also contribute to biodiversity in a different way than, for example, grape vines. Because it is not only bees that love the apple trees, they also serve as food for lots of other different types of insects, which in turn contribute to our nature having a greater diversity. If you want to know more about different variations of drinks, well adapted to food, we recommend that you take a look at our special section on drinks.
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