IT IS nearing the weekend but you are not quite there yet, and you have little to nothing left in the fridge for dinners let alone enough creativity left to rustle something up from the remaining few bits before a weekend food shop comes around.

We have all been there.

The easy option is a quick nip to the nearby shop for food or maybe you opt to treat yourself to a dinner delivery to your door.

However, such mundane and daily occurrences that we almost all stumble upon raises the hugely important issue of waste. Do we really make the most of the food we have in the fridge, freezer, cupboards at home - or are we needlessly wasting food through lack of culinary curiosity or creativity with what’s in front of us.

Well one family run pub just across the Berkshire border certainly isn’t among those frivolously throwing away food.

The Mutton, in Hazeley Heath, hosted a fantastically clever and interesting event in September for Zero Waste Week.

The team at the family-run pub, that sits not too far off the Basingstoke Road, aimed to show just how much more of our food we can be making the most of - as well as how tasty it can be! Whether it be offcuts, lesser-used ingredients, or ‘waste’ ingredients often disregarded needlessly.

The Chronicle was invited along to try out the five-course zero-waste meal created by The Mutton’s head chef Rob Boer.

(Image: NQ) First up was nibbles for the table: Mutton BBQ Ribs (saved from pork belly) with BBQ sauce made from herb offcuts, Mackerel Tails (typically discarded), Broccoli Fritters (made from broccoli stalks), and crackers (made from sourdough trimmings, soaked, pureed, and dried).

First course and already fascinated to see what was being brought to the table - albeit a little afraid of the fish tails!

To my surprise, the fishtails proved a happy discovery as an almost salty crisp-like snack and not fishy or overpowering enough to be offensive in the slightest. The BBQ pork proved predictably tasty and scrumptious broccoli fritters. The crackers were not for me and not hugely necessary really, a bit tough to crack but another good example of avoiding waste.

We moved on to the mini lemon sole next - arguably a contender for favourite dish of the night - a smooth, delicate white fish that just fell away from the bone. A relief for myself as a closet foodie fusspot for anything that proves too fiddly on the bone. But the dish was bursting with flavours and textures thanks to the tasty crumb and Gremolata sauce made up of parsley, garlic, and lemon zest. A shame to think that such a dish would usually be discarded as too small to be dinner plate worthy.

(Image: NQ) The venison dish, using all parts of the deer, came alongside a Bolognese croquette made from offcuts, with a Boulangère potato flavoured from stock using venison bones. A fantastically feast-worthy, warming, main meal with the venison cooked with just the perfect amount of pink. Plus enough stock to douse the entire dish which is just what I enjoy.

Two sweet dishes to finish were the honey roasted figs, coupled with fig leaf ice cream - unfortunately the least favourable dish of the day. Purely down to not being my kind of flavours, quite tart plus the earthiness of the fig leaf ice cream wasn’t doing it for our table.

However, for my much more sweet tooth the finale was a bread and butter pudding ‘doughnut’ made from leftover breakfast pastries with raspberries. An absolute triumph of a pudding that encompassed everything that makes a pub pudding a treat. Super sweet warm sponge that feels like a cozy cuddle at the end of your meal. Coupled with the gorgeous surroundings, and traditional pub setting the dish was a perfect round-off to a fascinating menu.

(Image: NQ) I applaud head chef Rob and his team The Mutton to take a risk for Zero Waste Week to show off some lesser known or accepted dishes for such a worthy cause. In doing so, The Mutton has proved that much too much of our food is wasted when there is more than enough potential to create a mouth-watering menu.

Most recently crowned Hampshire’s ‘Pub of the Year’ at the 2024 National Pub & Bar Awards and boasting two prestigious AA-Rosettes, The Mutton is now offering a ‘unparalleled roast experience’ worthy of travelling - and you’ll be glad to hear a nod to the delicious doughnut from sustainability week remains firmly on the menu.