Going out to indulge in fine-dining meals can cost hundreds of pounds, particularly when they feature several courses.
However, the price can be nudged even higher when a famous chef is preparing your meal in their highly acclaimed restaurant - something many of couldn't imagine having the money for amid the current cost of living crisis.
One award-winning chef, who has previously featured on the Great British Menu, is used to preparing these sorts of meals at his restaurant, 12:51.
James Cochran recently prepared a particularly special six-course meal at his restaurant, inviting foodies, including a Great Taste judge and food bloggers, to sample it as a teaser of what he was ‘planning to serve next month’.
Little did his lucky guests know that the food they were eating was previously headed straight for the bin - and was 'fake' fine dining.
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With the help of the world’s largest surplus food app, Too Good To Go, which prevents food wastage, the chef was able to whip up the meal for just £2.69 per person.
The stunt was hosted to mark Stop Food Waste Day, which falls on Wednesday, April 27, this year.
The dessert came to the value of just 16p per person with the recipe breakdown featuring apple gels using damaged apples from Morrisons and citrus mousses using leftover lemons from Gopuff.
Additionally, chocolate mousse featuring excess Easter Eggs from Montezuma’s and a white chocolate crumb featuring surplus Millie’s Cookies were also used.
At the end of the diners’ meals, James revealed that the dishes were actually made from rescued food waste that was either surplus food or items that were edible yet past their ‘best before’ dates.
Ingredients from the plates served up to lucky guests used food items rescued from some of the UK’s most popular brands.
Dishes included confit egg yolk, potato foam, curried potato matchsticks, haddock rarebit on toast, and filo pastry tartlet, raw tuna, citrus hollandaise mousse, pickled chilli, apple gel, crispy shallots.
So, it’s no wonder the diners didn’t suspect a thing until James’s big reveal.
Of the project, he says: “It’s been great to be a part of this project with Too Good To Go. No one likes throwing food away but sadly it does happen on a daily basis.
“I hope this event helps to inspire people at home to get creative in the kitchen and see how fun fighting food waste can be!”
Jamie Crummie, co-founder of Too Good To Go adds: “Over 26,000 tonnes of food is wasted in the UK every day. Not only does that simply not make sense at a time when we’re all looking to save money on our food but it’s harming our planet too.
“Working with James on this project to showcase the true potential of food waste has been fantastic. We want to show the true potential of food waste and that it can actually be delicious, exciting food that is truly worth saving.”
“This Stop Food Waste Day I encourage you to take inspiration from our video and create your own food waste transformations”
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