Mari's kitchen wisdom for sustainable cooking

Mari Maris: I haven't changed much since I was a child. Looking after plants and cooking is what I enjoy the most.

Mari Maris, who used to be a chef in Amsterdam, does what she liked best as a child: digging the ground. Her different interests merge together at her house in France where she cooks and tends to her vegetable garden. She's written six cookbooks as a 'greengrocer'. How does someone become a greengrocer?

Mari tells us: "I was a chef in The Netherlands with a holiday home and vegetable garden in France where I spent a lot of time. Every time I went, it became harder to leave. I still remember clearly the moment that I first tasted a leaf of spinach from my vegetable garden. How great it would be, I thought, if the chefs in my neighbourhood could enjoy this too." That's where the I got the idea of staying for half a year to try out the idea. Mari asked all the restaurants in her neighbourhood if they'd like to get vegetables from her. That plan came to nothing. The restaurants found deep-frozen vegetables easier. "Then I started to sell vegetable boxes. People could get them once a week and that worked well.

In 2013, she published her Groentebijbel. Her most recent cookbook Groenten is about everyday vegetables like potatoes, elegant peas, Sunday sauerkraut and lots more. Mari Maris harvests what's in season and provides delicious recipes per vegetable.

Last year, we sent Mari an EcoStoof® while she was writing her book. Mari said: "I had no idea what to expect from the EcoStoof®. My grandmother used to wrap food in a blanket, so I immediately thought the EcoStoof® was a very smart product. It's perfect too when you're writing, because when you put your food in it and lose track of time, it doesn't burn. I used it mostly to make vegetable stews and couscous dishes. See a recipe for a Mediterranean cauliflower stew from the EcoStoof® here.

Mari's kitchen wisdom for sustainable cooking:

Save your vegetable peelings to make broth. Don't throw any vegetable trimmings away. I always put a pot by the sink when I'm cooking and add all my vegetable trimmings to it. I use them to make broth. Even if you only use it for making pasta and potatoes.

Not too much water. You don't need to use a 10-litre pot to cook pasta for two.

Straight from the earth in season.  Whatever's in season tastes better and doesn't have to be flown in from afar. Even in March, when there's hardly anything growing in the vegetable garden, there are wild leaves to be picked. I pick everything from ground elder to wild garlic, sorrel and flowers.

Want to know more about Mari Maris?

Please visit marimaris.nl or follow her on Instagram

GROENTEN

Author: Mari Maris

Dutch Hardcover 9789038810744 Published: 1 January 2022, 512 pages