Silo: The Zero Waste Blueprint

by Douglas McMaster

“A seriously eye opening, inspiring and thought-provoking book!” - Nathan Outlaw

“This is not a cook book but a true source of knowledge and inspiration.” - Zero Waste Europe

“I’ve always said that it’s in a chef’s DNA to utilize what would otherwise be thrown away.  We are hardwired to take the uncoveted and make it delicious. But Doug McMaster is on another level entirely—he is doing some of the most thorough and thoughtful work on food waste today. This book gives you more than a glimpse into his mind. It provides a much needed roadmap for a future of limited resources and growing demands.” - Dan Barber, Chef/Co-owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns

"Silo, in East London, is Britain’s first zero-waste restaurant, and this fascinating book sets out the vision and the methods behind what it does. Judges described it as ‘an unprecedented, inspiring, stand-alone book’, taking readers on ‘a fascinating journey to achieve zero waste.’ It’s ‘trailblazing, exciting, relentless and uncompromising’ and made all the more valuable because ‘the author is also not afraid to include his failures too.’ In the end, said the jurors, ‘the book leaves you in no question about his revolutionary approach to cooking as his thoughts are conveyed with true conviction and diplomacy.’ - Food Book Award 2020 finalist, The Guild of Food Writers


Silo maps out an extraordinary new plan from radical young chef Douglas McMaster, founder of SILO the first zero food-waste restaurant—a food system for the future. 

He’s a man on a mission—dedicated to weaning us from our entrenched and over-processed food habits, encouraging us to go for the purest, most natural and efficient way to cook and eat, committed to de-industrializing our food system so that we eat fresh, waste less and make the most of what nature gives us. 

"Closed-loop systems,” "radical suppliers,” "off-grid ingredients,” "waste-free prep” and “clean farming” are just some of the words you will find in this polemic on the future of food as we know it. These are just some of the raw ingredients deftly chopped and mixed into an irresistible and intoxicating fusion. Part inspiration, part practical kitchen know-how, part philosophy—just add anarchic flavours and a dash of pure hope for a beautifully crafted book destined to be a refreshingly radical addition to your kitchen library. 

• ISBN13: 9781782406136
• Publish Date: 27 June 2019 (first published 11 October 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: The Ivy Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 176
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Silo: The Zero Waste Blueprint is ostensibly a part philosophy and part DIY book by Douglas McMaster. Due out 27th Aug 2019 from Quarto on their Leaping Hare imprint, it's 176 pages and will be available in ebook and hardcover formats. The ebook version is available now.

This is a difficult book to review. On the one hand, the idea of zero waste and putting a stop to our out of control consumerism is admirable, necessary, and absolutely vital. On the other hand, there's something weirdly dichotomous about a professional restaurateur (however well meaning) whose products the public pays for, using the platform to condemn consumerism.

The subtitle is 'A Food System for the Future' which led me to expect some sort of blueprint for making steps toward implementing measures for reducing or eliminating waste in our daily lives. The book seems to mostly be a memoir of the difficulties of opening Silo, the restaurant, and adhering to his original vision of a zero waste establishment. There's a fair bit of reminiscing about his educational and training path as a chef, his encounters with other chefs and the cooking competitions in which he took part (and won or lost spectacularly). The first part of the book is fairly self indulgent, rambling, egotistical, and full of sentence fragments. It's quite literally difficult to read. In addition, each of the first sections are accompanied by high contrast sidebars with koans such as LIMITATION BREEDS CREATIVITY, FOOD IS PRECIOUS, and PROGRESS IS MESSY.

The second part of the book (roughly 19% of the content) contains a rambling discussion of distribution webs and gigantic waste in the forms of fossil fuel use, energy, packaging, time, etc. There are numerous diagrams showing different methods of transport and delivery.

The third part includes recipes for buying in bulk and cleaning supplies minimizing packaging and using reusable compostable sponges, cloths, etc. This section also contains a year's worth of recipes in menu form which utilize local seasonal ingredients. Some of the recipes are really odd (potato skin ice cream), most all of them are 'way out there'. Quite probably adventuresome foodies will find something to titillate (Hokkaido pumpkin, forced rhubarb & British sumac?).

The fourth part of the book draws together many of the ideas in the earlier sections. There are no definite hard and fast conclusions, however there is a lot of food for thought. There are no quick fixes for healing the planet, or sustainability, or any overarching plans to get started on. This section of the book also includes intriguing, slightly surreal, visual art.

It's unclear from the publishing info available online, but the eARC I received has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references. I hope the ebook release version does also. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. Presumably that feature will carry through to the final release version.

I did not winnow out a lot of useful information from this book. There is a huge amount of enthusiasm and burning fervor here and especially foodies who would know where to source sea beets and pineapple weed locally and in season will doubtless find usable recipes and philosophy. This would make a good read for people who really enjoy restaurateur and food culture biographies.

Two stars for me, three+ for serious foodies.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.