the essential
At the Château de La Treyne, in Lacave, the starred chef had a chicken coop installed near his kitchen. Every day, the chickens finish the plates: peelings, pieces of leeks and asparagus, oyster shells… Soon, two pigs will also help reduce waste.
In Lacave, the chickens have a palace life. Every day, they eat a starred meal prepared by chef Stéphane Andrieux, owner of the pots at Château de la Treyne. Finally, more precisely, a starter and dessert formula with peelings, leek greens, oyster shells and pea pods. The 12 hens including 2 roosters arrived at the beginning of May. “We realized that we had a lot of waste in the kitchen. The equivalent of a 100 liter trash can every day. We had to find a solution to reduce it, so we started by making our own compost and to pour it back into our vegetable garden”, explains the starred chef who has been working here for twenty-six years. At the back of this superb castle which overlooks the Dordogne, Gregory, the gardener, grows, by monitoring the moon, chard, salads, radishes, strawberries, coriander, shallots, pansies, peas… Backstage, the compost spread in tidy squares of soil, fruits and vegetables has already significantly reduced waste. But on the stage side, in the kitchen, Stéphane Andrieux still found himself with leftovers on his hands: egg and oyster shells, stale bread…
“I already offer more plant-based cuisine, but to be honest it’s a question of trend more than conviction,” slips the chef. He, the son of butcher and charcutier parents, a fan of Quercy lamb, had to work hard to offer a little less meat and satisfy customer demand. And to stick as closely as possible to anti-waste, he was trained by chef Mauro Colagreco, three-starred in Menton. “He has completely eliminated plastic cling film by replacing it with aluminum foil and recyclable plastic boxes,” notes the chef from Lot. He has not yet reached this level but already favors glass bottles for his orange juice rather than plastic ones.
Pastries, bread and yogurt for the pigs
This is how the chickens arrived, between the green thumb of Grégory the gardener, and the responsible hand of Stéphane Andrieux. Result: the team went from two compost bins to six. “We had to set up a whole organization because waste management is quite cumbersome,” says the chef. All teams have been briefed, from breakfast, to dining room and room service, because the decorative flowers also end up in the compost, once wilted. The 35 employees in the area have received the instructions. Every day, one of them lowers the bins into the vegetable garden. Here, the gardener receives them and transports some of the leftovers to the chickens: carrot peels, wilted pansies, potato skins, tomato quarters, foliage… Saturday is asparagus and they love it. Monday is leeks and they make faces. Because yes, chickens are also choosy.
It was Grégory who made the henhouse, with a fence strong and high enough to keep out the foxes. “My dream is to cook eggs but hygiene standards prohibit us from doing so,” regrets the cook. Next step: the arrival of two new guests, pigs to finish the plates. The enclosure is being prepared. “They don’t eat the same thing as chickens, we’re going to have to sort through the compost. They will finish the breakfast bread, the slightly dry pastries but also the dairy products like yogurt,” explains Stéphane Andrieux. Perhaps they will be treated to a little cream and some nice Périgord nuts. Guests are demanding.
