IT'S pretty much a given that at the back of most people's kitchen cupboards, are several cans we've had for years and totally forgotten about. Perhaps a tin of tuna or some kidney beans you once had such good intentions for (sitting next to all those spices you moved from your last house).
However, as we all seek to be a little more sustainable and less wasteful, canned food may be about to have its moment in the kitchen spotlight once more.
"I feel like tinned food sits in people's minds in a time gone by when you were struggling, or rationing, when people turned to tins when you don't have anything else," says Lola Milne, author of new cookbook, Take One Tin. "It must be a UK wartime attitude."
She says there's a snobbery and "silly" perception around food that comes in a tin. In much of continental Europe, there's a different attitude. "Especially with tinned fish; I was in Seville and all the tapas bars have huge sections of the menu that's all to do with preserved fish. In Spain and Portugal, they're a premium product and they go all the way down to being a budget product – there's not really a judgment there," she says.
Wherever our perceived scepticism comes from, it's due for a shift, not least because our obsession with buying lots of fresh food – and not eating it all before it starts to go limp and mouldy – is contributing to a huge food waste problem. The Food and Agriculture Organisation for the United Nations estimates that one third of food made for human consumption is wasted, and fruit and vegetables have the highest wastage rates.
Milne thinks we'd waste less if we incorporated more tinned food in our diets. "I throw away very little food. I always have beans and fish already [in cans] and loads of different oils and spices, so I buy a few fresh things every week, but not that much on a regular basis.
"People will just go crazy and buy loads of fresh stuff and then they don't know what they're going to do with it. If you do that with tins, it's fine, because they'll be there in 10 years."
The problem is, at the moment, most "people don't necessarily use tins in overly creative ways".
The 27-year-old's debut cookbook is a collection of everyday and more inventive recipes – all using at least one key tinned ingredient. Think crab thoran, flageolet bean and artichoke gratin, and sweetcorn and cheese muffin loaf. It's a colourful, refreshing take on ingredients we often think of as "boring basics you bung into a Bolognese", as Milne says, with a focus on beans and pulses, fish, fruit and vegetables.
There's no meat, because she doesn't think canned meat is as tasty as its fresh counterpart and tends to be "really highly processed and fatty", plus "we should all eat less meat", she says.
Milne wants us to know that cooking with tins isn't just quick, easy and often more environmentally friendly, it's also packed with flavour.
"Mackerel in a tin is really delicious, I actually think the texture of smoked mackerel in a tin is nicer – it's softer, it's oily, it's tasty," she says. "I would buy it because it tastes good, so why buy fresh stuff in plastic wrapping?"
Why indeed – when you can make her Sri Lankan mackerel curry, smoked mackerel kedgeree, and mackerel tacos with the tinned stuff?
Tinned crab is another ingredient we're all missing out on, it seems: "It's really tasty and way cheaper, and you can just have it in your house. You don't have to go to a fish monger and buy fresh crab and think, 'I've got to use that this weekend'.
"Buy lump crab, not shredded," she advises. "Shredded is the cheapest one but it's got no texture. With lump crab, you get actual pieces of white meat."
When it comes to pulses (Milne describes herself as a "true worshipper of the pulse"), the key is to pay a bit more if you can.
"If you buy the cheapest tinned pulses, they are less tasty, the chickpeas are harder, the liquid is thinner and less starchy and has less flavour. If you can afford to buy organic pulses in tins, I would – the other ones aren't bad, just less flavoursome."
Tinned fruit, meanwhile, has a definite 70s image; remember fruit cocktail from a can and evaporated milk? But Milne's pear and prune cobbler or pineapple, lime and coconut cake recipes might change your mind on that. For a seriously underrated tinned fruit though, go for figs.
"Often when you buy fresh figs here, they taste of nothing," she says. "Tinned ones actually taste really figgy, sticky and firm all year round." The same goes for tasteless tomatoes out of season; with tins, they'll have been packed in season so they'll always taste good no matter what time of year you open the can.
:: Take One Tin by Lola Milne, photography by Lizzie Mayson, is published by Kyle Books, priced £14.99. Below are three recipes from the book for you to try at home.
RAGU WITH TOMATO, LENTIL AND AUBERGINE
(serves six)
6tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 aubergines, cut into 2.5cm cubes
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2tsp fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
A pinch of chilli flakes
200ml red wine
2 x 400g tins beluga lentils, drained and rinsed
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
In a large frying pan, heat two tablespoons of the oil, add the onions and soften over a low heat for about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, in another frying pan, heat the remaining oil, add the aubergines and a pinch of salt, then fry on high for five to 10 minutes, stirring often until the aubergine cubes are golden. Set aside.
By this point, the onions should be soft and tinged golden. Add the garlic, fennel seeds, bay leaves and chilli flakes. Fry for a further two to three minutes, then tip in the wine. Bring to the boil and boil until it has reduced by two-thirds in volume (this shouldn't take more than five minutes).
Add the lentils, tomatoes and browned aubergine cubes. Season and reduce the heat, then simmer for 15-20 minutes until the sauce has thickened a little and the aubergine is buttery soft. Just before serving, fish out the bay leaves. This ragu is great with soft polenta, pasta or served simply with a hunk of bread.
ROCKY ROAD WITH FIGS AND WALNUTS
(Makes 10 bars)
170g slightly salted butter, diced
335g dark chocolate, broken into squares
4tbs golden syrup
120g walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
120g amaretti biscuits, broken into small pieces (digestives, lotus or hobnobs work too)
425g tin figs in syrup, drained and chopped
Method:
Line a 20cm square brownie tin with greaseproof paper. In a medium saucepan, slowly melt together the butter, chocolate and golden syrup, then fold in most of the walnuts, biscuits and figs. Tip into the prepared tin, spreading evenly, and top with the remaining ingredients. Chill in the fridge to firm up (about two to three hours minimum) before cutting into 10 bars.
VIETNAMESE CRAB CAKES
(Serves two)
For the crab cakes:
2 x 170g tins lump crab meat, drained
2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated (about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons when grated)
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
15g dill, finely chopped
1tsp ground turmeric
2 shallots, finely chopped
10tbsp dried breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1tbsp flavourless oil (such as sunflower)
For the dressing:
4tsp fish sauce juice of 1 lime
4tsp soft brown sugar
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Method:
To make the crab cakes, mix the crab, ginger, chilli, garlic, dill, turmeric, shallots, four tablespoons of the breadcrumbs and half the beaten eggs in a bowl. Shape into eight patties and stick in the fridge to firm up for at least 20 minutes.
To make the dressing, mix all the ingredients with two tablespoons of water, check the balance of sour, sweet and salty and adjust accordingly.
Just before frying, dip each cake in the remaining beaten egg and then into the remaining breadcrumbs to coat. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry the cakes for four minutes per side until golden.
Serve alongside the dressing, for drizzling or dunking.
