Hi Racepics. There was a recent study performed where is was established that over 25% of food purchased ends up in the dustbin. In Asian countries the figure would be zero.

A fish or animal that is caught (or purchased) will be used entirely, even down to a soup or broth being made from the bones. I am sure you will have seen Kahawai frames and heads discarded on the beach, to my wife this would be a cardinal sin. Had I known what that fish was and she cooked it, all that would have been left would be the bones and the head skeleton ... absolutely no waste.

This does not only apply to fish. I have a nice veggie garden, I remove the broccoli heads for our meals and freeze what we don't use. My wife will take the main stem, peel it with a knife, and cook the centre. This sounds ridiculous but I assure you what she ends up with tastes better than the main head.

Any meat with a bone is treated the same way, especially chickens. Nothing is thrown away, the final task is to boil the frame, add vegetables and make a nice soup.

Whereas the average westerner is happy to discard leftovers, Asians would say that is a criminal waste of good food, and laziness on the part of the cook. We look at Asian races and accuse them of taking everything, the point being they eat it, we waste it. Their mindset being, if you return an edible food source to the sea, no matter for what reason, you are wasting good food.

There is no end to the argument because neither race would ever understand the way the others were taught in their learning years. I will give a simple analogy of my wife's thinking. If I catch a couta, YEMS or spotties, my reaction is YEMS for bait, spotties get returned as do coutas. My wife sees a very tasty meal, she is an excellent cook. Which one of us is right, which one is wrong?

I have several fillets in the fridge, the spoils of a very successful trip to the beach yesterday. Nothing will be wasted and our weekly food budget will be that much stronger because of it.

I should add no offence taken at your mention of my wife, like me she is blessed with humour. I have learnt much from her and feel wiser for the experience. Five months in China taught me so much and you are never too old to learn.