Maintaining sustainability awareness in all aspects of a restaurant is the key to Chef Hans Lee Rasmussen's commitment, as evidenced by the Macao University of Tourism (UTM, formerly the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, IFTM) 's Educational Restaurant being honoured with the MICHELIN Green Star since 2021. As the first establishment to earn this accolade in Macau, the restaurant adheres to strict sustainable practices.
RELATED: What is a MICHELIN Green Star?
Macau-born chef Rasmussen has been the face of these sustainability practices and honours. Growing up and working in various restaurants in Denmark, Rasmussen relocated to Macau and joined the company in 2014 as the executive chef, eventually becoming the director of UTM's food and beverage division. Regarding his role, he notes, "You have to be the executor and the torchbearer. Of course, eco-friendly practices and sustainability initiatives are part of an organisational effort. I might be a little more particular in the environmental training and food waste management throughout the supply chain."
He is, indeed, particular. When he joined the company, the restaurant was already equipped with a food decomposer — which turned food waste into soil — a rainwater collection system for irrigation in the garden, and an herb and vegetable garden with an aquaponics and hydroponics system. He contributed to the variety of herbs and vegetables the garden grows and also the hazard analysis of food waste.
RELATED: How to Minimise Food Waste at Home, According to MICHELIN Green Star Restaurant Chefs
The concept of maintaining a garden within a restaurant in Macau, a city devoid of farms or farmhouses, may seem idyllic, but the reality is far from it. As Rasmussen points out, “It’s not enough to sustain our full menu, so we can’t be self-sufficient throughout the year. However, it is enough to teach students the ‘earth to table’ concept, which is also a core value. However, the garden does yield a variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, carrots, eggplants, and turnips, as well as a range of herbs such as turmeric, chilli, lemon grass, mint, thyme, rosemary, and perilla, which are all used in the restaurant's dishes.
In its early years, the restaurant was only open for lunch and served as a student training base. The garden already existed, raising the students' awareness of the supply chain. "It's the awareness training for the younger generations in how our produce actually grows, which you don't see that often here in Macau," shares the chef. Awareness and consistency are the secrets to maintaining sustainability and running the restaurant.
Now, vegetables and herbs from the garden are used in the menu. For example, turmeric, okra, and ginger are used in Macanese dishes. Macanese gastronomy has been listed as part of Macau's intangible cultural heritage, and the UTM Educational restaurant is known for protecting the cuisine. Some herbs — rosemary, thyme, lemon grass, mint, chilli and bay leaves — are dried and sold in wooden boxes. The garden also produces jam and Balichão, a shrimp paste in Macanese cuisine, which is applied to the restaurant's current Macanese menu.
Regarding ingredient provenance, the restaurant sources as much as possible from the garden and the Guangdong province, especially Zhuhai, to reduce the carbon footprint.
Reducing Overproduction
As the director of the university's food and beverage division, Rasmussen had to think beyond the kitchen and maintain holistic sustainability practices. When designing menus, he ensures eco-friendly choices are considered, such as using every part of ingredients like carrots.He shares, "I will make carrot noisette for the starter soup, carrot purée for the main course, stocks, or even carrot for the staff canteen. I always try to use precise menu planning to ensure minimum waste.” Utilising everything as possible is a practice he has had since his working years in Denmark, where chefs bear in mind the cost of ingredients.
Another good example about controlling the food waste is the way they serve food. Every Saturday, the restaurant holds a much-loved Macanese buffet. It is certainly tricky to measure food waste. The restaurant refills the food in smaller amounts to reduce food waste.
Also, the chef's cooking background is in European and Scandinavian cuisine, where fermentation is critical, also assisted him in running the kitchen sustainably. Despite the UTM Educational restaurant's focus on Macanese cuisine, the chef also uses fermentation to preserve food and reduce food waste. He shares, “If you have a surplus of ingredients, you can dehydrate or ferment them for later use. Winter melon, bitter melon, and Macanese shrimp paste are other products we ferment, not only because we have a surplus but also because of the distinct flavour developed during fermentation."
The restaurant uses eco-friendly cornstarch boxes for food takeaway, also uses biodegradable cling film in the kitchen. He shares that an incredible amount of cling film is used in a general kitchen, and chefs tend to wrap food in several layers.
Another aspect he investigates is hazard analysis. The restaurant is equipped with a Winnow system featuring a camera, a scale, and a bin. Every time food waste is thrown into the bin, the scale shows how many grams of food have been wasted. Rasmussen looks at the data regularly and also looks for opportunities for improvement. If any situation happens, he will speak to his team.
The Impact of the MICHELIN Green Star
According to the chef, the restaurant's equipment is important to maintaining sustainability practices. However, the most important thing is not to add more equipment but to raise awareness of sustainability. The pressure of the Green Star on his shoulder is no less than having the restaurant's 50 seats full, but Rasmussen can see the impact of the Green Star.“Key persons in [the hospitality industry] are now more focused on it [the MICHELIN Green Star]. Many restaurants want both the MICHELIN Star and the Green Star. Of course, that [motivation supportive/enlightening consumer behaviour] creates positive opportunities for eco-friendly joints." he shares.
Hero image courtesy of UTM Educational Restaurant.
