When Jenny saw the amount of discarded produce at fruit & veg markets across London she started reading up about the food waste problem.
Over 1/3 of produce never reaches our plates. This is equivalent to 1.3billion tonnes of food worldwide every year. Delicious mangoes, tomatoes and more are discarded and head to landfill, often because they don’t look right. An estimated 20-40% of UK fruit and vegetables are rejected before they reach the shops.
Jenny decided to try and do something to reduce this waste, and – using some family recipes – started experimenting with a car boot full of rescued fruit and veg from the New Covent Garden market.
The result? Delicious ketchups, mayo and relishes all made in the UK from ingredients that would otherwise go to waste.
Rubies in the Rubble make gourmet condiments with a conscience. Whether it’s too big, too ripe for supermarket shelves, or just plain pear-shaped, any fresh and tasty produce can be used for Rubies’ delicious creations. They work directly with UK farmers to source fresh fruit and veg from surplus produce.
In October 2018, Rubies in the Rubble launched their inventive mayonnaise – Aquafaba Mayo.
Aquafaba (the Latin for bean-water) is the water drained from a can of chickpeas (or the byproduct from the cooking of legumes) which most of us wouldn’t think to reuse, but which mimics the effect of egg whites.
Its unique mix of starches, proteins, and other soluble plant solids gives aquafaba a wide spectrum of emulsifying, foaming, binding, gelatinising and thickening properties. Rubies whisk it together with rapeseed oil, a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice along with a hint of Dijon mustard – or a good dose of Chipotle chilli powder – to create delicious vegan mayonnaise, with all the satisfying creaminess and sultry texture of regular mayo.
As with the original Rubies relish and ketchup ranges, the unctuous mayo is inspired by home-cooked family recipes, with flavour of the utmost importance.
“This new concept and recipe started after reading a blog from a vegan foodie on delicious looking meringue made with ‘bean water’, AKA aquafaba, to replace the egg whites,” said Jenny Costa, Co-Founder of Rubies in the Rubble. “We were really intrigued by this magical product, and knowing it was a bi-product from hummus manufacturers, we started playing with how we could create a delicious mayo with it! Every year hummus manufacturers empty gallons of water from cooking chickpeas down the sink when making hummus or any bean dip.”
