Purpose Before Preservation｜Kitchen Circularity at Baan Tepa

Kitchen trimmings can become ingredients for another dish. At Baan Tepa in Bangkok, fermentation serves this purpose too. The work worth examining begins with choosing how each material will be used. The restaurant describes three approaches: fermentation to create food and beverage components, composting, and processing discarded materials into decorative objects.

In January 2026, the Michelin Guide highlighted Baan Tepa's use of fermented components prepared weeks before service throughout its menu. Looking from a finished dish toward the preparation behind it brings decisions about how ingredients will be used into view. These choices are part of understanding fermentation as a kitchen technique.

Purpose in the Overlooked

According to Baan Tepa's own account, kitchen scraps and trimmings are fermented to create new ingredients for food and beverages. Parts left unused during the initial preparation can find a different use in another dish or drink.

A concrete example of a fermented component appears in the restaurant's official description of “Crab Crab Crab.” The dish uses garum made from soft-shell crabs caught in Trang, southern Thailand. Soft-shell crabs have recently molted and their shells are still soft. Garum is an umami-rich seasoning made by aging ingredients such as seafood. However, this description does not specify which parts of the crabs are used or whether they are trimmings.

In a separate account of its kitchen garden, Baan Tepa explains that it uses coriander leaves, seeds, roots, and sometimes flowers. This illustrates how different parts of one ingredient can be used. Knowing which parts work in ordinary cooking provides a starting point for considering whether the remainder could serve another purpose, including fermentation.

Adding the material and its intended use to a statement that a kitchen “uses fermentation” makes the work easier to understand. The use of fermented ingredients and the reuse of trimmings should each be understood through the specific practices described.

From the Soil to the Dining Table

Baan Tepa composts some organic material not used for fermentation to help grow plants in its garden. Some materials become culinary ingredients; others return to the soil to support cultivation. There are different destinations within this circulation of resources.

Eggshells and seafood shells have another use. Working with a local ceramicist and a waste-materials designer, the restaurant processes them into tabletop objects such as candleholders. Materials generated during preparation become objects used in the dining room. Specialists outside the kitchen also contribute to this reuse.

Even materials from the same restaurant serve different purposes when they become food or beverage ingredients, garden inputs, or crafted objects. Baan Tepa's account illustrates an approach that assigns uses according to the material. Fermentation is one of several methods within that approach.

Aligning Sourcing with Whole-Ingredient Utility

Consider how this practice might inform menu development. Even if a trimming is suitable for fermentation, the processed ingredient may remain unused unless its role in a dish or drink has been planned. What to set aside and how to use it fully are questions to consider together.

For example, dishes using the parts ordinarily prepared for cooking can be planned alongside dishes using processed trimmings. More uses for one ingredient can make use of parts that a single dish would leave behind. Sharing information between sourcing staff and those developing the menu about which parts are needed and which remain also helps prepare for fuller ingredient use.

Selecting materials for fermentation also requires food safety and a system for managing storage and use after processing. Planning applications and quantities alongside hygiene helps establish a workable way to use what has been prepared.

Trimmings for fermentation, organic material for the garden, and shells for tabletop objects: Baan Tepa's practices reveal different uses for materials generated by a kitchen. The work supporting fermentation begins before materials enter the vessel. Deciding what to keep as food and what to direct toward another use is also part of kitchen work.

This article explores the role of fermentation and material reuse in restaurant kitchens, including Baan Tepa's published practices, for educational and cultural purposes. It does not promote the purchase or consumption of alcohol. Intended for readers aged 20 and over.

บทความนี้นำเสนอข้อมูลเกี่ยวกับบทบาทของการหมักและการนำวัสดุกลับมาใช้ประโยชน์ในครัวร้านอาหาร รวมถึงแนวปฏิบัติที่ Baan Tepa เผยแพร่ เพื่อการศึกษาและวัฒนธรรม มิได้มีเจตนาส่งเสริมการซื้อหรือการบริโภคเครื่องดื่มแอลกอฮอล์ สำหรับผู้อ่านอายุ 20 ปีขึ้นไป