January 2022 - Page 2 of 2 - Center for Ayurveda Studies

Decoding Sattvic Cuisine at Viveda Wellness Village

January 3, 2022January 3, 2022 Gita Hari Leave a comment

In conversation with Chef Hemwant Rautela, Executive Chef at Viveda Wellness Village, Nashik on how he has adapted Sattvic principles into international cuisine

While on the threshold of choosing a career, Chef Hemwant Rautela found cooking very interesting and enjoyable. After completing his Bachelors in Hotel Management, he got to work with various reputed brands in the hospitality industry like Taj, Radisson Devi Garh, Evolve and Carnival Cruise.

Currently, as Executive Chef at Viveda Wellness Village retreat in Nashik, he has adopted a sattvic style of cooking in keeping with the tenets of the wellness retreat into world cuisine.

For a professional, adapting the much less explored Sattvic cuisine could have been risky. But, Chef Hemwant feels when one has passion to learn and imbibe more about this cuisine, one can excel in it too. So, when he got the opportunity at Viveda, he grabbed it and today, he wields his magic wand to innovate and come up with Sattvic food that is delicious and pans across the various cuisines including the global ones. Sattvic cuisine demands exclusion of onion and garlic and Chef Hemwant has mastered this art and applied it to international dishes without compromising on the taste and flavours.

Here are some of the multicuisine dishes from his menu at Viveda Wellness Village –

Salads: Som Tam, Khamang Kakadi, Corn Chaat, Black Eye Bean Salad.

Starters: Soya Vegetables, Golden Corn, Kebabs, Sesame Potato.

Soups: Lentil and Coconut Soup, Citrus and Cilantro Soup, Roasted Pumpkin Soup, Broccoli and Almond Soup.

Main course: Makai Palak, Whole Wheat Pasta, Adraki Aloo Gobi.

Dessert: Ragi Lapsi, Foxtail Millet Kheer, Black Rice Kheer,

Herbal Smoothie and Kadha

He shares his experiences of creating Sattvic menu at Viveda, “I got the chance to work as a pre-opening team for Viveda with our General Manager Dr Rejith Daniel. We started Viveda from the scratch and now our guests are appreciating our concept and food. I still remember those days when we passionately worked with the project and department setups and succeeded in its popularity.

Excerpts from an interview:

Why Sattvic food and what is your definition of it?

As a human being sattvic is the best and sustainable way to eat food and to live our life in such a manner where we do not harm other creatures for our food. We must eat as per our body requirements, not just for taste. My definition of sattvic food is honest and wholesome food.

What are your memories of the food you tasted in your childhood and as you grew up?
I belong to a village named Pinoli in Almora district, Uttarakhand, India, where food is grown organically. We used cow dung for fertiliser and I have ploughed fields too. Many indigenous grains like Finger millet, Foxtail millet, Black Eye bean, Red lentil, Black bean, Soya bean, Red rice are grown along with seasonal vegetables too. My family continues to do organic farming. I have grown up eating the food grown naturally.

What are the key ingredients that are a must in your Sattvic menu?

Use of organic and fresh ingredients is the key to sattvic cooking. In my kitchen food is freshly prepared with less spices.

Can you name some of the main course international preparations that you have adapted to sattvic form of cooking on the menu at Viveda?

Beetroot and Spinach Risotto, Sattvic Thai Curry, Soba Noodles, Whole Wheat Pasta, Rice Sheet Cannelloni, Baked Spinach and Corn are few of the dishes we make for main course. Our guests at Viveda are people, who are exposed to global cuisine, and they wholly appreciate and relish our dishes. Especially those who are here on month-long treatment with therapies; they find the food very beneficial. At the same time the wide repertoire of Indian and global dishes makes it an interesting and tasty food experience.

Can you explain to us how you incorporate international taste into Continental and Pan Asian cuisines without onion and garlic?

While you are choosing a certain type of lifestyle like sattvic then of course you will not go for just the taste of the food but you will see the effect of what you are eating on your body. Food can be tasty without using onion and garlic too. Using fresh ingredients and cooking it freshly will add the taste. Asafoetida, fenugreek, lemon grass, ginger and many such ingredients can be substituted for onion and garlic.

What are your personal favourite dishes?

Laheshu Roti (whole wheat dough stuffed with ragi) is the specialty of my region. I relish Ragi Lapsi that my mom used to cook for me in my childhood and she still does. Jaggery is one of my favourite ingredients that I used to have with milk in my childhood. Subji of Mustard leaf in Besan is my favourite. Red Lentil & Coconut Soup, Corn & Cucumber Salad are some of the healthy foods I always look up to. And I love international food too.

Vegan Entrepreneur and Chef Ed Harris on Veganism and his book ‘Veganish’

January 3, 2022January 3, 2022 Rajeshwari Kalyanam Leave a comment

Ed Harris brings together traditional Guyanese cuisine that he has grown up eating, which is a melting pot of several cuisines including Indian, his experiences as a chef and journey as a vegan into his work as a food entrepreneur and food consultant

After having worked in the capacity of a professional chef handling different positions with hotels and restaurants, Ed Harris discovered Veganism. This happened over a documentary watching session with wife and kids. After watching the famed documentary ‘What The Health’, popular chef, food consultant and author Ed Harris turned into a vegan. From the past few years, the Atlanta-based Chef has been advocating veganism, creating recipes and has turned an entrepreneur with ‘knifenspoon’ brand of food products. While he continues to experiment and innovate to create new products and recipes, he majorly invests his time in advocating veganism. He finds his Guyanese roots enriching and he loves to explores various cuisines on his quest for newer dishes.

Author, Founder of Knife n Spoon, food entrepreneur and Food Consultant Ed Harris in an exclusive interview:

How has your personal journey been as you transformed into a vegan?

I became a vegan advocate six years ago and the moment was when I along with my wife and kids watched ‘What the Health’ – first documentary we saw on the subject. From that point on, we couldn’t go back.

My personal journey has been great. Like anything it was challenging in the beginning. But it was something I looked forward to. It gave me a chance to learn new ways, and new techniques to make vegetables taste even better.

Ed Harris Do share your process of creating recipes?

Creating recipes is easy for me. It’s fun and I love doing it. I go based on culture, then I breakdown to ingredients familiar to that particular culture. I am more of a technical guy, so my recipes are technical. They deliver on very specific key points.

The mission is to get people to eat more vegetables. I feel its very important. The more you eat vegetables, the easier it is to transition to plant based and vegan.

I am working on products that I can ship across the world. In addition to pancakes and waffle mixes, and we have spices. Its always a progression. We are trying to create better and good quality products.

How have your Guyanese roots influenced your food habits and recipes?

Guyanese food is amazing. There are many influences including Indian and from different parts of Asia; there is Portuguese and tons of cultures. It is a great melting pot. All the fruits and vegetables that naturally grow in Guyana make it even more amazing. Vegetables are big in South America. Having in depth acknowledge of them is definitely beneficial.

Social media is a big part of your work. How has the experience been?

Social media has allowed me to reach out to more people and show them how amazing whole food and plant-based food is. It can be the main star of your menu and still provide tons of nutrition. Every day at 1pm EST I do a room in Club House of eating vegetables – tricks and tips of cooking.

Ed Harris Give us more details on your latest cookbook?

My latest cookbook is ‘Veganish Breakfast’ and it’s all about breakfast as the name says. Many of my clients say breakfast is the hardest thing to do if you are moving towards plant-based. I wanted to give them a book of yummy recipes – there are smoothies, yummy stuff like my favourite Hashbrowns, Tamalis, Avocado Toast with mushrooms – dishes with amazing taste and texture - recipes closer to my heart in the book.

Have you tasted Indian food? You do have Indian Masala as one of your products?

I have been to India many times. I have tasted Indian food and I love it.

While I know a lot of ingredients, I would like to know more. That will give me an opportunity to create more dishes.

What do Protein Consumers Look for?

January 2, 2022January 2, 2022 Ayuve Leave a comment

Highlights from ‘The Protein Mindset Uncovering consumers’ perceptions and preferences of Proteins – a study by Kerry throws light on what consumers expect from the protein-rich foods they buy

As focus on health, protein consumption is rising, especially post Covid 19, it is not just wellness brands, but mainstream food and beverage brands too that began to look at ways to add protein rich food to their product profile and boost products’ health credentials.

Kerry, the food technology company that works closely with several leading food and beverage companies released a white paper on the Protein Perception. The study highlights the aspect of ‘On Pack Protein Claim’. This is a key area that is increasingly being discussed in the alt-protein and vegetarian food space. The highlights of the study published in VEGAYU thrown light on what the customers’ perception of proteins is and what do they expect from labelling. Kerry Group, international nutrition and taste company initiated the survey done on more than 6,300 consumers across 12 countries in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Extracts from Kerry’s white paper on ‘The Protein Mindset Uncovering consumers’ perceptions and

preferences of Proteins’
On Pack Protein Claim

With a high focus on health, protein consumers are increasingly demanding transparency, nutritional and ingredient information on their products. These discerning consumers are highly sensitive to ingredient declarations and have a rising awareness of clean labelling and “natural” claims. In fact, two of the strong purchase drivers of protein-enriched foods and beverages among this group continue to be clean label and on-pack “better for you” claims. Moreover, claims on pack related to sustainability and environment are gaining traction and becoming more important for wellness consumers. Brands have a renewed opportunity to develop new products or reformulate current offerings with simpler, more natural ingredients that are more transparent.

Five Opportunities to Deliver Product Differentiation with Proteins

Attract consumer interest in proteins across broader food categories

Diversity is key to success. This study highlighted that consumers are looking for protein in a more diversified range of offerings—specifically, in high-frequency food and beverage applications including breakfast cereals, breads, juices, and coffee

Capitalize on the Power of Plant Proteins

With consumers embracing the sustainable and health benefits of plant-based alternatives, plant proteins are no longer a niche and are reaching mainstream traction. The taste and texture of plant-protein products are essential to drive further growth in the category. Several plant protein sources such as oat, pea, rice, sunflower and hybrid formations (plant + dairy)—offer a fertile playground for product development.

Protein Quality: Deliver and Educate

While protein quality is consistently a top driver of consumer purchasing, other quality dimensions such as PDCAAS and EAA profile have not yet reached mass knowledge. Nonetheless, these are important to a niche set of high-frequency protein consumers, meaning that there are opportunities to educate and inform consumers about the different protein quality dimensions. This in turn can cut through the clutter of the protein marketplace and trigger premium positioning for both innovative reformulations and new products. Moreover, this will also boost consumer appeal and loyalty.

Exceed consumers’ “clean label” and “better for you” expectations

Clean labels are an important priority to consumers, with over 75% of consumers today wanting better ingredients in their food and beverages (organic, non-GMO, natural/no artificial) 4 . Five Opportunities to Deliver Product Differentiation with Proteins continued Exceed consumers’ “clean label” and “better for you” expectations 4. 75% of consumers today want better ingredients in their food and beverages The industry must deliver not only on the amount and quality of proteins, but also on cleaner, healthier product formulations.

Differentiate with sustainability and traceability

With 49% of global consumers prioritizing sustainability today, this has become a defining trait of emerging brands and products.5 Delivering more sustainable food and beverage product is a key focus for manufacturers.