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Choose to Eat Healthy- Food Fiesta

 

IT’S not enough to name your favourite dish, you have to know if it’s going to be slow cooked, char grilled or rich in antioxidants. So, put aside those chopsticks you’ve been trying to master and get updated with the latest food trends to discuss over your next eco-friendly… sorry, green meal.

Look at food with a fresh palate, say trend watchers across the globe as they urge food lovers to explore the newest culinary ideas of the year. So, as ‘organic’ food transforms to ‘local’ food and ecofriendly food options turn to ‘green choices’, it seems to be the year of health and innovation for foodies across the world. While you’re being eco-sensitive, do remember to check out ‘foodprints’ before digging into your meal.

A foodprint, defined by food researchers as the amount of land required to provide one person’s nutritional needs for a year, is making news globally. Says gourmet and writer Karen Anand, “I’ve also tried out the ‘100-mile’ concept in Australia where the chefs use produce that is grown around 100 miles of a certain area. This saves on fuel and transport, besides helping local farmers too. These trends are still to take off in India. In fact, I went to an organic restaurant recently and found only two people there. Here, eco-friendly food is happening only at the micro level.” 
   In another trend, healthy western touches are entering Indian food styles. Says Sandeep Kachroo, executive chef of a five-star hotel in Bangalore, “Indian cuisine has always been adaptive to influences.

This is proved by the nearly 10,000 recipes for curry, which vary in taste, texture and ingredients. In recent times, people have switched to refined sunflower oil in place of the traditional ghee, mustard or coconut oil. Roasting and steaming foods, instead of deep frying and griddling, is also popular. Indian dishes are being given a western twist with new names, with fish tikka or burrah kebab getting rechristened as char grilled fish on a bed of cumin and curry leaf or charbroiled lamb chops infused with spiced yoghurt.

The new avatar of Indian cuisine in healthy cooking styles adds to its vast variety.”    Also making waves is the trend of choosing foods which may aid in disease prevention. Sheela Krishnaswamy, nutritionist, comments on this do-it-yourself doctoring of food. “Today, people are making informed choices,” she says. “They are choosing foods rich in fibres and antioxidants. Reduced caffeine, sugar, fats and maida add to the benefits of an intelligently-selected meal.”
   Lowered sodium content is something else to look out for. Says Dharini Krishnan, Chennai-based consultant dietitian,“Hypertension, due to obesity or , can be triggered by the rising sodium content in the food. Much of it is not from salt, but from the preservatives used.”
   Another trend that’s returning to our country is the ‘slow food’ concept where a dish has to be cooked slowly and enjoyed at a leisurely pace. Says food columnist and expert Ajit Saldanha, “Fast food and the idea of one-size-fits-all spells the death knell for the discerning palate. ‘Slow food’ is finding its way back into India. My relatives go to a village in Kerala just to eat the organically-grown rice and kokum, the freshly-caught fish spiced with masalas ground on a traditional grinding stone and cooked in earthenware. It’s a luxury to be able to cook slowly and have an elaborate meal with everyone.”

 

 

 

Written by James · Filed Under Health 

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