Turning Tables

Earlier this month,The Pantry,a cafe,opened in Fort,offers dishes with locally sourced ingredients and hopes to educate their customers about their suppliers. The hotels under The Oberoi group across India are also turning to local products,especially fish native to Indian coasts — red snapper,Indian tuna and seabass — which they prefer to frozen filets that come from abroad. At Mumbai’s ITC Maratha,Chef Rajdeep Kapoor has been incorporating local food — especially fruits and vegetables that are sourced from within a 100 mile radius — to cut down the hotel’s carbon footprint.

But a large indication of this trend taking off comes with Blue Foods’ franchise,Spaghetti Kitchen in Mumbai,Delhi and Pune,which has tied up with farmers in Himachal Pradesh for herbs,vendors in Pune for vegetables,and sources in Orissa for prawns from the Chilka Lake. “So if we require prawns or herbs,it comes from a specific set of producers,ensuring consistency of produce and quality,” says Bill Marchetti,master chef,Spaghetti Kitchen. “I’m working on the concept of farm-to-table to retain the integrity of flavour that comes with putting fresh ingredients on the table,” he adds.

The farm-to-table concept,though nascent and niche,is driven by the relationship that chefs build directly with the farmers. This ensures that kitchens and diners know where their ingredients come from,the conditions in which they are grown,and develop a level of trust for the quality. To farmers on the other hand,not only does it mean a direct source of demand for their products,but also the incentive to consider ingredients they wouldn’t normally have. “Ten years ago,no household had broccoli,asparagus and bell peppers as they weren’t grown in India,” says Satbir Bakshi,executive sous chef,The Oberoi,Mumbai. He adds that the concerns regarding the quality of Indian produce are now removed since the farmers are conscious of what they deliver. In fact,the local ingredients are at times better than their international counterparts due to the added advantage of having travelled a shorter distance. “Even things like oyster mushrooms,which were imported earlier,are now grown by a vendor of ours when he realised that we had the demand for it. What used to cost Rs 2500 per kg imported,now costs us Rs 500 per kg only,” says Bakshi.

This trend,however,is not here to battle imported products. Most restaurants,even as they aim to keep their dishes as local as possible,don’t want to compromise on flavour or authenticity. “The ‘masalas’ of Italian cooking are olive oil and Parmesan cheese,which aren’t available here but crucial to producing genuine Italian cuisine,” says Marchetti,citing how lavender is now sourced locally,but truffles,cheese and olive oil,isn’t. “Some items — such as risotto rice and certain cheeses — will,therefore,still need to be imported,” he adds.

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