“Vocal about local” can be seen as a 21st-century take of Swadeshi movement feels, Chef Sangram Sawant, executive sous chef, The Fern, An Ecotel Hotel, Goregaon, Mumbai
Your insights on Vocal about Local
“Vocal about local” can be seen as a 21st-century take of Swadeshi movement. This will help boost and improve micro food processing units of our country, which at present are in very low demand. Most micro units have difficulty meeting the quality standards set by our Government agencies. By giving them the orders, we would give them a platform to improve themselves and enhance quality.
All English vegetables that we being outsourced from far off places have started being cultivated in the nearby localities, making the world a smaller place. Herbs which were
earlier sourced from our vendors have been replaced with kitchen garden concept where small herbs like basil, thyme etc are being grown inside the hotel.
Curating menus at The Fern, An Ecotel Hotel, Goregaon, Mumbai using local ingredients
Using local ingredients is a way of reconnecting with our traditions and culture. It can also be used to create wide variety of healthy recipes which is otherwise avoided in daily life – eg – Broken wheat upma, aval upma, Ragi chila, etc.
Traditional recipes that have been lost or considered less worthy can be revived using menus that have healthy recipes with a traditional twist.
Need to explore authentic traditional recipes that have lost relevance in today’s time and offer them as food delights likeDum Monji, Guntur chicken, Saoji Mutton curry, Kolmi papeto tetralo, Bhuga Chawar, Yetti ghassi. This is not limited to main course but also for ‘deserts’ like Dharwadi Peda, Anaarsa, Bhoplya che gargge (Sweet pumpkin puri), ravo date nu pudding etc… purely desi majaa.
The one local ingredient your kitchen cannot do without
“Coconut” as an ingredient could be used as main hero ingredient, utilization ranges from breakfast to dessert (Meen Moilee, Nadan Curry, Goan Fish curry, kopar pak, nariyal wasi, parippu pradhaman) as an inseparable accompaniment (coconut chutney) or as garnishing on any dish
