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Organic food is not just better tasting, but also ensures better quality of life. Rina Chandran on the Southern Spice restaurant at the Taj in Chennai, which has made a beginning by using organic ingredients.

Executive Chef, C.K. Chandrasekar, Southern Spice in Taj Coromandel, Chennai.

Ever wondered how natural the fish and vegetables on your dinner plate actually are? If it's the Southern Spice at the Taj Coromandel you are dining in, you can set your mind at ease: the restaurant recently launched an effort to use only organic ingredients, from ghee to spices to greens to meats.

The South Indian specialty restaurant redid its menu in September to offer more traditional fare. A decision was then made to use organic materials to make the food more authentic, the way our grandmothers might have cooked, with masalas ground at home, vegetables from the garden and fish from the vendor selling the day's catch. "Prepared this way, the food not only tastes better, it is also much healthier," says P.K. Mohankumar, COO, Oriental Hotels Ltd. & General Manager — Taj Coromandel.

"Our quality of life is far inferior to our forefathers, largely because our food is adulterated," he says. "We use chemical fertilisers and insecticides, but we don't have a choice." Even if one wants to eat healthy, no one really has the time to seek out organic foods — and the options are rather limited.

So a start has been made at Southern Spice, the 28-year old restaurant previously known as `Mysore', because it was felt that traditional South Indian food was more amenable to the use of organic ingredients. The restaurant has always ground its own spices, rather than use packaged spices; now, it also taps small local suppliers rather than commercial wholesalers for fresh produce.

Some of the ingredients used in Taj Coromandel.

Palak and other greens and leafy vegetables are sourced from vegetable gardens in the suburbs, maintained by housewives and small farmers. They do not use chemical fertilisers or insecticides, according to N. Srinivasan, the Coromandel's Materials Manager. Coconuts are specially grown for the Taj hotels by a farmer in Mangalore, and so are spices in Kerala; chillis come from Guntur, tamarind from Chittoor, and jaggery from Enfield Agro. Other vegetables still come from Panagal Park, a large commercial vegetable market in the city, and from the hill station of Kodaikanal. The restaurant is currently identifying organic sources for these, too.

For ghee, the restaurant has identified a co-operative run by rural women near the town of Chengelput. Fish is sourced from local fishermen, rather than the contract supplier used for the hotel's other restaurants. Even the appetisers that are served — usually, rice crispies with chutneys — are now sourced from some Tamil women who make them the traditional way, after a puja, with fresh oil and no preservatives or artificial ingredients. "Approximately 20 to 25 per cent of all ingredients are now organic," says Mohankumar.

Identifying these varied sources was difficult at first, says Srinivasan, but the restaurant tapped its network of contacts, as well as leads from local guests. Given that the suppliers are mostly small and not commercial, there is a certain degree of uncertainty with regard to supply. "It is challenging; we are always on tenterhooks," admits Srinivasan. "But we get the satisfaction of doing something different."

The difference in cost, he says, is not appreciable, as only small quantities of vegetables are bought for the day's requirements; they cost perhaps 5 per cent more than the wholesale price. In the case of ghee, the restaurant actually pays much less: about Rs 106 per kg as compared to Rs 156 per kg of the regular brand, says Srinivasan. (The requirement is about 400 kg a month.)

However, because there are no industry standards, it is difficult to monitor and regulate these sources, and to even verify that the produce is entirely organic. The restaurant makes site inspections periodically, sometimes even incognito, says Mohankumar. "It's an unstructured industry, so it's not regularised, and organic food isn't even properly defined," he says. "The government must introduce standards and involve food manufacturers and processors, too."

We could look westward for a primer: following Europe's lead, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently introduced labelling rules for organic products. Organic foods, which began as a hippy sub-culture in the 1970s, has become mainstream, with small delis, large grocery chains and restaurants dishing out organic cereals and meals.

Consumers, spooked by genetically modified food and outbreaks of mad-cow disease, are prepared to pay a premium because it is not just about better tasting food, but also a better quality of life. Organic foods are healthier, and believed to promote environmentally safe farming, and therefore better soil quality, better water quality and more humane treatment of animals. The USDA's green seal of approval will only be seen on food grown by a certified farmer who does not use chemical pesticides and fertilisers, biotechnology, antibiotics or growth hormones. Sales of organic food in the US in 1999 were estimated at $4 billion.

In India, while demand is not as high, awareness is certainly rising, especially among the health-conscious. And guests at the Southern Spice have certainly noticed the difference, says Srinivasan. Even the chef claims that the aromas and flavours of organic ingredients are better. So eat up your organic greens — they are good for you, and good for Mother Earth, too.

Pictures by Bijoy Ghosh

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