Amid skyrocketing prices of vegetables distorting the pricing of food, star hotels in the Nilgiris, a prime tourist destination in the South, have introduced home-grown vegetables and fruits in their menu.

“We grow in our campus herbal plants including thyme, basil, lemongrass and rosemary, vegetables including cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, broccoli, carrot, beetroot and lettuce,and fruits including strawberry, pear, plum and custard apple, applying organic manure,” R. Nagaraj, Housekeeping Head, Gateway Hotel Coonoor, told Business Line .

“We introduced these in our cuisine this summer and there was mentionable preference from domestic and overseas guests for the Nilgiri vegetable dishes.

“Besides spreading the much sought-after exquisite local flavour with healthy fresh organic vegetables, we are able to save cost substantially,” said Gateway Hotel Coonoor Operations Manager R. Muralidharan.

“We also use them in our staff canteen,” said HR Manager D. Antony Gerald.

“We have home-style Nilgiri specialities prepared by housewives in our Regional Food section, which was the foreigners’ favourite this season,” noted P. Vibhakar, General Manager, Taj Savoy.

“Our latest introduction is tree-tomato from our organic orchid, which we use in our breakfast and dinner buffets,” said Ismail Khan, Resident Director, Gem Park Hotel and Resorts, Ooty.

“Guests prefer tree-tomato for its juicy, sweet, flavourful flesh”, said Food and Beverages Manager Pradeep Kumar.

“We serve salad, mousse, raitha and jelly prepared with tree-tomato”, Chef Surendran added.

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