EAT YOUR WAY TO A HEALTHY PLANET
Shangri-La The Fort joined the rest of the world in observing the United Nations Sustainable Gastronomy Day in a very delectable way.
For one week, culminating on the day itself, June 18, Shangri-La showed that an environmentally responsible cuisine did not have to be blah. Chef Carlo Huerta from Cusco, Peru, whipped up for diners at Samba restaurant authentic flavorful dishes from his home country that were sourced from sustainable providers and introduced Filipinos to some of the traditional ingredients and food preservation techniques of his forebears, the Incas.
Shangri-La’s weeklong Sustainable Gastronomy festival of special culinary creations aimed to underscore the hotel’s enduring commitment to meaningful environmental and social causes.
Huerta was perfectly suited to be an ambassador of sustainability. He knew about conservation and preservation since 13 sites in Peru have been designated as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), including Huerta’s home city. Under the Inca ruler Pachacutec, Cusco developed into a complex urban center with distinct religious and administrative functions, surrounded by clearly delineated areas for agricultural, artisan and industrial production. When the Spaniards conquered it in the 16th century, they preserved the basic structure but built Baroque churches and palaces over the ruins of the Inca city.
The exotic but sustainable spread he prepared for Samba included ceviche camarones y tomates cherry, a concoction of sustainably sourced vannamei prawns (produced by a Thai company) with leche de tigre (citrus-based spicy marinade used to cure fish in classic Peruvian ceviche or marinated fish or seafood), extra virgin oil, cherry tomato and celery strings; tiradito de atún en leche de tigre de rocoto, sustainably line-caught tuna, dayap lime, rocoto chili, cilantro, cancha corn (corn dried the traditional Inca way); sudado de corvina asiatica, barramundi with chicha de jora (corn beer), onion, tomato, cilantro and lime; jaleon de betilya fish with seafood sauce, crispy-fried fish, ají amarillo (yellow chili pepper), black tiger prawns and yucca (cassava) puree.
The Peruvian chef made special mention of cassava, pointing out that Filipinos did not use as much of this abundant root crop as they should.
For dessert, Huerta concocted crema de guanabana y merengue, soursop (guyabano) cream, almonds, crispy meringue and white chocolate.
Green is delish
The impressive meal affirmed the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) statement that environment-friendly or “green culture meals are not only nutritious, but also sustainable.” FAO adds that countries that already had dietary recommendations should start thinking about how to include sustainability in them.
The UN General Assembly designated June 18 as World Gastronomy Day to recognize the importance of sustainable gastronomy in terms of sustainable development and to draw attention to it.
The global event also aims “to acknowledge gastronomy as a form of cultural expression relating to the diversity of cultures throughout the world.” Sustainable gastronomy refers to cuisine that considers the sources of food; how it is cultivated and brought to the markets and, eventually, the dining table.
As defined by the UN, “Sustainability refers to the concept of doing something [such as farming, fishing or food preparation] in a way that does not waste natural resources and can be continued in the future without endangering health or the environment.”
It envisions sustainable food and agriculture that give everyone access to healthy food, and that manage natural resources to meet present and future human requirements.
To advance the goals of sustainable gastronomy, Unesco launched the Creative Cities Network in 2004 to enable the sharing of best practices and form collaborations in seven creative disciplines. As of 2020, a total of 26 cities have been designated as Creative Cities of Gastronomy.
There are five essential concepts of sustainability for food and agriculture:
• increase productivity, employment and value addition in the food system;
• safeguard and improve natural resources; ʎ improve people’s lives and promote inclusive economic growth;
• boost people’s, communities’ and ecosystems’ resilience; and, most importantly
• adapt governance to new circumstances International bodies also offer some suggestions for avoiding and/or reducing food waste, especially during the holidays. These include understanding the distinction between date labels and date stamps, allowing visitors to serve themselves, freezing leftovers or giving them to visitors, using the leftovers for meals the following day, finishing any leftovers before starting something fresh, donating items that are not needed and composting food scraps.