Here are two girls with a unifying intention—to prevent the fading interest in local, seasonal and organic food that’s being dangerously threatened by the modern world’s fast-food culture. Alice Helme and Ambika Seth, directors at CAARA (Culinary Arts and Research Academy), are leading a food movement from farm to table that envisions a time when people will be able to get food that’s best for them, best for those who grow them, and also beneficial for the planet.
CAARA will be opening a cafe at the British Council, presenting and supporting local farmers and producers, in an attempt to uphold their idea of eating responsibly. A CAARA fine food line, offering products with no preservatives, is also on the cards.
Putting all these ideas on the table, the girls hosted a by-invitation-only dinner at Ambika’s residence, wherein they hosted Chef Fabio Antonini from Amsterdam, in collaboration with Slow Food, an organisation to counteract the fast food culture. “He made the most delicious focaccia which we used as a pizza base, in addition to delicious Indian Brie, Balsamic Onion Marmalade and Fresh Rocket; farm sourced, of course,” says Ambika, adding, “All the ingredients were sponsored by local farmers, from India. Nature Organics provided the staples and dry fruit, 4S Milk provided us with organic milk, butter, ghee, and buttermilk, Kanu Somany’s Gourmet Garden provided us with salad leaves, edible flowers and kale and so on.”
What both women find utterly disappointing is when Indians believe imported produce to be better. “We fail to recognise that all the great things are available here too,” says Alice, who by the virtue of having grown up at a farm in Wiltshire, UK, was always surrounded by fields of wheat, grazing cows, pecking chickens and expansive vegetable patches. “It was a natural progression for me to come to Delhi and work towards understanding where our food comes from. Is it chemically treated? What about animal welfare?... some of the questions we all should ask,” she says.
While the process of questioning continues, the girls are, simultaneously, getting local communities to participate in generating awareness, along with undertaking tangible measures in support of a healthier view of food we consume today, and for the times to come.