There is something so satisfying about the vegan stunners in those delectable filter coffee macaroons, Old Monk chocolate cakes, brioche doughnuts, black forest entremets, mystery cheesecakes, orange pistachio loaf, mini tarts, lemon blueberry pound cake with yuzu lemon curd…They are an expression of inventive odd ingredients by Chef Naimita Jagasia, Founder-CEO, An Ode to Gaia, a hyper-modern, luxury plant-based patisserie. The first of its kind in India.
At 26, she isn’t just the owner of a bakery, but a guru-chef to aspiring vegan bakers, chefs, students across the globe, and a vocal advocate for a sustainable and ethical lifestyle. ‘Anything you can bake, I can bake vegan’ is her anthem. Her most recent radical spin on vegan desserts? “I’ve been laughed at by chefs, that I am a plant-based pastry chef and run a vegan French patisserie. I have been told umpteen times that vegan this and vegan that isn’t possible,” confesses Naimita.
“This kept motivating me to finally crack a seriously good vanilla mousse for a classic French entremet. The key is to have a proper setting agent, and premium quality white chocolate. It took me a few months to nail our house-made dairy-free white chocolate recipe, and then keep modifying my mousse recipe to make it Mumbai-weather stable (and Mumbai-roads stable!). To make the mousse light, airy and perfectly set using agar, coconut cream, soy and the white chocolate was no easy feat.”
Comes the eye popper: She hasn’t been to a culinary school. Encouraged by the response to her made-up recipes and whimsical cupcakes, the artist in her came to the fore. Naimita went to fashion school and studied footwear design, and then applied the structure and shape to the artistry on another medium—bakes! The shift to veganism happened when she reluctantly moved back to Mumbai and missed the sweet offerings of London’s weekend vegan markets. “I lived a hop away from Brick Lane market, and would die for some vegan BBQ ribs and chicken wings. Trust me, try the vegan versions once and the animal counterparts will smell awful. I went from eating meat 3x a day to embracing, baking all I wanted to eat with substitutes.”
“But substitutes are often not 1:1 replacement options,” she clarifies immediately. “Like in my workshops I teach students to make buttercream without using butter (not everyone has access to vegan butter!) and using wholesome fats: in cocoa butter, coconut oil or even cashews. My favourite is coconut cream or coconut milk because it brings natural sweetness and richness to any dessert. I recently started working with vegan cheese to make savoury bakes, a fun experiment as I am not a savoury chef.” AOTG makes use of mindfully sourced plant-based ingredients, acquired from local farms and small businesses to ensure an ethical supply chain, with even an ethically made bean-to-bar chocolate custom made for the bakery.
“AOTG is now India’s first 100 percent plant-based boutique dessert studio with sustainability baked into its core,” says Naimita. The brand is committed to doing more for the planet through sustainable packaging, fair working conditions, animal rescues, charitable donations and more. Dairy and eggs have a significant ecological footprint.
“Apart from these two, there is chocolate that depends on slave labour and child labour to maintain its low pricing, as well as unfair wages. The chocolate industry in India has been a blessing, because we can source directly from farmers’ collectives and brands like Pascati which are certified fair trade. In short, my patisserie is a reflection of my values and beliefs. This means equal opportunity for all, sourcing ethically and locally, reducing the carbon footprint,” she says.
Her biggest learning as she reaches out to non-vegan customers to change the perspective of vegan food? “Don’t do anything without a contract!”