CELEBRATING DIVERSE FLAVOURS ON CAMPUS

By DILSHAN FERNANDO

Chef Vijay Nair’s vision for the University of Guelph’s food service is anchored in sustainability.

“A lot of people are too disconnected from food, and food is way too cheap,” says Nair. “People just don’t appreciate the value of food.”

Food waste is a problem, too. In Canada, this costs almost $50 billion a year with 58 per cent of food wasted.

Nair, the executive chef of Canada’s top-ranked campus food service at the U of G, wants to do his part to mitigate those losses with a forward-looking agenda for his department.

Nair is not a rookie in big-volume kitchens and the huge food waste challenges that accompany them. Since 2010, when he joined the University, he has brought in many different flavours into its 15,000-meals-a-day kitchen.

Diversity, he says, is key to sustainability. The more you taste a variety of flavours, the more you are likely to feel an attachment for food. Attachment creates value, says Nair.

In India, people bond over food. He recalls that in his native Kerala, most houses have their own mango, jackfruit and other trees. People share these with neighbours, and this food culture brings people together while reducing waste.

Nair views food as a medium to shift society towards greater sustainability. “It can’t just be a topic of discussion, it has to be experienced. Imagine we are all sitting together, we get served an interesting dish, then talk about it. It’s a great opportunity to talk about the sustainability and diversity of that dish.”

Delivering diversity for sustainability comes naturally for Nair given his roots and training. Mind-boggling diversity defines Indian cuisine. And it’s not just the array, but the kind of layering that stands out.

“If you take a spoonful of chaat, it hits every possible sense. You need more fingers to count the number of ingredients and flavours in there!” he says.

Nair studied at IHMCT Kovalam in Kerala, then moved to challenging stints at top hotels across India. He was part of the team at Ashok Hotel, Delhi, that catered to the Indian Prime Minister’s official events. He then crossed the Atlantic, with successful roles with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and engagements with renowned chef John Higgins, cooking staggering volumes, while still maintaining the diversity of menus and controlling food waste.

Not just menus, diversifying the variety of grains and vegetables served at food outlets is crucial for sustainability-oriented campus dining, believes Nair. Taking leads from Food Forever, Menus of Change, and Food Forward India, and inspiration from Gagan Anand, Manish Mehrotra and Garima Arora – global trendsetters in the new Indian cooking scene—Nair gears his team to experiment with novel vegetarian dishes.

The close partnership between the Guelph Centre for Urban Organic Farming and his department is a part of this. This enables the use of the Centre’s produce for meals prepared for students.

The students also need to step up, says Nair. The kitchen can offer new dishes; it’s the breaking of food habits to try something different that’s difficult.

Nair believes Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at the University of Guelph plays a role in creating avenues for conversation about food with students, faculty and decision makers by organizing events where Indian foods, powered by U of G’s kitchen, take centerstage. This way, he thinks the longed for “willingness from the clientele” can be built.

Curiosity about Indian cuisine and culinary culture can encourage students to study in India, especially if one is serious about “feeding 9 billion by 2050,” he says.

• This article is an edited version of the original published at the CIRCLE website, canadaindiaresearch.ca.

• Dilshan Fernando is a student writer for CIRCLE. He is in the first year of his PhD at the University of Guelph.

• CIRCLE is an interdisciplinary hub for cutting-edge research on India/Indian diaspora, a gathering place for faculty, students and community partners who are interested in research related to India and Indian diaspora. More on CIRCLE at canadaindiaresearch.ca/connect.

• Interested in participating in the growing global community of CIRCLE? Write to indiaresearch-L@uoguelph.ca.

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