The Wellness Cuisine Revolution
Think you have to book into a destination spa to enjoy delicious and healthy spa fare? Think again! Wellness cuisine has moved out of tradition spa settings and onto the menus of luxury hotels and restaurants.
Once upon a time it seemed as though the West’s obesity epidemic has sidestepped the East. Long known for leanness, Asia’s foods on offer on their western counterparts. Over the last two decades however the increase in fat-saturated ingredients – and subsequently waistlines – caught the attention of health officials worldwide and nutrition regulations were ushered in to help reduce obesity levels.
It began in America with state signed legislations banning restaurants and other retail food establishments from using artificial trans fat from oils, butter and shortening in cooking – a move that has radically transformed food preparation in thousands of restaurant kitchens around the globe. Most significantly, many restaurants have successfully transitioned from cooking with partially hydrogenated oils, to healthier oils such as conola and soybean, making foods not only free of trans fat, but also lower in saturated fat. New restaurant nutrition-labelling legislations (which require big chain restaurants to display the fat and calorie content of all their dishes on menus) are another pro-active health initiative being implemented internationally.
Spa cuisine too is making the leap beyond traditional spa destinations and health retreats such as Chiva Som and The farm into the doors of the luxury hotel industry, which is increasingly catering to the wellness and nutrition needs of travellers both during their stay and beyond. After all, where better to indulge your gourmet taste buds than in the sancity of a five-star resort? This trend is illustrated by the introduction of an increasingly eclectic range of culinary options that are as inventive and nourishing as the lavish spa treatment menus on offer.
The other good news is that the day of paltry heaps of bland steamed vegetables and low fat cottage cheese have come to and end. Modern spa cuisine is all about nutritious food that is both good for you and rich in flavour. One hotel group leading the wellness cuisine way is the Peninsula Hotel Group, who launched their ‘Peninsula Wellness’ programme in 2006. This initiative included the introduction of ‘Naturally Peninsula’ – a menu consisting of well-balanced cuisine that is free of trans fat, low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, and rich in lean protein, whole grains and dietary fibre. Light yet flavoursome, these wholesome recipes are all created under the watchful eye of a Nutrition Advisor and registered dietician who conducts a nutritional analysis f all new dishes before they’re put on the menu.
Consisting of dishes that are low iun calories and high in nutrition, Shangri-La’s ‘Lifestyle Menu’ consists of a variety of ‘mind fuel’ and ‘performance’ dishes; meanwhile The Ritz Carlton’s ‘Spa Café’ and Grand Hyatt’s ‘ Cuisine Naturelle’ menus carry similar themes as does ‘I-spa’ menu at InterContinental. It goes without saying that high-end destination resorts such as Six Senses and Banyan Tree have also picked uo on his trends as more and more guests demand healthy menu options while travelling.
Despite this, the sad truth is many of the ‘healthy’ options currently on menus in hotels and restaurants are actually still laden with excess fat and sodium from extremely generous portions of oil, margarine, butter and salt; they’re just a bit healthier than the burger further up the list. Genuinely healthy wellness cuisine on the other hand is all about transparency, so should have nutrition information (including allergy warnings) alongside the dish. After all, if a restaurant claims something is healthy they should have information on-hand to back this up - all you need to do is ask.
Gabrielle K Tuscher, asiaSpa january/february 2009, page 58-59