holistic health with organic food

Holistic Health with Organic Food

By Nickky Faustine De Guzman

Published: April 23, 2013

Marriot Hotel Chef Meik Brammer marvels at his freshest pick.

Here is a rhetorical question: who would not want the convenience brought about by fast foods and canned goods? But while most of us are aware of the preservatives added to these comfort foods, some do not seem to care at all. Perhaps time constraints in concocting healthier dishes bring about the penchant for the packaged goodies.

A trip to an organic farm a few hours away from the city seems to be a timely retreat, reminding everyone about the value of a simple and languid rural life, where everything one needs is in his or her backyard garden, fresh for the picking.
An organic farm in Nasugbu, Batangas boasts of a wide array of vegetables that can very likely sum up the “Bahay Kubo” song. The two-hectare farm also has approximately 30 kinds of herbs and some chickens that eat Japan-original micro biotic solution molasses that promise to keep them healthy and sturdy.

“Planting organic vegetables is very easy; anyone can do it as long as you can understand the language of the plants,” Bautista Organic farm owner, Corazon Bautista, shares. In understanding nature, she says one needs to know what a yellowish vegetable means or a withered leaf signifies. Thus, do not be surprised if you happen to pass by the farm while Corazon is in the middle of talking, dancing, or singing to her plants. True enough, the carrots, arugulas, and tomatoes are beaming with life and are seemingly secreting sweet-smelling scents.

The organic farm uses sugar cane mud press as fertilizers, which has high content of protein, sugar, and fiber that makes for good compost. Since organic farming veers away from chemicals, the vegetables, herbs, and chickens are as wholesome as they seem to appear.

“Our highest mission is to help restore the land. By avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, we can improve the health conditions of our community. When all is said and done, we are what we eat,” Corazon says.

According to some studies, organic foods are more nutritious because they are richer in vitamins, fatty acids, and minerals. Others believe that unrefined food tastes better than the processed ones. There seems to be no other way to prove the claim than by tasting the organic vegetables available in the farm. So we dig in the four-course meal prepared to perfection by chefs Meik Brammer and Rej Casanova of Marriott Hotel.

First on the menu is a Salad of Heirloom Tomatoes and Organic Chicken Liver Mousse. The dish is a fusion of tastes and textures from the tang of the balsamic jelly, the sweetness and crispiness of the almond crumbs, and the garlicky flavor of the tarragon aioli. But the light dish is just a prelude of what is in store.
The second dish, the Velvet Pumpkin soup with ratatouille stuffed baby squashed, garlic croutons, and cinnamon crème meanwhile leans on the sweet side brought about by the squash and cinnamon crème. The dish may look simple but its taste is exquisite and satisfying. The pumpkin soup comes in generous amounts so the time for small chitchat with the chefs seems to be the perfect excuse for food digestion.
Marriot’s Executive Chef Brammer shares that the hotel has tied up with the Bautista Organic Farm for a “Farm to a Table” menu offering, which is available for the whole month of April. Sinfully delicious drinks like Lemon Grass and Passion Fruit, Mango, Ginger Mojito, and Jungle Banana Colada are also available on the April organic menu.

Then, off to the main course we go, which is an organic Free-Range Chicken Roulade in Port Wine Sauce with fricassee of garden vegetables and gorgonzola potatoes. Credits to the effective microorganism (EM1) feeds that the chickens eat, their meat tastes tender, leaner, and tends to melt into your mouth. The port wine sauce complements the organic chicken roulade.

To top off the organic and healthy meal is the Rum Mango with Hazelnut Crunch. The dessert has peppermint ice cream and Palawan honey reduction that exudes the right amount of syrupiness.
Majority of the ingredients used came from the organic farm and were cooked right before your very eyes, which assured the quality and freshness of each meal.

“It is always easy for anyone to tag their food as organic, but this is the real natural food,” Chef Brammer points out. But there’s no need to reiterate things; let the two-hectare plantation brimming with natural vegetables and herbs and the organic meal course speak for itself.