The Paleolithic-vegan hybrid is the next fad diet in town, and chefs who are indulging in it, share the dishes enjoying the most attention
A shrimp scampi with zucchini noodles that Nishesh Seth has created
Speaking over the phone from Goa, Nishesh Seth admits that the word Peganism sounds a bit funny the first time you utter it. But, the concept, says Seth, the executive chef of Le Meridien Goa, is quite interesting. "It's nothing but a good combination of the Paleo and vegan diet."
For those who still don't change their weekly groceries based on the latest fad diet, the Paleo - based on what humans probably ate in the Paleolithic age - includes lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, i.e., foods that could be obtained by hunting and gathering.
ADVERTISEMENT
Nishesh Seth
The vegan diet is a plant-based diet that excludes dairy and meat, but keeps the cereal and legumes that Paleo restricts. Where both diets meet is in their shunning of processed foods. What Mark Hyman, MD, who coined the term in 2014, advocates is the meats that are consumed are reared on sustainable farms and the animals are not injected with chemicals to spur growth. Grains are allowed, but those with a low glycaemic indexes such as black rice or quinoa. And these in small portions.
But Seth argues that not everything needs to be cut from the diet. The body needs oil, he says, and he and his wife source their ghee (all organic) from Karnataka, where an acquaintance goes every few months and they know that it's not processed. While Seth hasn't introduced the dishes to the menu at his restaurant yet - he has been running trials - others in Mumbai have crossed over.
By Gitanjali Chandrasekharan
'A good number of vegetarian items on our menu can be tweaked'
Chef Hitesh Shanbaug
sous chef, The Good Wife
Dishes: Superfood salad; quinoa and barley risotto; red pepper hummus
Being vegan is tough enough without adding the requirements of Paleo to it as well. Chef Hitesh Shanbaug who followed a Paleo diet for eight months, understands that. "I couldn't really keep up with it. In a Paleo diet, you even avoid processed foods like maida. It's mostly eating legumes over processed grains, and leaning on vegetables for your fibre. My go-to vegetables were broccoli and asparagus."
Hitesh Shanbaug
At The Good Wife, Shanbaug gets about 10 requests a day for vegan dishes and maybe one request a day for a Pegan dish. So, the menu was tweaked slightly to make room for both. "We had the vegan diet in mind while designing the menu, in any case. At The Good Wife, we started by including ingredients that were preferred by Pegans, such as avocado, kale and arugula. Instead of using Arborio rice in our risotto, we do a quinoa and barley risotto. Instead of butter, we use olive oil. We took out parmesan." He adds, "A good number of vegetarian items on our menu can be made Pegan. Our superfood salad complies with all the demands of the Pegan diet. We have the red pepper hummus, in which we don't serve pita bread, but a rice cracker or an iceberg lettuce. The avocado salad, the quinoa salad and the watermelon salad can all be made Pegan."
While it wasn't difficult to make the switch, it involved thinking differently. "Because the ingredients you're supposed to use less, you use a lot more. Grains would be an accompaniment to chicken, but now grains have become the main course. The taste of the risotto is different. It's more in sync with the ingredients rather than the typical risotto, but the method is the same. So you can't call it anything other than a risotto."
By Ekta Mohta
'The diet's benefits accrue only if you're consistent'
Chef Amit Sharma
Poetry by Love and Cheesecake
Dishes: Cucumber, watermelon and avocado salad and lemon coconut zoodles
Chef Amit Sharma helms the kitchen at Poetry by Love and Cheesecake in Mumbai, and is a Pegan diet follower himself. He first heard about this diet from a friend. "My friend, who lives abroad, found it a little difficult to understand and follow initially, given that the Paleo diet emphasises lots of proteins - meat, fish, eggs - but vegans completely avoid animal products. Being a hardcore non-vegetarian, she found it difficult to give up on meat and milk.
So she stuck to salads to make it easy for herself. But she got comfortable with it on the third day and was happy with the outcome because she noticed less aches and pains in her joints. So, I thought of giving it a shot myself."
Amit Sharma
Sharma thinks that Peganism is a more practical diet than either the Paleo or vegan, but he has found it tough to stick to. "It is easy to do in bursts but the benefits really accrue if you're consistent. I'd think it's still hard to do it in Mumbai because of irregular work schedules." The 35-year-old chef's personal favourite Pegan creation is the watermelon, cucumber and avocado salad. "It is creamy, crunchy, salty and sweet at the same time. Pegan recipes basically emphasise on plant food. The combination of cucumber, avocado and watermelon ensures the meal has enough fibre, potassium and non-starchy vegetables. It's an easy lunch recipe and comfortable for most Pegan diet newbies," he says, adding, "Pegan dishes focus on three key criteria - low glycaemic food (i.e., should not spike blood sugar), grass-fed meat and lots of vegetables. So, it's not tough to mould a dish into the Pegan diet."
Sharma says that his patrons enquire about the diet quite regularly. "People ask about it and we usually see many of them order the Pegan dishes on the menu - the aforementioned salad and lemon coconut zoodles - but the awareness is still not widespread."
By Prutha Bhosle
'You need to shop intelligently to follow this diet'
Chef Abhijit Berde Chef and director at AGA Hospitality/Illuminati
Dish: Roasted sweet potato with creamy avocado guacamole and cherry tomato compote
As a chef, you have to keep yourself informed of all the latest trends, and that's how I got to know of peganism," says Chef Abhijit Berde, who doesn't follow the diet himself, but says, "In the profession I am, we can't really choose what we eat. We have to keep adapting, and moving on." The chef does think that the diet is a healthy one, as it's all about clean eating - "peganism is good in that it eliminates dairy from a diet, and that's responsible for a lot of problems, like bloating and acidity."
Berde's dish takes a healthy starch in the form of a sweet potato (instead of a potato) roasted in olive oil (instead of butter) and then served with a creamy avocado guacamole and cherry tomato compote. It's pegan as it uses basic vegetables, and no grains or pulses.
Abhijit Berde
"Since it's all squishy and mushy, we add some crispy sweet potato chips. The thing with this diet is that you have to be imaginative with your recipes." Berde thinks that experimenting only depends on what you stock in your pantry, and how you shop. "You can replace normal ingredients with pegan ingredients, so you just have to shop intelligently. Also, there is no need to compromise on flavour. Just take a base, like the sweet potato, and spend some time thinking about what flavours will complement it." At Illuminati, this pegan dish is not on the menu, but is available on request.
By Aastha Atray Banan
Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
