Latest / Bryan Health Podcasts / Getting to the Root of It – How to Use Fresh Local Ingredients

Transcript

Getting to the Root of It – How to Use Fresh Local Ingredients · Bryan Health Podcasts

• 0:04
  Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to the Bryan Health podcast.
• 0:06
  I'm Caitlin Whyte and today we are talking about healthy eating with
• 0:10
  Chef Nasim Khan, the Executive Chef at Bryan Medical Center.
• 0:14
  Now Chef, typically when we think of hospital food, some people might think
• 0:18
  it's bland or boring, but tell us some of the things you've done at Bryan to promote
• 0:23
  healthy, delicious food in the cafeterias.
• 0:26
  Nazim Khan, CEC, WCMC (Guest): Yeah.
• 0:27
  Yeah, you're right.
• 0:28
  I mean, hospital food people usually think is bland and boring food.
• 0:32
  Little background of me and I came from a hotel background.
• 0:35
  So, it's a Marriott and Hilton.
• 0:37
  And also, I also worked in a luxury brand like Red Skelton, Curio
• 0:41
  brand for Hilton and New York City and all those fine tuned food.
• 0:46
  I exercise pretty much every day when I was in hotels.
• 0:49
  So, when I moved into the hospital care and when you learn from a
• 0:53
  master to do the right thing, all the master chefs and stuff like that.
• 0:57
  So, you cannot just take a short cut.
• 0:59
  So, when I take this challenge as the hospital food, I said, okay, probably I
• 1:04
  cannot compromise with the ingredients.
• 1:06
  So, ingredients gotta be hand-picked good one.
• 1:10
  And also, I don't like to use too many dry spices.
• 1:13
  If your products are unique and good quality product, you don't
• 1:18
  really cover up with the spices.
• 1:20
  So, I cut down all our dry parsley cilantro, dry chives and all those things.
• 1:26
  I said, you know we can get everything fresh.
• 1:28
  So, why we're not chopping the fresh herbs, not using the dry herbs.
• 1:32
  So, let's start using the fresh herbs that enhance the flavor.
• 1:35
  And also we get our natural oil and flavor from it.
• 1:38
  So, we start working towards that.
• 1:41
  And then hospital, usually do like all frozen product, you know, comes in and you
• 1:46
  just heat and serve that kind of cafeteria and for the dietic perspective, you know,
• 1:51
  thought process that, hey, you know, patients, we have to be very careful,
• 1:55
  so keep it pretty much clean and plan so that we don't have to worry about it.
• 2:00
  But these days, you know, everybody's a foodie, right?
• 2:02
  So, we need to make sure that they are enjoying what we are supporting them.
• 2:06
  We are not using like 40 different types of ingredients, but we are using
• 2:11
  a four to five different ingredients, but they're all burst with the flavor.
• 2:15
  So, it's like real good clean and flavorful food.
• 2:19
  So, that's what I have changed.
• 2:21
  So, all the soup that we do it from scratch now, instead of buying a
• 2:25
  frozen one, because frozen one has lots of salt additives and all those
• 2:29
  things, but if you make it from scratch, then you don't have to do it.
• 2:32
  I had to create a Hassah plan for the health department
• 2:36
  because I make my own soup.
• 2:37
  And also I bag them, cryovac freeze.
• 2:40
  So, that way they can pull and heat up.
• 2:42
  So, I had to create a Hassah plan for them.
• 2:44
  So, these are the things that sets a different tone than any other hospital.
• 2:50
  Or you can have a gourmet meal if your chef choosed to.
• 2:54
  And everybody likes to see chef in actions doing a lot of new food,
• 2:57
  new ideas, new thought process and cooking from scratch is the key.
• 3:02
  And using the fresh ingredients is the key that will make the
• 3:06
  different than anybody else.
• 3:08
  Host: Now you've rolled out plant-based food stations in
• 3:11
  the Bryan Health cafeterias.
• 3:13
  How did you get people to try that?
• 3:15
  I mean, what were some of their reactions?
• 3:17
  Nazim: Right, right.
• 3:18
  And I came from, actually I born and raised in Bangladesh, it's a poor country,
• 3:22
  but it's still, I was in the I was a city boy, I was, I was in the capital
• 3:25
  city in Taka, but one of my teacher in school all is, is to say that, hey, lentil
• 3:31
  is the goat meat for the poor people.
• 3:34
  So, in the beginning, I did not really pay attention because goat meat is
• 3:38
  very expensive, more than a beef in Bangladesh or India and other places.
• 3:43
  I said, why he's saying lentil is more, I mean, that's a poor man's goat meat?
• 3:48
  it's a lentil.
• 3:50
  But then throughout, when I grew up, then I realized that, oh my
• 3:53
  God, it's a great protein source.
• 3:55
  And that's why my teacher was saying, okay, that's the
• 3:58
  goat meat for poor people.
• 4:00
  And then throughout my work culture, you know, even I work in a high-end hotels
• 4:05
  and stuff in New York City, other places, anytime somebody come for a vegetarian
• 4:09
  meal or anybody is vegetarian, they just throw a pasta and tomato sauce.
• 4:13
  Pasta and tomato sauce don't have enough protein.
• 4:16
  So, why we're just giving just a tomato sauce and a pasta, even if it's a high
• 4:20
  end restaurant, even in a high end hotels, then I'd realized that, okay,
• 4:25
  we have lots of different type of veggie option, lentil option, legume options.
• 4:30
  You know why we're not putting a good flavor profile boost to
• 4:34
  it and start to our customer.
• 4:36
  And then, you know, I'm like really into plant base.
• 4:38
  Okay.
• 4:39
  Let's do this.
• 4:40
  Let's use lentil, all kinds of lentil, you make it a burger patty out of it all.
• 4:45
  All Lentil you make it like we do called veggie Costa lentil Costa
• 4:49
  and lentil costa is Indian style.
• 4:52
  We make tikka masala sauce, beautiful basmati rice, and
• 4:55
  with the Costa and they love it.
• 4:57
  So, instead of like beef or chicken or other protein we use completely bean
• 5:03
  and lentil and potato just bind it.
• 5:06
  So, when we rolled our plant-based stations in the cafeteria, so first of
• 5:10
  all, we, we live in Lincoln, Nebraska.
• 5:12
  It's a meat and potato country, right.
• 5:14
  Everybody even no my director says, chef, you know, you think they're going
• 5:18
  to eat, they're going to like this?
• 5:19
  I said, wait, let's see, you know, first we need to try.
• 5:23
  And then if they don't like it, we can always change.
• 5:26
  And he was a big fan of that.
• 5:27
  And then I said, okay, let's do it.
• 5:29
  So, when I start five days with the five plant base option meal and I was standing.
• 5:34
  And I was explaining the food and I said, try it first.
• 5:37
  Then if you don't like it, then you know, you don't have to eat it.
• 5:40
  I will buy you another lunch.
• 5:42
  So, then people started loving it.
• 5:44
  This is chef so flavorful and so filler why wouldn't like falafel with
• 5:49
  the tzatziki sauce and pita bread and nice cucumber and tomato salad
• 5:54
  is a huge meal with chick peas just grounded up and then deep fried, right?
• 5:58
  That's the falafel.
• 5:59
  So, they love those.
• 6:01
  Then I do like taco tostadas, taco tostadas is just a tostada shell.
• 6:06
  And then with our plant-based protein, we make it with the Mexican
• 6:09
  spices and the guacamole, sour cream, corn, and bean salsa goes
• 6:13
  on top of that beautiful, tostadas.
• 6:16
  So they love that one too.
• 6:17
  So we have, we always have a huge line for that.
• 6:20
  When I rolled it in the beginning couple of days, you
• 6:23
  know, just need to get into it.
• 6:26
  And now everybody loves it.
• 6:27
  And my plant base is very successful.
• 6:29
  Also, I was, I got recognized from Food Service Director Magazine, Food Management
• 6:34
  Magazine, and also I got recognized for my plant based service internationally
• 6:39
  from Ward Chef Associations in Paris.
• 6:43
  Their November edition.
• 6:44
  They also write what a great job I'm doing with the plant base,
• 6:47
  you know, serving in a hospital.
• 6:49
  Host: Part of your mission is really promoting shopping and buying local.
• 6:54
  Tell us a bit about not only the health, but the community benefits
• 6:57
  from eating locally grown produce.
• 6:59
  Nazim: Yeah.
• 7:00
  First of all, we need to see where the food coming from.
• 7:02
  Right.
• 7:03
  But working with Chef George McNeill, certified master chef
• 7:06
  in New York City, also chef certified master chef, Chef Jock.
• 7:10
  And I always seen them, you know, they're very particular about their product line.
• 7:14
  You know, if microgreens gotta be exactly like that.
• 7:17
  If I ask you to get the fish is going to look like that.
• 7:20
  And when you work with those talented chef and learn from it and work with them side
• 7:25
  by side, you always try to pick the best.
• 7:28
  In the beginning.
• 7:28
  I already talked about it.
• 7:30
  So, and locally grown like food to tables in the tables, farms to
• 7:34
  table is a huge theme for Hilton and Marriott and farms to table, you know,
• 7:38
  we already was using 50 mile radius, you know, whoever has the farm where
• 7:43
  we using all the fresh ingredients.
• 7:45
  So, I got used to locally resourced food.
• 7:48
  So, when I came to Bryan Health, you know, we are all commercially bought
• 7:52
  product through Cisco or US Food, but then I said, we have a farmers, you know,
• 7:57
  of course, winter time, we're not doing anything, but in the summer time they
• 8:01
  plenty of product that we can buy locally.
• 8:04
  And our cheese is great, local cheese and also I visited several farms.
• 8:09
  Then I become a Nebraska Food Council Member and connected with all the farmers
• 8:14
  and then is get to see those product grown and so refreshing and packed with
• 8:20
  the macro nutrients that you're getting from locally resourced food, but anythings
• 8:26
  that you are buying like from different places, but that has a preservative.
• 8:31
  That the way they keep it.
• 8:32
  Is not like fresh and crisp the way you want it.
• 8:36
  But locally food will do that.
• 8:38
  And at the same time it's supporting your local farmers.
• 8:41
  So, that means it helps you, your local community economies
• 8:45
  are going to grow up better too.
• 8:47
  So, you're supporting each other and grow from there.
• 8:50
  And also I do a farmer's market demo too.
• 8:53
  So, that way I can pick a farmer, say that, hey, you can buy these zucchini.
• 8:57
  You know, he just don't have only one way to eat zucchini.
• 9:00
  He got thousands ways to eat zucchini so he can transform
• 9:03
  them this way and that way.
• 9:04
  So, that way people get educated too.
• 9:07
  And then you built a great community.
• 9:10
  You know, all those things happen.
• 9:11
  You know, when you buy local, when you support local and you get your local
• 9:15
  food and at the same time, it's a great tasty and you know how they are growing.
• 9:20
  Host: Absolutely well, I'm a farmer's market girl myself.
• 9:22
  So, I agree with you on that one.
• 9:25
  You know, for the rest of us, non chefs though, cooking can be really
• 9:28
  intimidating and time consuming.
• 9:31
  What are some tips you have to make meal prep easier and more enjoyable?
• 9:35
  Nazim: Okay.
• 9:35
  I always tell even my cook or any friends, family, I always tell people, you know, as
• 9:40
  a chef, you know, we don't build rocket.
• 9:43
  You know, we cannot actually build a rocket.
• 9:45
  So, we just cook food.
• 9:47
  Key ingredients to become a good cook or good chef, you need to have a good
• 9:51
  planning and organizational skill.
• 9:54
  So, in French word, they call it mise en place.
• 9:57
  mise en place means everything in place.
• 10:01
  So, what does that tell you?
• 10:02
  If you making a chicken noodle soup, you're going to need chicken.
• 10:05
  You're going to need noodle.
• 10:06
  You're going to need celery, carrots, onion, a little garlic, fresh parsley.
• 10:11
  All those things and water, everything's gotta be in front of you, organized
• 10:16
  before you start your chicken noodle soup.
• 10:18
  So, if you start and things are not in front of you organized, they
• 10:22
  need just going to run around like chicken with the head cut off and
• 10:25
  then looking for stuff, and then you cannot find it, get frustrated.
• 10:29
  And then you're not going to really enjoy the meal.
• 10:31
  So, first you plan the menu and then, okay, this is what I'm going to do.
• 10:35
  And this is what I'm going to, I'm going to need.
• 10:37
  And this is what is going to happen.
• 10:38
  Same thing, like, you know, planning in your like daily meal, weekly meal
• 10:42
  plan and all those things, if you organize well, and then if you create
• 10:45
  a shopping list and then if you go to a grocery, so you bye that exactly
• 10:50
  what you plan on the menu, right?
• 10:52
  If you don't plan.
• 10:53
  Then you go, oh, I like this tomato.
• 10:55
  Let me buy that.
• 10:56
  I like the zucchini.
• 10:57
  Let me buy that.
• 10:58
  Then you, your fridge is full, but then you don't know what
• 11:01
  are you making with that.
• 11:01
  Then it's sitting and going bad and you're throwing into the trash.
• 11:05
  So, that is the no-no.
• 11:06
  So, you need to organize your planning menu and then you need
• 11:09
  to organize your shopping list, shopping cart, get it organized.
• 11:13
  Cook it.
• 11:13
  And then when is your cooler empty, then you go back to do these things again.
• 11:18
  And a couple of cooking tips that, you know, food safety is very first we
• 11:22
  need to remember that means hot food, we have to eat hot or cook hot, keep
• 11:27
  it hot or cold food, we have to keep it cold below 40 degree temperature,
• 11:31
  hot food 135 degree Farenheit temperature, chicken, 165 of Farenheit.
• 11:37
  So, it's safe to eat.
• 11:39
  So, those are the key ingredients you need to knwo and a couple of things.
• 11:42
  I like anything that you cook or finish your meal with Monte are some
• 11:47
  good, good local butter, you know, that will help, you know, nice flavor.
• 11:51
  I like lemon zest a lot.
• 11:54
  So, you know, you always can zest a lemon and finish up your salad or salad
• 11:59
  dressing, dressing, or even in a sauce.
• 12:01
  And then clean, organized kitchen that I always tell people, and that will
• 12:05
  make your life easier and enjoyable.
• 12:08
  And another thing I always tell people like, have your kids, have
• 12:11
  your spouse or your significant other cook it together and have fun and
• 12:17
  then interact and that, and you know, kids don't like to eat veggies, right.
• 12:22
  But if you bring them in, in your cooking, like making nice pizza, have them to add
• 12:27
  their own choice of veggies, have them to create a beautiful piece of design on
• 12:32
  top of top of that with their veggies.
• 12:34
  So, these are the things is family cooking together.
• 12:37
  It's always enjoyable and always people like it.
• 12:40
  And then if something goes wrong, then you learn from it and then
• 12:43
  you fix it again in the right way.
• 12:46
  Host: Well, it's always great to get some meal tips.
• 12:47
  I'll definitely be trying some of these out at home.
• 12:50
  And that wraps up this episode of the Bryan Health Podcast.
• 12:54
  Head on over to our website at bryanhealth.org
• 12:57
  for more information, and to get connected with one of our providers.
• 13:01
  Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all of
• 13:05
  the other Bryan Health podcasts.
• 13:07
  I'm Cailtin Whyte.
• 13:08
  Stay well.