At Mainland China, too, things are changing in the kitchen. Instead of the traditional fried rice, you can choose the lotus-wrapped rice (rice steamed in lotus leaves with herbs). If you like lots of greens in your food, you can opt for the healthy Chinese vegetables instead of the richer, deep-fried spring rolls.

The fad is catching on down south as well. Bangalore-based boutique hotel Regaalis is upgrading the menu in their coastal food restaurant Coral Court. More and more customers have been asking for alternatives to their cooking medium, which, till very recently, was coconut oil. “I love their appams and their lobsters, but I get put off by the layers of oil that congeal the moment the food gets a little cold. I guess, if the coconut oil goes, that problem will be sorted out,” says 28-year old business consultant Hirok B, who is a regular at the Lavelle Road restaurant.

Food consultant Manu Mahindra, who runs the firm Under One Roof, has been working on the menus of several restaurants and hotel chains, including Silk, an upcoming Oriental restaurant in Faridabad. “In India there’s nothing which is truly organic or 100 per cent natural, which is why the oil becomes an important ingredient for health-watchers. Many of the new projects that I am working on, like Silk, currently have specific instructions to have a low-oil or zero-oil menu. The kind of oil being used has also undergone a sea change. Restaurateurs now mostly opt for extra-virgin olive oil or sunflower seed oil which are healthier,” says Mahindra.

... contd.