In a day and age where terms such as “girl dinner” dominate the internet and quick, on-the-go meals lack nutritional density, St. Louis-based chef Ashok Nageshwaran is trying to make food healthy again.
By day, Nageshwaran creates delectable dishes through his multifaceted catering business, Food Raconteur, which he founded in 2017 to provide catering, consulting, education and private chef services in the St. Louis area.
“Come as strangers, go as friends,” is how Nageshwaran describes his latest creative endeavor, a series of three-hour workshops aimed to connect wellness and food. “At least explain to the people what’s on the plate. Where does it come from? You have remedies [all] around you. You don’t need to pop a pill every time [you fall ill]. But it’s very simple meals, we are not preaching anything, veganism, vegetarian or animal [diets], nothing,” Nageshwaran said.
The workshops aren’t just centered around food. It’s all about revitalizing forgotten recipes, traditions, cookware and more. That message is reflected in the decor of Nageshwaran’s studio, which is adorned with copper accents and shades of green and brown that emanate an earthy and grounded mood.
Eight to 10 participants gather at the Olivette studio (the address is shared with attendees once tickets are purchased), a homely space for two-hour sessions that are followed by a meal prepared by Nageshwaran.
Every month features a new menu and a new host besides himself, Nageshwaren explains. The next workshops will take place on Jan. 25 and 26 with a focus on breathing exercises and will be led by Melissa Gaia, a breathwork facilitator. March’s workshop connects music and food, and another workshop connects alternative medicine and food.
“Every country has given its old, 1,000-year-old recipes and things like that. Mexico, and China, have a wonderful, wonderful history,” Nageshwaran said. “The idea is community. If someone has a skill and they want a space, I think they can always just use the [studio] space.”
The debut workshop in December focused on mindfulness and mindful eating and featured an hour-long yoga session led by Costa Rica-based yoga therapist Alana Oritiz and a brief talk on mental wellness by Dr. Ravikumar Chockalingam.
The group of eight arranged their yoga mats in the living room space as Ortiz kickstarted the session with a discussion on doshas, an Ayurvedic principle that describes a person’s physical, mental, and emotional characteristics.
“Because Ayurveda is such an incredible tool, practice, and a healing art, it’s important that we learn another map to understand who we are. Because Spadia is [the Sanskrit word for] self-study, I think different people grasp onto different ways and road maps of their lives,” Ortiz said. “I think that the doshas help identify what I was saying in class. How do we find balance?”
The group flows through a series of exercises that focus on balance within oneself, and with others. “The pose starts when you want to exit,” Ortiz exclaims as she stops to correct a participant’s pose.
As the yoga session concludes, guests are treated to their first delicacy of the day – an energy bite crafted with dates, coconuts and almonds.
Nageshwaran explains that the menu varies depending on the session. For this month’s menu, Nageshwaran was inspired by the sattvic diet, a plant-based Ayurvedic diet. The morning session’s food featured Khichdi, a South Asian porridge made with lentils and oats, chia seed pudding made with coconut milk, and a bowl of ripe melons and persimmons, with a cupful of moringa leaf tea.
Guests at the evening class enjoyed a coconut milk-based vegetable stew paired with flatbread, a kale quinoa Khichdi, a salad of carrots and beets, beans and asparagus sautéed in a touch of ghee and a hint of pepper, a spicy pickle made with ginger and turmeric, and a yogurt drink made with rose and saffron to wash it all down.
“The menu should have all six different taste components. Salt and sweet, bitter, pungent, sour and astringent,” Nageshwaran said.
The studio kitchen reflects Nageshwaran’s passion for revitalizing forgotten cookware and cooking styles. On the stove sits a South Indian stone pot called the kalchatti, which was used to create the kale quinoa Khichdi. Guests are invited to experience an ancient South Asian tradition that uses copper vessels to drink water infused with vetiver root, which is known to cool the body down.
“So that was a very nostalgic thing for me, because growing up in Chennai, when it’s tropical, it’s really hot in the summers. So I grew up drinking that water during summer, right? My mom used to tie the [vetiver root] in a cloth and put it in the water pot, and that’s how we drank it. I haven’t had that in 30 years. So that was very nostalgic,” said Meera Saranathan, an attendee of the Dec. 7 workshop.
But it’s not only the food itself that intrigues the taste buds, it’s the way it’s presented. Each dish is served in a handmade, Indian-style Thali, a round brass platter where side dishes are served in individual cups. The Thali provides an easy way to control portion sizes, Nageshwaran explains. As guests try each dish, they’re also treated to a presentation about the traditional vessels used to craft the meal presented before them.
For Nageshwaran, the workshops provide a way to blend ancient wisdom and modern discoveries and present them in a way that’s accessible to everyone. “The meal is a medium to bring everyone together. The meal is seen as a medicine, rather than indulgence, we always do that [indulge] in the other seven days [of the week],” Nageshwaran said.
For a taste of mindful eating and more information on future workshops, follow Food Raconteur on Facebook and Instagram for more updates.
This article appears in December 2024.