The cruel reality that foods like celery-rather than chocolate-are healthy can never be adequately explained to us mere mortals. But a new menu recently introduced at Hyatt hotels and resorts might make you care a bit less.
By conning taste buds with fresh flavors, Hyatt Hotels Corp.`s alternative Cuisine Naturelle menu seeks to replace the rich sensations that we`ve all grown to know and crave.
”It`s not bland,” says Janos Kiss, assistant vice president of food and beverage for the hotel chain. ”That`s the whole idea. It`s just basic good food, well-seasoned and well-prepared.” While developing the menu, Kiss was Hyatt Corp.`s executive chef.
The three-meal-a-day ”lifestyle” menu offers such formerly forbidden fare as turkey carbonara, chicken quesadillas-both prepared with reduced-fat cheeses-and even a hearty beef stew. For the lighter eater, offerings include vegetable lasagna, pan-seared swordfish with a sweet herb vinaigrette or poached salmon on a bed of black bean relish. Now he oversees the kitchens of all 360 restaurants in all 105 Hyatt hotels in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.
For breakfast, forget grapefruit and dry toast. Get-you-going items include huevos rancheros and egg white omelettes. Such developments are a continuation of healthy dietary habits, Kiss said, a natural shift in away-from-home eating trends.
Hyatt is not alone among hotel chains offering such ”heart-healthy”
meals, but it is notable in its development of a separate menu that`s available in most of its restaurants.
Even a competitor praised the plan.
”It`s pretty good,” said Willy Ribbe, executive chef for Marriott Corp., of Hyatt`s program. Ribbe said all Marriott hotels include main-menu selections noted with a heart to signify that they`re healthy alternatives.
”We usually have one or two items in each category (appetizer, entree, dessert). We don`t have a complete menu like Hyatt, but we strive to meet customers` needs.”
For Hyatt, it took the lessons of a bland menu program that flopped in 1982 and two years of research to develop the menu of 88 flavorful dishes. Kiss says Cuisine Naturelle uses organic fruits and vegetables plus other fresh ingredients to distract the palate from the reduced sodium, fat and cholesterol.
Kiss` menu was prepared with the help of dietitian Pamela M. Smith and Robert Dallain, vice president of food and beverage for the chain.
A survey of Hyatt customers showed business travelers and restaurant diners wanting to eat healthfully, but still enjoy the taste. But while most people say that nutrition is their most important eating concern, only 40 percent of away-from-home diners actually put their money where their mouth is.
”Because I travel a lot myself, I thought this was one good area to start with,” said Dallain, a triathlete who thought he had to compromise his diet on business trips. ”Why shouldn`t we feed ourselves properly? When traveling, we want to be able to control the intake and the quality of food.
”Even if you`re on a diet at home, you know that if you`re traveling, it`ll be blown out of the water.”
After two years of testing recipes, the menu auditioned at a Hyatt hotel in Tampa.
”When we started cooking, she (Smith) was there with me,” said Kiss, who was trained in Hungary. Kiss now oversees the kitchens of all 360 restaurants in all 105 Hyatt hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Smith, who has written several books on nutrition, is also a private nutrition consultant to athletic organizations, including the Professional Golfers Association.
”Each time I started using something that was a `no-no,` she literally slapped my hand and would say, `Wait, you can`t do this,` and I`d have to take it out,” he said. ”It wasn`t really a tug of war, but you know chefs have an idea of what they want to cook, and dietitians know a lot about the nutritional things, what we should eat. So the whole process of cooking changed, but it all came out good. She was pretty tough, though.”
In expanded test marketing at 10 hotels across the country, the menu garnered more than 35 percent of the total food sales, although Cuisine Naturelle was only 10 percent of the test menu, according to Dallain.
To ensure consistent quality and appearance of every dish, Hyatt chefs work from photographs in the Cuisine Naturelle`s guidebook. Although not every Cuisine Naturelle dish is carried on all Hyatt menus, any one of the recipes can be ordered.
”Every chef has his own style of cooking, and that`s very important,”
Kiss said. ”We have many kinds of chefs. We have the Park Hyatt chefs, or the Grand Hyatt chefs, or the resort chefs. They each know their markets better.
”I want the chefs to like it, so I chose the items that look good, are easy to make, don`t cost too much money. I was holding my fingers crossed that (customers) would like it. And they did.”
Nutritional information is listed on the menu in most cases, or provided upon request. For example, diners might be surprised to learn that a savory beef stew has only four grams fat, 35 mg cholesterol and 293 calories.
”The beef stew was the most controversial item we put on the menu,”
Kiss said. ”When you think beef stew, you think heavy, full of fat-a winter item. But I thought that beef stew could be done if we were careful.
”That`s when the whole menu came together-which was if a beef stew can be a Cuisine Naturelle, then just about anything else can be. You just have to watch the ingredients, the preparation method and the method of cooking.”
Herbs are the solution in many of the revised recipes. ”We use Italian parsley in everything,” Kiss said. ”It has the flavor. . . . The American parsley has the looks, but no flavor. We also use a lot of mint and lemon grass in our food, too.”
Cuisine Naturelle items such as turkey burgers and pizza also have been incorporated into the hotels` children`s menu, and new items for the adult menu are planned.
As for the chocolate dilemma, Kiss said he had several dessert recipes in the works using cocoa powder, which has the taste but not the fat of chocolate. In the meantime, a Cuisine Naturelle dinner can be topped off with a light polenta souffle with banana yogurt sauce, or a refreshing fruit basket of mango, kiwi and strawberries on a strawberry/raspberry coulis.
”It`s delicious,” Kiss said. ”How can you be a chef and not get excited when you see food like this?”
Here`s a sampling of Cuisine Naturelle recipes:
PASTA E FAGIOLI
CHEF MARCO BARBITTA, HYATT REGENCY GRAND CYPRESS
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Soaking time: 12 hours or overnight
Cooking time: 2 hours
Yield: 8 servings
2 ounces each: pinto, kidney, black beans
1 quart chicken stock, defatted
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup cabbage, shredded
1 1/4 cups plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon seasoned salt substitute such as Mrs. Dash
2 cups cooked whole wheat fettucine
2 tomatoes, diced
8 sprigs fresh herbs, for garnish
1. In a large pot, soak beans in water to cover for 12 hours or overnight. Drain.
2. Spray large pot with non-stick spray. Quickly saute onions, garlic and cabbage with small amount of chicken stock.
3. Add soaked, drained beans and remaining chicken stock and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low.
4. Add 1 cup chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, herbs, salt, pepper and salt substitute. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender.
5. Remove 1/2 cup beans and puree. Return to pot. Remove bay leaf.
6. To serve, mound 1/4 cup cooked fettucine into each bowl. Ladle 1/2 cup of the bean mixture over the pasta. Sprinkle with remaining diced tomato and garnish with a fresh herbs.
Nutritional information per serving: 152 calories; 22 grams carbohydrate; 0 mg cholesterol; 347 mg sodium; 7 grams protein; 1 gram fat; 7 percent fat
BEEF STEW
CHEF RENE METTLER, HYATT REGENCY WAIKOLOA
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Marinating time: 12 hours or overnight
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
1 pound lean beef tenderloin
1 cup naturelle marinade (see recipe)
2 ounces onions, chopped
1/2 cup red wine
4 ounces carrots, peeled, cut in 1/2-inch slices
4 ounces zucchini, cut in 1/2-inch slices
4 ounces fresh fennel, cut in strips
4 ounces green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons seasoned salt substitute such as Mrs. Dash
1 small tomato, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
Cracked black pepper, to taste
2 cups beef stock or broth
1/4 cup snipped fresh chives
1. Trim beef of any fat, and cut into one-inch pieces. Marinate 12 hours or overnight in cuisine marinade (see recipe below).
2. Steam carrots, zucchini, fennel and green beans in a large steamer over boiling water, just until tender.
3. Spray large saute pan with non-stick cooking spray. Season beef with 1 tablespoon seasoned salt substitute. Sear beef with onions in the hot skillet. Add red wine and boil 1 minute. Remove beef with a slotted spoon; set aside.
4. Add steamed vegetables and tomato to same pan along with basil, thyme, remaining 1 tablespoon of seasoned salt substitute, pepper and beef stock. Heat to a boil and cook, uncovered, until liquid is reduce by half, about 10 minutes. Return beef to pan and cook just unil heated through. Garnish with fresh chives.
Nutritional information per serving: 293 calories; 22 grams carbohydrate; 35 mg cholesterol; 492 mg sodium; 31 grams protein; 4 grams fat; 12 percent fat.
NATURELLE MARINADE
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Chilling time: Overnight
Yield: 3 1/2 cups
4 cups chicken stock or low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, basil, cilantro
1 1/4 cups dry white wine
1 lemon, juiced
1 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bay leaf
1. In a medium pan, bring stock or broth to a boil. Cook over high heat, uncovered, until reduced to 2 cups, about 20 minutes. Add wine, lemon and lime juice, olive oil, and herbs; simmer five minutes. Chill overnight.
