Why are you putting salted pig fat in my latte? | Health Wealth, Ep 71

Does it sometimes feel like finding simple, clean food at a restaurant is a rarity? Menus are bursting with garnishes, flavours and innovation. Perfect for your next reel. But hardly any of it would be considered healthy and, at times, not even tasty. In the name of fusion and fashion, food made outside of our home kitchens comes loaded with fat, sugar, salt and unnecessary starches. The coating of grease left on top of our tongues from a sandwich, the sickly sweetness after one bite of dry cake, and the incredible thirst after a plate of fries are evidence that takeout is starting to be as unhealthy as packaged junk food (and with double the price tag!).This episode was born out of a desperate hunt to find plain pancakes with no toppings in the national capital of Delhi. What was once common is now a herculean task to order. The standard butter and maple syrup on the side has been exchanged for Bischoff, Oreo, cereal crunch, flowers, cream cheese, ricotta cheese, whipped vanilla butter, and, on one menu, butter chicken.To help us understand the evolution of our restaurant industry and the food we serve, we are joined by Chef Davinder Kumar, executive chef at Le Meridien and president of the Indian Culinary Forum. Having been a chef for over 50 years, he is able to bring perspective to the overcomplication of restaurant food, where the flavour and emotional core of a recipe are lost.Tune in to learn how chefs can improve public health outcomes, how reliable calorie counts on a menu can be, and whether bacon in coffee makes sense to one of the country’s top chefs.Produced by Anna PriyadarshiniSound mix by Sachin Dwivedi