Rise of Rasa Das Sreedharan grew up in a small village near Cochin, Kerala, on the lush, spice-rich south west tip of India. As a boy, he spent much of his free time helping his mother in their vegetable garden and then in the kitchen, turning the plants they had grown into simple but delightful meals and enjoying the ultimate secure and happy childhood. As a young man, he moved to London to study accountancy, but food was always Das’s destiny. After managing a restaurant for a while, he opened the first fine dining Kerala vegetarian restaurant in the world in 1994. It was an instant success! The restaurant surprised critics from the media and food world and was established successfully within its first year, attracting people from all over London. In 1995, Rasa was featured in the New York Times and there was no stopping the flow of people from all over the world. Many are the nights that people have waited patiently in long queues to enjoy the Rasa experience. The streets of Stoke Newington were transformed with people visiting from every corner of the world. Over the next three years, continued a very business season with Rasa becoming the most famous vegetarian restaurant in London, being highly commended by the Zagat survey and the Good Food guide. Rasa also won many awards including the title of Time Out Best Vegetarian Restaurant twice in succession. Rasa became a household name in London. Inspired by the faith that people had entrusted in Rasa, new restaurants were added to the chain. Das found the need for exploring the diversity of Kerala community cooking. His fascination with the fishing community of Kerala led him to open the first Indian seafood restaurant in London. He then went on to expand by creating a Kerala Christian community restaurant As a child, the street foods would always excite him and so the next venture was an express restaurant which brought street food to the office workers in London in the form of lunch boxes. Since its birth, seven new Rasa restaurants have been added to the chain, and there are plans for more. They all offer wonderful vegetarian dishes, but specialize too in their own unique representation of authentic south Indian meat and seafood cooking. In this way, the famous trademark Rasa pink walls continue to provide a uniquely serene and uplifting atmosphere for guests. Media interest Das has a great gift for hospitality which has captured the imagination of the media. He has appeared on popular television programmes such as The Naked Chef with Jamie Oliver and on numerous other programmes, radio shows and in magazines around the world. By this time, the media’s interests were heightened with a very strong interest from BBC. As part of the BBC food network, a programme followed Das to his village. He has also featured on regular programmes on BBC radio on matters of Indian culture, food and history. Most recently, Das has been featured in the world famous BBC show, Peschardt’s people. Michael Peschardt introduced Das as one of the rare people to talk about food philosophy and the positive thinking linked to food in our lives. In 1999, Das penned his first cookbook bringing Kerala culinary arts to the home kitchens, entitled Fresh Flavours of India. Having got established as a culinary writer, he went on to write three other books; The New Taste of India, Easy Indian and The World Curry Book. He pioneered an open discussion on Indian regional cooking in the U.K. He opened people’s ways of thinking away from the normal cliché way of regarding Indian food as North Indian food or the way prepared by the chefs from Bangladesh. His association with Jamie Oliver was one of the turning points in making Rasa a prominent advocate of Indian food, which confirmed the authority of Kerala cooking. Das always
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advocated the fact that the lightness, simplicity and subtle flavours, typical to Kerala cooking culture will pave the way for cooking worldwide. He has given various inspirational talks to the chefs and researchers of supermarkets such as Marks and Spencers and Sainsburys, and is one of the reasons that South Indian food can be found in the shelves of U.K. supermarkets. Celebration of Kerala culture Living in the U.K. and grateful for the freedom and opportunity that he received, he felt the urge to share his happy moments with the local communities. He found that Indian festivals used to get celebrated only within their restrictive community pockets. To break this mould, he held the first Onam festival in the streets of Stoke Newington in 1995, opening up Indian culture to the western world. Ever since, Kerala festivals have continued to be held every other year. The Kerala Tourism Board began to recognise the service that Das was providing in promoting the culture of Kerala, with many journalists touting him as the unofficial ambassador of Kerala. With the help of the Kerala government, Rasa went on to hold the biggest Kerala festival at the heart of London, close to Oxford circus in 2003. The festival attracted over 10,000 people and brought the best of the Kerala art forms and cultural attractions to London. He is the leader of the Rasa Spice Trail Tour, in which he takes guests on a culinary and spiritual journey around Kerala. He also bought a traditional tharavadu (house) for his customers from UK and around the world and started to give free hospitality, so that they may get a feel for Kerala, while being lovingly looked after by his mother. In the U.K., he also lovingly accommodates various Indian artists and the cricket team as an extension of his hospitality to the torch bearers of India. Spirituality in food As time progressed, Das became intensely conscious of the power that was inherent in food when he realised the transformation that had been brought to the community through simple Kerala home cooking. The Rasa philosophy had expanded, flourished and reached many all over the world. He felt more responsibility in the journey of food that he had taken and wanted to explore further the spiritual connection of food – how food and quality of life was so closely correlated. He is one of the first people to understand the spiritual influence of food on people in a simple and forceful way, recognising how food can make people think about life in a positive manner. The Rasa philosophy is a universal one! Das deeply believes that food brings together the essential positive energies that create harmony in our world. Responsible food production links us more closely to nature and provides for sustainability, health and a positive outlook on life. Cooking good food brings enormous fulfilment and allows us to demonstrate our love for those important to us. Food is capable of establishing a deep connection with people, bringing them together with love and warmth. Revelations However, he discovered the lack of passionate people to share his vision and take Rasa to the world. He went to various parts of Kerala meeting people, from five star hotels to the communities where cooking has been their predominant way of living. Everywhere, he was disappointed with their unenthusiastic attitude to cooking. Das has always believed that cooking is more than simply putting together good food each day. It is about being involved with the actual ingredients from their very beginning. Absolute devotion to the art of cooking can only be developed by understanding the birth, growth and harvest of their ingredients. To have good food, we need to respect the environment in which it grows. Being part of this link between farming, gardening and cooking is to experience something very basic yet very profound.
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He found that farming had lost its community involvement. People were disconnected from the ingredients that constituted their food. People were no longer making an effort to understand what each ingredient adds to the food and in turn the beauty that it can add to their life. He realised there was no genuine teaching or learning of traditional home cooking anywhere in his home state. He wanted to find a solution. Rasa Gurukul The result of that feeling was the beginning of the need for teaching and the idea of Rasa Gurukul. From 2003 onwards, he was constantly in research, thinking and sharing his vision. His original idea evolved with his interaction with many people. He found the need for a cooking school more needed because he realised this could be a social venture whereby he could add social projects, art related activities and holistic elements to make it a place where people can find happiness. It became a dream project that nobody else has ever tried. Das now owns a beautiful riverside farm in Kerala which he has converted into the Rasa Gurukul, a centre for culinary excellence, hospitality and culture to be open to guests for durations of however long they wish, a place where people can learn many things, and through its relaxed but deeply engaging daily schedules, come to experience fundamental happiness again. His main aim in the next phase of his life and in the next few years is working towards the success of that teaching and achieving the aim of starting the cooking school as a service to the food world. Rasa Institutions UK Das realised the need for a similar set up in the U.K. and has set up a novel social enterprise venture – Rasa Institutions, recognising his opportunity to express his commitment to the community. This venture looks to instil the country’s unemployed youth with confidence and an opportunity to gain professional training that would set them up for an independent and inspired life in the world of food. Rasa Shakti, the women’s wing of the social venture empowers women by encouraging them to take up entrepreneurial roles by taking charge of providing catering facilities for corporate functions. Das also makes regular visits to schools to inspire children and their parents to share a love of good home cooking that can colour their whole lives, and he is similarly committed to reaching older people who he feels are all too often robbed of their feelings of usefulness in today’s world. He regularly hosts An Evening With Das at his restaurants, an evening of story telling where he shares food facts and cookery skills, and where his wonderfully thought-provoking take on life has inspired many. His demonstration on how to face life problems through his simple food philosophy has deeply endeared to many and spread a positive lifestyle. Ragasudha Rasa Filled with such passion for food, it has not been enough for Das to stop there. Being humbly experienced by what devotion to an art like cooking can do, he came to realise the soul and potential of other art forms. He now produces programmes on music based on the similar philosophy that he has with food. He recognised that art forms like dance and music need respect, attention and love and now works on inspiring young artists around London to be passionate about their talents and to share it with the community.
Das has created an image, demand and future for Kerala food all over the world, without losing its traditional significance and has always advocated love as the fundamental ingredient of Kerala lifestyle. Das continues his work with his smile, his ever positive disposition, and an unshakeable trust and belief in his mission of awakening people to their inner happiness through food.
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