Issue 16

One Thai resort is leading the way in culinary techniques aimed at securing the long-term future of both the industry and our climate.

The Aleenta Hua Hin-Pranburi Resort and Spa has long been at the forefront of the Thai eco resort scene. Committed to keeping a minimal carbon footprint, it has kept its promise by making furniture from reconstructed local wood and hammock netting handmade by local fishermen, as well as recycling its waste water to irrigate the garden and the resort’s local organic farm. Additionally, over 90% of the resort’s staff come from within 30 kilometres of the property, ensuring that everything stays local and that the resort gives back to the people and place it inhabits.

Now the Aleenta has launched a new industry-leading initiative called Carbon Free Cooking, in which produce gets sourced from the resort’s farm, and solar ovens, smoke houses and techniques based on molecular cooking ensure that its carbon footprint is kept to a minimum.

Creator of the carbon free cooking initiative is James Noble, the Michelin-star chef and Resident Manager of the resort, who created the organic farm and designs the gourmet menus at the Aleenta’s esteemed Cellar restaurant. “You can do things differently and succeed while also being environmentally friendly,” says Noble. “Sustainability is at the core of who we are as a resort, and it's great when you can combine that with an enhanced guest experience."

Director of Brand & Communications for the Aleenta Eugene Oelofse is quick to add that an initiative like this is not for everyone. “Low carbon projects are not financially driven,” he says. “We have to harvest everything by hand, we use no pesticides, and it takes a lot to rotate growing to have enough for the menu. Commercial farming is far cheaper and less labour intensive, but in the end, the carbon product is the one that shines.”

The Aleenta’s garden to table cooking process is really quite simple, yet totally innovative. The resort grows its vegetables in a community garden, where visitors can pick freely in exchange for replanting a seed as a way of paying forward. All of the farm’s vegetables and smoked meat gets transferred to the resort kitchen by bicycle or a tuk-tuk powered by fuel made from other local resorts’ disposed cooking oil. Once in the kitchen, the chefs work their magic using slow cooking and creative natural techniques.

An example is the standout salted beef ceviche, where a banana leaf-wrapped local beef fillet is rubbed in salt and then marinated for two days with fresh herbs and spices. Following this it is served with ginger and two-week air dried tomatoes. Local fish, like sea bass, is also used in another stellar creation, in which the bass is solar baked and then served with ground fermented kimchi, preserved lemons and sesame mayonnaise. Other cooking techniques and dishes include clay pots buried in the hot sand on the beach, solar baked cakes cooked in wooden boxes lined with foil, and steamed seawater seaweed.

As Europe, North America and Australia moves towards more eco-friendly tourism initiatives, many tourists are becoming more discerning in their travel selections. In such a green climate, approaches like the Aleenta’s may bear fruit in the future.

Words by Dave Stamboulis