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A top chef is opening up an organic farm in Bahrain in a bid to serve up the freshest dishes possible on the island at her newly-opened signature restaurant in Adliya.
Executive Chef Susy Massetti wants to bring a whole new meaning to the concept of using local produce with a pioneering plan to plant it, pick it, wash it and serve it on a plate.
Culinary experts claim that local produce is the best way to get the highest nutrients content from vegetables because they naturally break down after harvest and time.
“Bahrain is an agriculturally-gifted area in the Gulf and it is a shame that we import more than 95 per cent of our fruits and vegetables from abroad. Besides the enormous costs, the organic items are packed in plastic and travel thousands of kilometres to reach here – this defies the purpose!” she said.
“This is a small country which has very good and richly-producing gardens – a rarity in this region. We hope to be an example to bring more local growers on board and encourage them.”
Chef Susy is stepping outside her kitchen and is personally helping to nurture an organic farm to yield healthy and nutritious locally-produced vegetables.
The organic farm will be one of the first on the island to sell its crops as well as produce, maintain and sell heirloom seeds. Chef Susy aims to use the vegetables and fruits grown at the 1,200sq/ft farm, situated in the Budaiya Park compound, in her kitchen at the Masso restaurant in the grounds of The Palace Bahrain hotel. She is a partner in the business.
She said: “There are many chefs all around the world who are lucky to get produce directly from a farm near them. What we are trying to do is emulate that process.
“The customer will have a fantastic product in the end – locally grown and healthy ingredients in their meals, with almost zero kilometre travel. Items which will be cut and eaten on the same day at a cheaper price than imported organic produce ... everybody wins here.”
The farm will feature two large greenhouses, an area for ground crops as well as a nursery. Thirteen varieties of tomatoes will be grown alongside beans, lettuce and cucumber as well as ground crops such as potatoes, carrots and rutabaga, a type of turnip that is not usually grown in this region.
The Palace Bahrain’s proprietor Khalid Al Rumaihi, whose family owns the farm, said: “When we created the concept of Masso, we wanted it to be far more than just ‘another restaurant’.”
“We wanted to create the ambience and atmosphere that one experiences in family-run restaurants in Europe where you feel that you have been invited to eat in someone’s home.
“At the core of that, of course, is tasty and wholesome food that feels home-cooked. For us to realise that vision, we recognised early on that we had to develop an organic garden that would serve the freshest produce and that would provide an extra zest in everything we serve.
“It is unfortunate that many people have forgotten how fertile soil in Bahrain can be and how long-standing the tradition of vegetable gardening has been in this country. We hope, in some small measure, to help re-awaken that tradition and hope that our customers will realise how much can be grown in Bahrain and how tasty it can be.”
The farm has undergone a series of procedures to revive its soil, which had been left untouched for 10 years. It is likely to be functional in a couple of weeks time and completely sufficient in six months, when the farm will also offer jams and sauces for public sale.
Chef Susy, 56, also explained that the Ministry of Agriculture has been supportive of the project by providing the specialist information on how to prepare the soil for cultivation. The project has also received subsidies from Tamkeen in building the greenhouse, as well as a desalination and filtration unit.
One of the most unique features of the farm will be its use of German technology called Geo-Revive. This is a bio-nutrient formula applied to rapidly restore degraded soil and to nourish plants, especially in arid regions. It also serves to speed up the growth of trees and crops with drastically less water than normal and no fertiliser.
Geo-Revive is a product of Green GeoEarth, an eco-centric, biotechnology manufacturing firm that deploys natural resources in delivering innovative solutions for the agriculture industry, while sustaining nature and the environment. The company has production facilities in Sitra.
Founder Manfred Schürmann, said: “Our vision is to help feed nations. Bahrain is a great place and the standard of agriculture is very high.”
His wife and managing assistant, Miglena, added: “This is a great opportunity for us. We are a German company who produced a product for landscape and agriculture. It is completely biological and degradable for eight years – it stores water under the ground and at the root level. The product is full with nutrients and minerals which allow plants to grow three times faster than usual and triple the crop production.”
The equipment will be installed once the greenhouses are completed and placed beneath the soil at a depth depending on the size of the roots of each crop.
