In recent years, the organic movement has been one of the fastest growing trends in the food industry. The organic market represents a multi-billion dollar industry and like any trend, everyone tries to get a share of the promising market.

The amount of guests requesting organic food in the hotel's restaurants is indeed much higher then before. People tend to be health conscious and thus, try to consume what they believe is good, or should I say, better for their body. We source organic products from different parts of the world despite the carbon footprint it induces; but truthfully, how do we know that this or that certification is really organic, what defines organic in different countries, are governments involved in the standardisation?

Many Questions to Ponder

As a chef, there are many questions leaving me pondering on the credibility of such a mark of trust. I was reading some interviews of farmers in China saying that they've put the organic label on their fruits and vegetables because it was the trend and thus, it would increase their sales. However, a farmer straightforwardly admitted he didn't know the meaning of the word organic. In the same article, people were mentioning the disparity of organic certifications being very inconsistent from one region to another. Not to blame everything on China of course, I think there are many other countries around the world where the consistency and standardisation of organic food has yet to be achieved.

Also, some organic farms use hydro culture, where the fruits or vegetables are grown in a NASA-like facility to limit microbe contact, their roots are soaking in nutrient-loaded water and they are bathing in man-made sunlight. It might be organic, but from all the vegetables and fruits grown that way that I have tried so far, there were none convincing me of being Mother Nature's creation: instead tasteless and soulless.

Without earth, sunlight and rain nurturing, there is simply no terroir feature to the plants. When I pick chives from the mountain swamp near my home in Switzerland, they are juicy and almost taste like onion, sinfully good. On the other hand, when I buy chives in a supermarket they barely taste like chive.

Many organic farms use natural pesticides, such as copper or sulphur to treat their plantation, trying to achieve the maximum yield yet to remain organic; after all, business is business. Several studies from different sources can't seem to agree on the long term effects these natural pesticides used in large quantities have on humans. There are some farms following the permaculture principles, using bio diversity, where plants protect one another, to achieve fully chemical-free grown plants. Yet, we all share the same planet; the water runs in cycles and the wind blows all around, beyond our control. So, everything remains questionable as there are no real barriers to prevent cross contamination.

Personally, I would tend to believe that organically grown vegetables and fruits are healthier for us due to their lower exposure to chemicals. Today, with the ever increasing market demand, cultures are pushed faster. Chemical pesticides are sprayed and the time the fruit or vegetable takes to mature isn't enough for the pesticide to dissolve away as it should, leaving traces of pesticides on the products we buy at the supermarket (don't forget to always wash them!). Also, as mentioned earlier, the carbon footprint left by the extensive transportation has a heavy toll on the air we breathe. Arguments are countless from every side involved in this conflicting choice: to be or not to be organic.

Organic Strawberries

In the end, I feel very concerned by this choice, but I'd rather stop arguing with myself for a moment and enjoy the summer's last organic strawberries from the market. As often, a simple tart with quality ingredients is just sooo good! Here is one of my favourite recipes for fruit tart. It is based on sweet dough, an almond frangipane filling, strawberry jam and fresh strawberries. If you want make it with blueberries for example, then you could replace the jam with blueberry jam. Having a cup of tea with a slice of that tart in the late summer afternoon is absolute quality time!

Ingredients

A basket of fresh organic strawberries

Icing sugar for dusting

A good quality strawberry jam

Sweet dough base

Ingredients

190 gm white sugar

300 gm butter

60 gm almond powder

2 eggs

500 gm cake flour

A pinch of salt

Method

Mix the butter and sugar to a creamy texture. Add the eggs and mix well. Finally, add the flour, salt and almond powder. Mix until it comes into a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic film and allow chilling for two hours before using.

Frangipane filling

Ingredients

150 gm butter

150 gm white sugar

3 eggs

150 gm almond powder

40 gm self-raising flour

190 gm pastry cream

A pinch of salt

Method

Mix the butter and sugar into a creamy texture. Add the eggs one by one and mix well. Add the almond powder, flour, salt and pastry cream - mix until well blended.

Assembly 

Roll your dough at 2mm thickness in your tart shell.

Spread a thin layer of strawberry jam on the dough.

Fill your tart to ¾ with frangipane filling. Bake the tart until golden brown in a 190°C oven for about 35 minutes.

Wash and cut the fresh strawberries in slices. Once the tart has cooled, place the strawberries on the tart and dust with icing sugar.