A recipe as simple as cheesecake can become a very surprising dish if it is prepared according to mindful eating, a trend championed by Arla foods. For some years now, they have been demanding something as simple as taking our time and being aware of what we eat. From the supermarket to the first bite, it is a careful process of what we buy, prepare and consume. The goal is to enjoy, as the Danes have been doing since the 19th century with their Havarti cheese.
This variety as Danish as the Little Mermaid of Copenhagen itself was born on a farm called Havarthigaard, in Øverød, north of Copenhagen. The farmer who created the formula, Hanne Nielsen, could not even imagine that two centuries later her peculiar buttery cheese would even have its own “Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)” seal. This certification distinguishes products that follow their original recipe of only four ingredients: milk, salt, lactic ferments and rennet. Furthermore, it is important to differentiate those who follow the original recipe from those who jumped on the bandwagon of their fame with products of very different quality and composition. At Arla, it is also produced using the highest quality milk from its farms, obtained in a sustainable and responsible manner.
Knowing the history of the food we bring to our table is one more way to enjoy every bite. Others, like Chef Bosquet, enjoy cheese by inventing creative recipes and sharing them on their Instagram profile where they have two million followers.
Roberto Bosquet didn't even think about becoming a chef. And much less, in a kitchen influencer. A firefighter with nine years of experience and two children, he cooked delicious dishes for pure pleasure and for his family. One day he prepared a paella so delicious “that a friend posted it on Instagram and tagged me as Chef Bosquet. He joined forces with my wife and they began to insist that I open an account on that social network to share my dishes. I did it and… well, since then I help with my recipes so that people see that they can enjoy food in a healthy way,” he says.
Recognize that many people have been found to believe that eating well has to be boring, complicated or 100% controlled. The latter occurs a lot among athletes. “When I started I did a lot of triathlons and everyone went with their recovery shake with protein powder and carbohydrates. What I was looking for was to recover from training with real food. For proteins you can eat cheese, for example, and for carbohydrates you have bananas, potatoes…”, confesses this chef.
He has no doubt that “food is your gasoline. It helps you recover, be more active during the day, rest better…” That is why he advocates conscious eating, “realizing that what you eat has effects on your body. That is why it is so important to eat quality food, to look carefully at what ingredients it has,” she says. And that includes not only the ingredients, but how they were produced. At Arla, the milk for the cheeses comes from a cooperative of European farmers committed to good environmental practices and animal welfare. A more natural and sustainable production model that is indicated by the Farmer Owned seal on the packaging.
There are those who believe that eating consciously and worrying about food means spending a lot of time shopping and cooking. Bosquet insists that, if we organize ourselves with the famous batch cooking, eating well does not have to take so much time. In addition, this way we will avoid that usual scene of arriving home tired and devouring whatever. “Dedicate half an hour every Sunday to planning your weekly menu and knowing what you need to buy. "This way you don't waste time in the kitchen," says this chef for whom preparing balanced dishes following the instructions of the Harvard Plate (50% fruits and vegetables, 25% proteins and 25% carbohydrates) comes into its own.
But that skill is acquired over time. For those who are new to healthy cooking, he recommends not improvising. “If you organize all your menus, you don't have to think about whether you're short on protein or whether you need to add more.” The next thing is to cook with fresh and as natural foods as possible. “Avoid ultra-processed foods and foods with many additives,” he explains.
Let's not get complicated: the basics always triumph. And among that list of foods that are always a hit is cheesecake. Theirs has a creative touch that turns the simple cheesecake recipe into an explosion of 100% natural flavors.
With a previously prepared date jam based on dates and cranberries, create a bed on a plate. Next, beat cream and Arla Natural Cheese Spread and place a ball of the mixture on that bed. “Cream cheese helps us stabilize the cream and give it consistency. It also provides a touch of flavor and extra protein so that it is not just fat,” she points out. In addition to Natural, there are Light varieties, Fine Herbs and Lactofree for those intolerant to lactose. The entire range is free of additives or preservatives.
The final point is added by a homemade granola with cashew nut cookies, coconut oil and dates to which raisins, coconut, goji berries, cinnamon and ginger are added.” To decorate you can add some blueberries and that's it. “It doesn't take more than 10 minutes to prepare and you look like a super chef,” he declares. An example that eating healthy, delicious and without spending hours in the kitchen is within everyone's reach.
